My history:
* Mar 2004 - Mar 2006 = 2 Year working holiday
* Dec 2005 - Dec 2006 = HSMP
* Feb 2007 - Feb 2012 = WP
To clear any HSMP questions:
I was contracting on my HSMP visa and were one of those affected who's points meant that their HSMP's could not get renewed, my employer was kind enough to organize a WP for me but they required me to go back to my home country to make sure there would be no issues whilst jumping on a work permit, I was able to work remotely from my home country and paid in local currency, however due to circumstances and other delays the workpermit took longer than expected to come through - which meant that I stayed in my home country longer than the 90 days allowed if i wanted to take the judicial decision ruling and jump on HSMP from WP. Once I got my WP, HSMP left a bad taste in my mouth so I thought I'll stay on WP.
Other items on my situation:
* I got married to my wife with a ILR whilst on the WP, but due to the above HSMP decisions we both decided to each get our own visa's "on our own" without dependencies in-case another rule change leads to the same situation of being apart for 3+ months and then have it declared illegal once all those visas expired anyway! This would also mean that if there was any issues at all each of us would able to be dependents on another's
* I've been out of the country around ~130 days in total over the 5 years (i.e not a issue)
* I have stayed with the same employer throughout the period, no absences, gaps or anything like that
* I made the appointment online and knew SET(O) could only be done 28 days in advance, so I checked the pages daily in December to ensure I get the first I could 28 days in advance of expiry.
What I took with me on the day:
Again, I took far too-much but let's call is emotional scarring from the HSMP situation has caused me to rather get more than I would ever need than not have something
* 5 Years Bank statements (main account I receive my salary in etc)
* 5 Years Payslips, this was electronic so I got it company stamped and signed
* 5 Years P60's
* 5 Years Utility bills
* 5 Years Creditcard statements (I thought just-as-well)
* Employer's letter INCLUDING SOC code
* Life in the UK pass letter
* Original Work permit letter
* Spreadsheet of my trips in the same format as on the form
* Flight tickets and even boarding pass of me entering the UK with the WP
* Original paperwork of 2 year working holiday, HSMP and WP
* Land registry paperwork & Mortgage statements of my properties in the UK
* 2 Photos
* Croydon Appointment confirmation paperwork
On the day:
* Appointment was for 08:30
* Drove in, NCP car parking right across the road
* As you come in you are asked to show your appointment letter, showed this and asked if my wife (non-dependent) can come with me - had no issues with this
* Was escorted in a waiting room just before going to the airport-security-type room, they waited for about 10 people before letting us through to the airport-security-type room - wait here about 2 mins
* Airport-like-security is good and efficient, the security officials were complaining that they are doing more thorough checks now after a fire incident last week - the security bit took about 5 mins
* Just past security a gentlemen stopped me asking for my SET(O) forms, I informed him I know he is checking if I used the October 2011 forms and I have, and I was waved on
* The next queue is by a lifts area on the ground floor, waited around 10 minutes there
* Went to the 'pre-checks' counter, this lady just checked that I was on a WP, that I filled in the right form, asked if I had a Life in the UK pass letter, utility bills, bank statements, etc (but did not want to see them), assured her I have brought everything I possibly could from the past 5 years which satisfied her - I was then given a ticket number (: - This checking process took about 5 minutes, I was then waved to go upstairs for payment
* Due to a fire the previous week there was some refurbing going on, only 2 payment counters was open and it seems like Visa Agencies/men dressed in suits gets preference with 6+ applications at a time which frustrated everybody standing in the queues! I heard my ticket number being called for assessment before I was close to being able to pay, explained that to the friendly staff who put me infront of the queue of one of these agencies/suitmen I mentioned. Once at the payment window, they took the first 2-3 pages of the SET(O) form which includes the payment details you fill in, I paid with a VISA Debit card without any issues. - This whole process took about 35 minutes, without a long queue/refurb I suspect it would take about 10 minutes
* Just went through to the area after your payments and my number came up on a counter as I walked past it, what luck - 10 seconds
Actual SET(O) Check:
* The staff member was exceptionally friendly and a pleasure to deal with!
* I explained my previous UK VISAS to the gentlemen before he started asking any questions and made it clear that I left nothing to chance and brought everything he could possibly ask for, which seemed to please him as his first customer of the day.
* The form was browsed through, first thing he asked for was my employers letter and my last 3 months payslips, he immediately checked for the SOC code, compared it to his list of occupations and the salary I should get paid or above and was happy that this was all in order.
* At this point I need to point out that I got the overwhelming feeling that ILR is purely a money thing, it was quite clear that if the P60's/Bank Statements/Payslips are OK compared to your SOC code and you have not been using public funds in any way and can sustain yourself that you have nothing to worry about at all, from this point onwards it was clear that I would have no challenges or need to defend anything.
* Next thing he checked was my spreadsheet of my trips abroad, these totaled around ~130 which he immediately said is not a problem, he did however start counting up each year's days away and then added all the year's together to check my maths. I did emphasize at this point that I have many daytrips abroad (thanks Euro-tunnel/star) but I have counted them as days away just-in-case.
* He browsed through the rest of my application form and confirmed that I have only worked for one employer over the period of my WP, I confirmed this and he said "well, that makes this very easy!"
* At this point he asked for all my other forms, EVERYTHING he asked for over what I mentioned above was:
** My passport
** 3 Months payslips
** 3 Months bank statements
** All the P60's I have
** Life in the UK Pass letter
** 1 Photo (not 2)
* At this point I showed him my thick file and offered him 5 years of everything as I don't mind giving him 'toomuch information', he said that my case is straight forward and that I need not to worry, I then continued by asking if he is sure he does not need any utility bills, original workpermit letter, land registry deeds, mortgage statements, more bank statements or payslips or even just the second photo - he confirmed again that everything is fine as it is.
* He fiddled with the computer a bit, I observed him typing in my passport number, the number on my WP visa, my life in the uk reference, and home address, he started checking my bank statements when he said I should sit relaxed.
* I stayed infront of the counter whilst he checked everything as we were chatting about other things, about 20 minutes later he said that we should go out and come back after 3 hours to counter 21/Queries window to pick up the passport - I was not told 'congrats' or anything similar. This was at 09:00
* The above item took in total about 30 minutes
* We exited, went across the road to waste some time in the shoppingmall
Picking up the passport:
* We went back a bit earlier and was at the door of Luna house by 11:30, the area outside was packed due to some backlogs however I got waved through as soon as I showed my reference number, indicating that I'm picking up from a previous appointment.
* In the pre-security-screen area there was a HUGE queue as well, waited there for about 20 minutes
* Security again took about the same amount of time, we got waved through after security all the way back to the forms-checking area
* Went straight to the queries window, asked if our number was called already and was told yes (mine was about 6 from the top at this time so the 3 hour estimate was not too bad!)
* Was told 'congrats' and that I must please check my name's spelling and the date of issue (and my birth date) on my ILR which I of course very gladly did and the same for the letter you get as well
* Left Luna house by 12:00 !
* NCP Parking from ~06:30 - 12:00 cost about £12
Overall I have to say that the staff at Croydon was exceptionally friendly, helpful and informative, unbelievable patience for a government office dealing with the same questions day in and day out!
Sorry for the long post, however I hope it was informative for those going through this soon!
