ILR Success at Solihull 15/11/12, one entry stamp missing !

[pied_piper]

Hi All,

By the grace of Almighty the gracious and the most merciful, I have been granted ILR with my wife in Solihull PEO today. A big thanks to the forum members for this.

A brief case history with the list of the documents I prepared can be found at this thread

Here is a short account of what happened at PEO:

- Appointment 10:15 AM 15 Nov
- Arrived at 9:45
- A very nice old person at the first counter had a glance at our form
- Usual security check and we were given a token
- Within 15 mins we were called to go to a counter
-Asked for the form and passports
-Asked for 12 months salary slips, calculated all the salaries and tallied it with the one mentioned in the form;
- Asked for bank statement and appreciated i have marked all the payments
- As bank statements were in joint names, so she asked for one cohab proof for 2010-2011. As we had many proofs both with joint and single names, she picked up the council bill for 2010-2011 which was addressed to both.
- Asked for photocopies of the documents and took them all.
- Life in the UK
- Then she left us for a few checks while we waited for a few minutes.
- She came back with the good news that she was happy with our application and she has approved our ILR provided we had no criminal convictions.
- We paid the fees at cashier's window.
- Waited about 15 minutes and were called for the biometrics which took another 15 minutes.
- After giving the biometrics, we waited for about 15 minutes and were told everything sems in order so far and we could come back at 1300 hours.

- We returned at 1300 hours and after half an hour wait, we were handed over the ILR grant letters.

In summary Documents asked by CW:
- Set-O form
- photographs
- 12 months payslips
- 12 months bank statements
- LIUK test certificates
- Council tax bill as cohab proof along with the bank statements (both in joint names)
- Photo copies of passport, pay slips, statements etc.

Observations:
1. Solihull PEO was really worth the extra effort we took by travelling 150 miles to reach there. Although the building is small and kids can really get irritable but I found the staff very welcoming and positive.

2. We had plethora of documents with us, but we only handed over the ones which the CW asked. We had divided the documents in five folders:
1. Main documents
2. Cohab documents
3. All the photocopies of 1 and 2.
4. Supplementary documents like cover letter, P60s, Employer letter, Absence sheet, all previous salary slips.
5. A lot of random mail received during last two years.

Only 1,2, 3 were visible to the CW and 4,5 were sitting in a shoulder bag out of reach of the CW.

3. I did not mark the salary slips but marked the relevant entries in the bank statements with a lead pencil. Marking or not marking does not make any difference, IMHO, as CWs are highly skilled to identify the relevant information. Though, I like to think it might make their work easy if we could highlight the relevant entries.

4. Number of Cohab documents is irrelevant for SET-O applicants as the CW only considered the joint bank statements and joint council tax bill.

Once again, I would like to thank a lot for all the forum members who contributed positively during my quest for information here

p.s. I will share the cover letter and other stuff which I prepared for the application shortly as I find some time.

[InUkOnHsmp]

Congratulations pied_piper. You have been as helpful to other members as the forum has been to you, ,so thank you too.

Please share docs as and when you can.

From your post, main points to note are:

1) No P60s were asked for.
2) Only 2 cohab docs, which is great.
3) No payment issues, can you share how you paid etc?

[pied_piper]

Congratulations pied_piper. You have been as helpful to other members as the forum has been to you, ,so thank you too.

Please share docs as and when you can.

From your post, main points to note are:

1) No P60s were asked for.
2) Only 2 cohab docs, which is great.
Yes
12 bank statements covered 2011-2012
Council tax bill covered : 2010-2011

3) No payment issues, can you share how you paid etc?
I used American Express credit card though I called them in advance. I am not sure if the advance call had any effect.

Nice words InUkOnHsmp

As I said earlier in another post, keeping many other posts in view, documents like P60s should be better arranged to avoid confrontation with the CW in case s/he asks for it. Having said that, it is also important to avoid digging a hole for yourself by providing the CW only what you are asked for.

[InUkOnHsmp]

Points taken pied_piper. Now getting ready for my ILR next month .

[rasinrdj]

congratulations.
>- Asked for bank statement and appreciated i have marked all the payments

Silly question, can you please share how you have marked the payments on the bank statement?

Thanks,
Rasin

[wpilr_nov12]

The CW will match the figures on your comp slip against your bank statement.

The idea is to highlight (with a highlighter) the entries on your bank statement to show the corresponding amounts of your payslips going into bank.

By doing this you have made the CW's job a lot easier. They usually like applicants doing this.

[pied_piper]

congratulations.
>- Asked for bank statement and appreciated i have marked all the payments

Silly question, can you please share how you have marked the payments on the bank statement?

Thanks,
Rasin

Simply used the lead pencil to draw small arrows along the right margin.

I find it an overkill though, if only one salary is being drawn into the bank account, this big amount is hard to over look on the bank statement.

[samira_uk]

Congrad!!!

It is interesting that in PEO Birmingham you will pay after they approve your case. I think Croydon is the worst PEO.

Moreover, what about the missing stamp you did not say anything about that;)

[pied_piper]

Congrad!!!
Thanks very much samira_uk.

It is interesting that in PEO Birmingham you will pay after they approve your case. I think Croydon is the worst PEO.

Most of the applicants came with the legal representatives. I can assume Solihull would be the most favourite PEO for no-win-no-fee solicitors. They don't have anything to lose if they lose their client's case. No wonder, getting an appointment slot at Solihull was very tough, at least for me
What I have read and heard so far about Croydon PEO makes me think the same as you do.

Moreover, what about the missing stamp you did not say anything about that;)

You are absolutely spot on. I did not say anything about that neither the CW raised this.

[wpilr_nov12]

Most of the applicants came with the legal representatives. I can assume Solihull would be the most favourite PEO for no-win-no-fee solicitors. They don't have anything to lose if they lose their client's case.

Thanks for pointing that out.