Post
by londonpal » Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:19 pm
[b]Many thanks to everyone who posted their experience here. It was very helpful thanks[/b]
My experience of booking appointments as follows :
[i][b][u]Preparing for online appointment booking *you will see below why this was good*[/i][/b][/u]
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Create UKBA login id and keep it simple (for e.g. consecutive chars of keyboard)
The memorable password was numbers 1 to 8 i.e. 12345678 (takes away the time needed to calculate which character is 6th for example)
Write login id, password, full names (as per passport), date of birth (date - separately, month separately, year separately and one as dd-mm-yyyy) on a Word Document
Copy and paste the link to UKBA Online Booking website in notepad (or Word document or whatever word processor you prefer) and to the Shortcuts to the browser you use
ensure that there are multiple places on your computer where you can click the link to online booking system. It helps.
[i][b][u]Booking appointment [/i][/b][/u]
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Day - 1 Trying to book the appointment :
Woke up at 11.45 midnight
UKBA website goes down around 12.10 midnight
I kept refreshing the link again and again and site comes online
I enter the complicated and looong login Id I had created (I didn't prepare as above then)
I calculate the 3th, 6th and 7th char of a complex memorable password I had chosen
Pressed enter something wrong with my password or my memorable word
Re-entered the details, got it right this time..
Hit enter and UKBA site went down again
Time now is around 12.25 am
I keep clicking the link for online booking (don’t use refresh as sometimes browser takes the old version of page in it’s cache).
Approx 2 or 3 mins later the online logon for website appears again
I enter the complex logon details/memorable word.. again takes 2 attempts to get it right (remember I didn’t prepare)
Get to see appointments available 42 days from the date and few appointments for earlier date..
Excited about it.. chose a date.. Website goes down again
Time is approx. 12.35 am
Website comes back again after approx. 5 mins.. logon again, complex password entered again.. select options and even less appointments available this time…
Start entering the details manually looking at passports at times to ensure details are correct (Remember I didn’t prepare)..
15 mins gone entering the details and verifying (you cant change the details once you entered and if you enter wrong details, you wont be entertained at the PEO office)
On last screen entered press book appointment – Appointment is gone..
Chose the option to select other date/location/time and no more appointments available.
Time now is approx. 1 am….. I am tired and in anxiety….. No use nothing is available.. all appointments gone..
Day – 2 Next day is horrid as I slept around 2 am previous night… Also couldn’t stay up in night to book the appointment as was very sleepy.. so happily slept through the night and loudest alarm couldn’t wake me up at 11.45 am
Day – 3 : Got the appointment
During the day –
Registered again at UKBA website with simple username and 12345678 as memorable word
Ensured everything I needed to type was already in notepad (Tip : use word document or any other word processor you are comfortable with. I used notepad as I am techie and I know it’s faster than word.. I just needed the ability to cut/copy/paste).
11.45 pm :
Rehearsed couple of times trying to get the appointment during the day (no appointments available during the day) to ensure I have everything I need to
12 am – UKBA Site goes down
12.10 am – Before website comes up.. I have browser on half screen, notepad on another..
Approx. 12.15 am
Site comes up..
I am on fire.. copying pasting from notepad and entering details in jiffy
Get to appointment screen in less than 1 min sharp
Chose an appointment date, copy pasted from notepad and when I pressed button, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…………….. website goes down again..
12.20am – 1 am : Tried booking the appointment, but irrespective of how quick I was, said appointments not available. Error message no longer states Appointment not available.. It said there is an error booking appointment (or something like that).
1 am – Eureka moment – Just thought check the email as the error message is different and may be appointment got booked before site went down again.. and BINGOOOOO an email confirming the appointment is there.. But doesn’t show on my logon page..
Wrote a note to website’s administrator to confirm if there was an issue with my booking and that site isn’t allowing me to book another one..
UKBA administrators got back very quickly to confirm the appointment was booked. There was issue with the system that appointment not showing up
[b]Bottomline is : [/b]
PREPARation helped me.. .. Keeping my logon id, password etc. HELPED ME… In my view, best chance to book appointment – within 10 mins of website coming up in midnight.. that’s the time appointments for 42 days from TODAY are released.. So don’t waste your precious time by trying to logon with complex username/passwords and memorable words.. NOT WORTH IT in my humble opinion..
[b][i] Keep Watching[/b][/i] Next is documents I carried (courtesy this website I was very prepared and the officer said – He was very pleased with the way I organised stuff. Made it easy for him to get through the application ASAPP..
Something I didn’t expect.. but was very nice to hear… and no I am not related to anyone who owns this discussion board
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My case was very straightforward :
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[b]For the period before you were granted leave as a Tier 1 (General) migrant, documents showing that you met
the relevant requirements of the immigration rules.[/b]
Bit of disclaimer – I am just sharing my experience.. Not saying this is exactly how it happens and how you should do it.. Make your call
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