I have been mostly a passive member in group since long time and this group has helped a lot getting my Tier1/ILR visas.
So I thought it is the time to give something back.
First of all thanks to the moderator and all the members who share/help visa queries in this forum. I must say this forum is really helpful.
Had an appointment at PEO solihull yesterday for ILR and I got it approved.
As most of the members agree the fact that Solihull PEO staff is very humble and helpful and I received the best service here from UKBA so far.
My case was WP+Tier1 >> ILR with 2 dependents (Spouse+Child born in UK).
I had booked the appointment at Sheffield PEO on 4th june and then I rescheduled to Solihull on 6th June later since I live in Birmingham. I had paid £300. There was a problem with the website as it was not updated the change in My Account details.After twenty days I got a shocking email saying that UKBA cancelled my appointment due to some reason, it did not
say why. I got worried and called the helpdesk, a lady said it was cancelled because I didn't pay appointment fee. It was a clearly a UKBAs mistake because they should have cancelled it next day if I did not pay the fee. They accepted it was by mistake and told they would check and call me back. After some time I got a call saying that it's now rescheduled to 20th June. I said I want it on the same I booked as I had some other plans later. Again she said she would speak Solihull PEO and call me back. After 10 minutes she called me again said yes you can attend it on 6th June same time. It was such a relief !!! People how difficult is to get an appointment.
Appointment issue is now sorted and I prepared following documents-
1. 12 months Payslips and Bank statements
2. LITUK test pass letters
3. Child UK Birth Cert
4. Cohabitation documents for 2 years
5. Passports and BRP cards
6. Photos
7. Employment ref letter (Didn't ask)
8. P60s for 5 years (Didn't ask)
9. Letter Absences proof from employer (Didn't ask I was away only for 120days in total)
10.Work Permit letter (Asked)
Appointment was at 10am. Was called at 10:30 to the counter. The lady CW sounded very humble and kind. She started with appointment problem and saying that the payment (£300) has gone Sheffield PEO and I will have to pay the full application fee and they would refund the appointment fee later. I explained the complete story on happend with the apppintments and then she went checked with her manager. After 5 mins she came back and said it's sorted now and you need to pay the remaining amount only.
She asked why are you including your child in this application as she already had tier1 deplendent visa valid till 2015. I said I am planning to travel to India and cannot wait for naturalization process. She said since she is born here she is eligible for BC directly after my ILR and you can use the current dependent visa for travel. Well I didnt know if Tier1
dependent visa is still valid when the my visa status is changed from Tier1 to ILR. She helped me save around £1300 and I was very happy to know that !!!
Also in theory I should have lost the appointment fee (£100) for one applicant as I decided to exclude my child from the application. But she said she would adjust it towards the application fee!! I could not beleive it as someone is sorting out things for me without asking for it!! I really appreciated her.
Then she started asking for documents one by one and verified and said everything is fine. It took around 30min. Then I was asked to wait and till someone calls for biometric. After 15min called for biometric and biometric was completed within 15mins.
Then I was asked to leave and come back at 1:30. When I came back at 1:30, it is all ready and I was handed over the approval letter and orininal documents. Thank God
Hope it is helpful and you may ask if you have any queries.
Many Thanks all of you.
Zam
) @ solihull PEO office.