Tier 1 (Ent) to ILR

[Meesha]

Ironically fee was deduced within 3 hours of applying; hope they will make decision that quick too lol

[CULLINAN]

First is mandatory doc: it requires u to upload current passport and signed consent form.
Then are following
2. other (i attached here some extra stuff like my cv, future plans etc )
3. Residence in UK (I uploaded BRP here)
4. Finances (I provided maintenance funds though not required)
5. Proof of Business ( I uploaded here Business and job related docs)
6. Live events
7.Medical info
8. Sponsors/employment
9. Proof of identity or travel history (I uploaded here old passports)
10. Educational (My degree)
I was confused myself at start as checklist says only other documents which makes it look like as we have to upload all doc in " other" category.
What u think? Have i done right? However if u suggest something better, i still can move documents around.

Thanks for your detailed response. I think you did it right. As uploading everything in the “other” category does not make sense.
I know the checklist only counts the passport as “mandatory” and all other docs as “other” but seems right what you did to upload docs as per the category. I would do the same.

[CULLINAN]

And i will never spend £10000 or any amount on VIP until i need to travel urgently or if i believe i can earn that much by getting visa quickly. Getting visa approved so quickly can be good for peace of mind but not at this cost. Rest is personal choice!

Agreed £10k is a lot of money! Ofcourse if someone can afford that much why not. I personally would also not go for it.

[CULLINAN]

Ironically fee was deduced within 3 hours of applying; hope they will make decision that quick too lol

I hope so too!

[CULLINAN]

Please can you let me know were there appointments available for around 1st or 2nd Jan? I am just considering the holiday period and closing days.
Did the system show you appointments for earlier although you booked for 7th or was that the first available slot?
Thanks

[CULLINAN]

First is mandatory doc: it requires u to upload current passport and signed consent form.
Then are following
2. other (i attached here some extra stuff like my cv, future plans etc )
3. Residence in UK (I uploaded BRP here)
4. Finances (I provided maintenance funds though not required)
5. Proof of Business ( I uploaded here Business and job related docs)
6. Live events
7.Medical info
8. Sponsors/employment
9. Proof of identity or travel history (I uploaded here old passports)
10. Educational (My degree)
I was confused myself at start as checklist says only other documents which makes it look like as we have to upload all doc in " other" category.
What u think? Have i done right? However if u suggest something better, i still can move documents around.

Hope you uploaded life in Uk also in the education as i did not see that in the list so thought to point out.

Also, I came across another members thread where he mentioned about a category called “proof of application”. He was sent an email to upload the current passport copy and consent letter in that specific category (thought to point out)

Did you see any such category?

I personally think as long as you upload all docs, category should really not matter but would be easier for caseworker to navigate.

[Meesha]

Yes under Proof of application, they ask only for current passport and signed consent (i forgot its name and called it mandatory doc but checked it now)
Yes ur advise is good, i uploaded life in uk test in other. I will move it to educational.
Under residence i uploaded BRP. is it right or does it mean lease agreement for house or mortgage doc?

[CULLINAN]

Yes under Proof of application, they ask only for current passport and signed consent (i forgot its name and called it mandatory doc but checked it now)
Yes ur advise is good, i uploaded life in uk test in other. I will move it to educational.
Under residence i uploaded BRP. is it right or does it mean lease agreement for house or mortgage doc?

BRP seems right in this category.

[Meesha]

Appointments were available from 27th onward. Some times were awkward for me and i need to arrange child care to attend it as its holiday season. I checked only near to my place.

[CULLINAN]

I am just wondering:

The checklist gives this:

“other evidence of Mr xxxx’s reason for absences from the UK”

Obviously this is not required for Tier 1.

I would advise you to upload a plain paper mentioning:
“Evidence not required for Tier 1” and upload it also.

(this is the same advice I got from Marcnath also so passing it on)

[CULLINAN]

Appointments were available from 27th onward. Some times were awkward for me and i need to arrange child care to attend it as its holiday season. I checked only near to my place.

Ok cool thanks

[Meesha]

Ok. Thanks. Though i have pointed out it in cover letter but it will help tick the box mechanism for CW.

[CULLINAN]

Also, can you preview the uploaded document or not?

or you can only see the document name uploaded?

I read in another thread that you cant preview. It would be good if one can preview to make sure its the correct document.

Thanks for all the info.

[CULLINAN]

and btw just to update about my CAR as you asked before.my accountant provided me: I think its the free copy also.

As I read the paid CAR gives resignations also. But my CAR does not mention that or share allotment. So probably its the free copy also.

But as discussed, I think free copy is good enough

[OhBoy]

You are right about if the caseworker cannot locate the mandatory evidence under the correct heading, they may, or may not search for it elsewhere, in a different location. I may have missed the guidelines about which paperwork should go where. But, they did contact me to let me know - albeit I was already on the way to Sopra Steria appointment when they sent me the following:

Mandatory documents missing. The following mandatory supporting evidence could not be found, please ensure that ahead of your appointment you scan and upload these documents to the correct category:

· Applicant’s passport issued by South Africa, please upload in “Proof of Application” category
· Declaration signed by applicant’s spouse, please upload in “Proof of Application” category

After my appointment, I read the email and panic set in... but then uploaded the documents into the category they required...

I think the moral of the story is. To be as careful as possible to upload the documents to the correct category. And then, when you go to the Sopra Steria appointment, take all of your supporting paperwork with you... just in case.

[Meesha]

No preview is available. U can see only names. It was confusing at start but once u name ur files rightly and shorty, it will work.
For example if u name ur file as FPS September 2018, It will show as FP......2018. So by the time u uploaded all 12, u cant know which one is for what month. I removed them and then renamed as FPS1, 2, 3. This way i was sure i uploaded all and not any single twice.
Does it make sense?

[CULLINAN]

No preview is available. U can see only names. It was confusing at start but once u name ur files rightly and shorty, it will work.
For example if u name ur file as FPS September 2018, It will show as FP......2018. So by the time u uploaded all 12, u cant know which one is for what month. I removed them and then renamed as FPS1, 2, 3. This way i was sure i uploaded all and not any single twice.
Does it make sense?

yes i exactly know what you mean. Thanks

[CULLINAN]

You are right about if the caseworker cannot locate the mandatory evidence under the correct heading, they may, or may not search for it elsewhere, in a different location. I may have missed the guidelines about which paperwork should go where. But, they did contact me to let me know - albeit I was already on the way to Sopra Steria appointment when they sent me the following:

Mandatory documents missing. The following mandatory supporting evidence could not be found, please ensure that ahead of your appointment you scan and upload these documents to the correct category:

· Applicant’s passport issued by South Africa, please upload in “Proof of Application” category
· Declaration signed by applicant’s spouse, please upload in “Proof of Application” category

After my appointment, I read the email and panic set in... but then uploaded the documents into the category they required...

I think the moral of the story is. To be as careful as possible to upload the documents to the correct category. And then, when you go to the Sopra Steria appointment, take all of your supporting paperwork with you... just in case.

Thanks I took inspiration from your story.

[Meesha]

Documents list to carry to Sopra:
1. All Passports
2. BRP
3. Life in UK test
4. Degree
5. Corporation tax copy
6. bank letter
7. Bank statements
8. cover letter print?

Rest are in soft version. Do i need to print them all and take to Sopra like FPSs, wage slips, Employee passport copies etc

[CULLINAN]

Documents list to carry to Sopra:
1. All Passports
2. BRP
3. Life in UK test
4. Degree
5. Corporation tax copy
6. bank letter
7. Bank statements
8. cover letter print?

Rest are in soft version. Do i need to print them all and take to Sopra like FPSs, wage slips, Employee passport copies etc

I dont think you need any of them in printed version if you already have uploaded them.
I would take:
1) only the originals as you mentioned above
2) I would take the soft copies in a usb (just in case)

[CULLINAN]

I strongly think we dont even need originals if already uploaded. The form clearly states the “evidence can be originals OR copies” with the new service.

The only thing what is required is original passport but I still would follow my last post as above.

[Meesha]

I have noticed one thing while rereading. below is the exact copy from Sopra:

Below is a checklist for the documents you must provide. Please ensure that you:
check the supporting document guidance on GOV.UK for your application route
organise and upload your supporting documents in the correct categories below
ensure you upload your files in PDF, JPG and PNG format only, no larger than 6MB per file
You must bring your original supporting documents with you to the service point.
Mandatory documents for xxx
Below is a list of mandatory document categories for your application route. Please ensure that you provide a document in each of these categories.
Proof of Application
The passport issued by xxx,
Declaration signed by xxx
Optional documents
Below is a list of optional document categories. Please ensure you read the supporting document guidance on GOV.UK for your application route before including documents in the below categories. For some applications routes, ‘Optional’ documents offer you the ability to provide evidence in a number of categories at your discretion to satisfy immigration rules.


These categories are for all point based visas. From above i infer that we must not include anything in educational. Should not this be particularly for Tier4/students?
We need to pick the most relevant which are 3
1. Business proof
2. Travel History
3. residence
Rest should go in other?
Any suggestion?

[CULLINAN]

I have noticed one thing while rereading. below is the exact copy from Sopra:

Below is a checklist for the documents you must provide. Please ensure that you:
check the supporting document guidance on GOV.UK for your application route
organise and upload your supporting documents in the correct categories below
ensure you upload your files in PDF, JPG and PNG format only, no larger than 6MB per file
You must bring your original supporting documents with you to the service point.
Mandatory documents for xxx
Below is a list of mandatory document categories for your application route. Please ensure that you provide a document in each of these categories.
Proof of Application
The passport issued by xxx,
Declaration signed by xxx
Optional documents
Below is a list of optional document categories. Please ensure you read the supporting document guidance on GOV.UK for your application route before including documents in the below categories. For some applications routes, ‘Optional’ documents offer you the ability to provide evidence in a number of categories at your discretion to satisfy immigration rules.


These categories are for all point based visas. From above i infer that we must not include anything in educational. Should not this be particularly for Tier4/students?
We need to pick the most relevant which are 3
1. Business proof
2. Travel History
3. residence
Rest should go in other?
Any suggestion?

Thanks for posting this. It means we have to take the originals definitely.

Also I would assume our degree and life in UK counts as “education”

I think uploading degree and life in UK in the education category would be correct as of my opinion.

[OhBoy]

That’s the beauty of taking originals to the appointment.
Just because something has been uploaded - it doesn’t follow that the document is legible...
It also doesn’t follow, that everything is uploaded to the correct place. I “know” this.
As you’ve paid to go through Sopra Steria, it would be very sad to find you are there and “need” a document you could have brought with you, but didn’t.
Lastly, assuming that there are several days between your uploading of the documents and the appointment with Sopra Steria, they’d likely email you and tell you if anything is missing or illegible, giving you time to correct the omission before the appointment.
Even then - I would STILL take everything to the appointment. Belt and braces... why not?...

[CULLINAN]

I still would not agree on taking all the hard copies of NON-originals which already are uploaded to the system.
Worst case scenerio, they do provide a printing service at the centre and as long you have the non-originals in your usb or email you can print it.
Save paper for clean environment. I suppose going digital has to have some pros.
Thats my personal opinion and what I will do.