ILR success @ Sheffield with 300 days absence

[jager]

I was granted ILR on Friday at Sheffield; route was UK ancestry. Croydon was closer but I'd heard such bad things about it that I decided to go north. Appointment was at 2pm, arrived at 1:20pm, process all over by 3pm. As others have commented it is a small and rather uncomfortable waiting area where everything happens in one place, and if you aren't careful you can miss announcements. Staff were all pleasant.

My number one worry was a high number of absences, and additionally I work in academia so there are long "holidays" which in fact are used mainly for research away from campus. I wasn't sure whether the caseworker would be aware of this. I do a lot of work in Europe but have been essentially trapped in the UK for a year since I didn't want to risk ILR rejection by spending any more time out of the country.

They take your application form and supporting documents all at once and take them away for consideration. For the supporting documents I submitted

- employer letter, which itemised and confirmed all employment related absences and explained the "holiday" issue
- absences spreadsheet, with departure and re-entry dates, page references for passport stamps, total days out for each trip (excluding travel days) and reason for each absence. I calculated 129 employment and 171 holiday days in total, but I didn't provide those totals on the caseworker spreadsheet
- birth certificates confirming descent from UK grandparent
- 5 P60s
- 3 bank statements
- 3 payslips
- KOL certificate

I had prepared for battle on the absences so had printed out the caseworker guidance on the issue and some other supporting documentation, but in the end they didn't ask any questions and said everything was fine.

Good luck to all.

[jason77]

jager, many congratulations on your success

I was granted ILR on Friday at Sheffield; route was UK ancestry. Croydon was closer but I'd heard such bad things about it that I decided to go north. Appointment was at 2pm, arrived at 1:20pm, process all over by 3pm. As others have commented it is a small and rather uncomfortable waiting area where everything happens in one place, and if you aren't careful you can miss announcements. Staff were all pleasant.

My number one worry was a high number of absences, and additionally I work in academia so there are long "holidays" which in fact are used mainly for research away from campus. I wasn't sure whether the caseworker would be aware of this. I do a lot of work in Europe but have been essentially trapped in the UK for a year since I didn't want to risk ILR rejection by spending any more time out of the country.

They take your application form and supporting documents all at once and take them away for consideration. For the supporting documents I submitted

- employer letter, which itemised and confirmed all employment related absences and explained the "holiday" issue
- absences spreadsheet, with departure and re-entry dates, page references for passport stamps, total days out for each trip (excluding travel days) and reason for each absence. I calculated 129 employment and 171 holiday days in total, but I didn't provide those totals on the caseworker spreadsheet
- birth certificates confirming descent from UK grandparent
- 5 P60s
- 3 bank statements
- 3 payslips
- KOL certificate

I had prepared for battle on the absences so had printed out the caseworker guidance on the issue and some other supporting documentation, but in the end they didn't ask any questions and said everything was fine.

Good luck to all.

[dazzy999]

Did you take photocopies of your documents ?