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Hi and congrats. I have my appointment on the 21st of September. Just 1 question, you mentioned about your absence excel sheet. Did you make one or is there a UKBA format. Please let me knowisidds wrote:I have been granted ILR with my family (wife n two kids) on 6th of Sep 2011 at croydon PEO. I was under HSMP Apr - Nov 2006. I would like to thank all the members, moderators and everyone who contributes to this forum. My special thanks to Sushdmehta and Shahid Jami for bearing and answering my queries.
My initial appointment was at Solihull on 02 Sep but I somehow managed to forget the photographs and I did not take my family with me then. So, I came back home and got appointment with Croydon PEO for 06 Sep. My only worry was that I had 301 absences with half paid annual leave and half unpaid leave.
Documents asked:
Application
Passports
Photos
3 months pay slips
Employment letter (current)
Absences sheet
Cohabitation Proof
Here is how it went:
My appointment was scheduled at 12 noon and we reached the PEO at 11:55 owing to bad weather and severe delays on trains. And then the security guard was hesistant to let us in. But I was persistant and he let us go with a word that they might not see us. Anyhow, during initial application check the system froze and was held there was 30 mins and he then wrote something on application requesting checks be done by caseworker.After paying the fees we were sat in the waiting hall at 12:40 for our token to be called. And I was called at 2:15.
The lady caseworker was smiling as we exchanged greetings. And then she asked me to give the application form and passports. She checked something and then told me that I ticked the wrong option in section 3 (I ticked HSMP under ILR judicial review) and corrected it to Tier 1 - HSMP under JR. I argued with her a little that some parts of ILR JR apply to me but she had already made her correction so I let it go. Then asked for last three months payslips and employment letter. After 5 mins she asked me for the absences spread sheet and I handed it over. She went through it cross checking my two passports (expired and new) for entry stamps and verified that I did not have any 90 days absence at one stretch and looked content.
Then she asked me for cohab proof for last two years. And then it was time I used the knowledge gained on this forum. I told her that the reason I ticket the option I chose in section 3 was that I do not need Life in the UK test and cohab proofs as dependents follow the status of main applicant and then she argued a little but seeing my conviction of the point I was making she asked me wait and went away (may be to speak with her supervisor). When she came back she had a wry smile on her face as if she had conceded to my point and said "it's fine". Then asked me to collect my passport after an hour.
The overall conclusion is that she dint really care about my number of absences and was only concerned if there are any >90 days absences. I would love to contribute back to this forum if I can help answer any questions. So feel free to ask.
Thanks
isidds
Hi Isidds,isidds wrote:I have been granted ILR with my family (wife n two kids) on 6th of Sep 2011 at croydon PEO. I was under HSMP Apr - Nov 2006. I would like to thank all the members, moderators and everyone who contributes to this forum. My special thanks to Sushdmehta and Shahid Jami for bearing and answering my queries.
My initial appointment was at Solihull on 02 Sep but I somehow managed to forget the photographs and I did not take my family with me then. So, I came back home and got appointment with Croydon PEO for 06 Sep. My only worry was that I had 301 absences with half paid annual leave and half unpaid leave.
Documents asked:
Application
Passports
Photos
3 months pay slips
Employment letter (current)
Absences sheet
Cohabitation Proof
Here is how it went:
My appointment was scheduled at 12 noon and we reached the PEO at 11:55 owing to bad weather and severe delays on trains. And then the security guard was hesistant to let us in. But I was persistant and he let us go with a word that they might not see us. Anyhow, during initial application check the system froze and was held there was 30 mins and he then wrote something on application requesting checks be done by caseworker.After paying the fees we were sat in the waiting hall at 12:40 for our token to be called. And I was called at 2:15.
The lady caseworker was smiling as we exchanged greetings. And then she asked me to give the application form and passports. She checked something and then told me that I ticked the wrong option in section 3 (I ticked HSMP under ILR judicial review) and corrected it to Tier 1 - HSMP under JR. I argued with her a little that some parts of ILR JR apply to me but she had already made her correction so I let it go. Then asked for last three months payslips and employment letter. After 5 mins she asked me for the absences spread sheet and I handed it over. She went through it cross checking my two passports (expired and new) for entry stamps and verified that I did not have any 90 days absence at one stretch and looked content.
Then she asked me for cohab proof for last two years. And then it was time I used the knowledge gained on this forum. I told her that the reason I ticket the option I chose in section 3 was that I do not need Life in the UK test and cohab proofs as dependents follow the status of main applicant and then she argued a little but seeing my conviction of the point I was making she asked me wait and went away (may be to speak with her supervisor). When she came back she had a wry smile on her face as if she had conceded to my point and said "it's fine". Then asked me to collect my passport after an hour.
The overall conclusion is that she dint really care about my number of absences and was only concerned if there are any >90 days absences. I would love to contribute back to this forum if I can help answer any questions. So feel free to ask.
Thanks
isidds
Hi isidds - congrats! My question is around your absences:isidds wrote:After 5 mins she asked me for the absences spread sheet and I handed it over. She went through it cross checking my two passports (expired and new) for entry stamps and verified that I did not have any 90 days absence at one stretch and looked content.
Hi Isidds,isidds wrote:Bobbylondon,
Thanks. I did not use a solicitor as my case was not that complicated. And my absences were spread all through five years. I don't think there is any such criteria. If you have reasonable and explainable absences then you are fine.
malepiscean,
Thanks.
1. Yes, she did that. The reason was, I had 69 days of absences at a stretch in 2010 and I split that in two as half of it was paid leave (covering my one month notice period and redundancy pay) and half unpaid. But I forgot to mention that as a note on the spreadsheet. And just used the last date of paid holidays as 'Date returned to UK' and this caused a bit of alarm. Though I explained it to her she wanted to double check if all other entries I had in my spreadsheet are as I claimed to be, so she cross checked with the stamps in my passports.
2. Yes, I had only 8 stamps in total to be precise. So, they were all readable.
3. She cross checked every single entry in the 'Date returned to UK' column. I did not have entry stamp for when I came back from Dublin in 2008 but she understood it won't be there, so it was fine.
I don't think you should have any problem. Just list your absences and then the proofs (employer letter for business trips and paid vacation) and let the caseworker do the daunting task of verifying in passport, if they wished to. But don't miss out on any entries yourself as that might, if noticed, cause ruckoos. You know what I mean.
TBH, absences upto 350 days are normally disregarded (atleast from what I have been reading on this forum where many have been approved). Only thing is a 90 days at a stretch.