ILR Approval - Turnaround times for postal route

[EJ]

Dear All,

I thought I would share with you my experience in obtaining ILR via the postal route.

Date sent: 5 October
Date reply recieved: 25 October
Date of visa in passport: 20 October

I included the following docs:
4 yrs of p60s
last six months payslips
mortgage statement
one month's bank statement
original WP document
HSMP extension approval letter
Self addressed prepaid special delivery envelope

All docs + passport + special delivery envelope were returned by ordinary first class post.

[FLR]

Congratulations for your ILR !!!

I'd ask few questions if you could reply :-
1. did you apply after four years of your EC granted?
2. how much time were you out of the country between the date when EC was granted and your ILR application?
3. will you be able to apply for British Citizenship after one year of your ILR?
4. I've heard but am not sure that when you are eligible to apply for Citizenship, you've the option to either get British passport OR get all or some percentage of the taxes you already paid and go back to your contry, do you know something about it?

Let's not bombard you with any more questions.

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Cheers

[EJ]

Hi Hafeez,

1. I did not apply after 4 yrs of Entry Clearance as EC did not exist 4 years ago. I did however arrive on a work permit in the UK 4 years ago. In fact I applied exactly 28 days before my four years were over.

2. I was out of the country on average two weeks a year.

3. Yes, I will be able to apply for BC after one year.

4. I am not sure about this. I have heard of people with British passports that returned to their home country and claim part of their NI conts back. This does mean that you give up your right to a British State Pension once you retire. I suppose it is simillar to British citizens contracting out of the state pension scheme.