ILR Question

[littletrouble]

Hello All

I posted my question before, but I wasn't very clear so I thought I'd try again. Be patient, this is a little complicated (though any info would be greatly appreciated).

I entered the UK in August 2000 as a visitor
I re-entered the UK in December 2000 on a 6 month Bunac permit (I know this doesnt' count towards the 4 years).
During my Bunac permit, I got a job and my employers applied for a work permit.
The letter from Work Permits UK was received within a week of application (April 2001) but my Home Office letter got lost (allegedly).

During the period of my MIA paperwork, the Home Office told me I could keep working legally at my job until the paper work came through. I finally got the letter around November 2001 - it was an endorsed photocopy, but the actual Home Office stamp (that should have gone on my passport) on the letter was from July 18th. My passport consequently didn't get stamped until I left/reentered the country from a holiday in November 2001.

I've called Croydon a few times to ask when I'm eligible for ILR and they've told me July 18th is the date to use as the 4 year mark (therefore making an appointment on/around 20 June). Even though a few people there have said it, I'm still looking for someone to tell me this is right. I'm not confident going down and spending £500 without knowing for sure.

Also - as the only letters I have from the Home Office are photocopies (though they are endorsed), will this cause a problem?

Finally - this one's the best one. Some of my letters have my boss' surname as my surname (he applied for the work permit). Others have them seperated. Anyone looking would see the mistake and see exactly how it was made (my name appears correctly on a number of the documents next to his correct name as well), but I'm worried this may cause a problem.

I've tried to call Croydon to put my worries to them, but they seem to like to limit you to one question every call (unofficially of course).

Hopefully someone can make my Tuesday morning a little brighter.

Thanks

[littletrouble]

i'm bumping this up.

i've just managed to book at appointment for the 20th june, and despite the fact I've had a few people at HO tell me I'm correct in my dates, I needed some reassurances from the wise folk on here.

[hsmphopeful]

littletrouble,

sounds like a complicated case. i am afraid the only way to find out will be to actually go to PEO with all the docs you have and try to explain everything...

[littletrouble]

Everytime I call the home office and present my case in bullet points, i get a different answer. Now I've been told to apply on some random date in September which doesn't appear anywhere in my paperwork or passport?!

I realise that there's procedures for all of this, but I really don't understand why their mistake can affect me so adversely. They lost the originals/got my name wrong/etc. and now I have no idea when my date is (and it seems neither do they)...

I'm very nervous about my PEO appointment (less than 2 weeks away) and would like some encouragement or some words of kindness as I'm nervous I'll come out empty handed.