I just thought of sharing my experience here hoping it helps someone.
I applied for my wife's PEO ILR in Sept 2012 at Solihull and went through a gut churning experience although it all ended in the positive at the end of the day.
So here goes the story...
To start with our statuses (BEFORE my wife's ILR application on 6th Sept 2013)
Mine:
VISA status on 6th Sept: ILR in Feb 2013
VISA status previously: Tier 2 ICT migrant
Wife's:
VISA status on 6th Sept: Tier 2 ICT Dependent since June 2011
Major Leaves outside UK: 1st > 45 days during Nov-Dec 2011; 2nd > 91 days during Apr-Jul 2013
Application form used: Set M
Supporting documents during ILR application:
- My salary slips for 6 months
- My P60 for 5 years
- My bank statements for 12 months
- My passport and ILR BRP
- My Life in UK pass certificate
- Our Marriage certificate
- Our joint bank statement for 5 months (cohabitation proof)
- Our residential address proof letter given by MY employer (cohabitation proof)
- Our 3 years Council tax letter (cohabitation proof)
- Wife's passport and Tier 2 Dependent BRP
- Wife's Life in UK pass certificate
- Wife's NHS registration letter (cohabitation proof)
- Wife's UKBA letters for previous Tier 2 extensions (cohabitation proof)
- Wife's employer letter confirming her residential address (cohabitation proof)
- Wife's employer letter covering reason for 2013 year work related absence from UK
- Wife's P60 for 2 years (cohabitation proof)
- Wife's Cineworld account letter (cohabitation proof) - I know its strange
- Wife's NHS letter of appointments (cohabitation proof) - I know its strange
- Wife's few BCS certifications received at our home address (cohabitation proof) - I know its strange
Risk elements:
- My wife had only 1 cohabitation proof (council tax letter) for the period Jun 2011 to May 2012 (bank refused to open an account and NHS refused to register her as our VISA was for less than 6 months back in 2011 and hence was able to get these done only post May 2012 when our Tier 2 visa extension BRP was received)
- My wife had been outside UK for 3 months in 2013 and hence we weren't sure if she was eligible (2 years minimum stay rule) to apply in Sept 2013.
We are London based and chose Solihull PEO for my wife's application since we had read about numerous successful applications from here (although my own one from here became a little muddled before being successful which you can read here - http://www.immigrationboards.com/indefi ... 26589.html).
We had our appointment at a little past 1 pm and when we were called for our turn we were greeted at the counter by a temporary case worker wearing a yellow tag. Much to our discomfort she did not answer any of our queries around the supporting documents required to be submitted and we ended up giving all our original documents and photocopies. We made our payment at the adjoining counter and were informed to wait outside till being called later.
Once outside, we were informed that we could go out of the centre and return by 3.30 pm to understand our application status.
When we were outside loitering in the high street, my wife received a call at 3.15 pm asking us to report urgently to the centre. The only information given on the phone was that "our application was incorrect"
.We ran back to the centre and once let in, the security guard handed our application papers bunch and said that our application SET M form was wrong and to obtain a SET O form printout somehow and submit the same within 4 pm for our application to be considered else it would be deemed to be refused forfeiting my fees
.I demanded to see the case worker as I was confident of my application form especially since one of my friends had very recently applied for his spouse using SET M form (the only difference between my friend's case and mine was that he was previously on Tier 1 when I was on Tier 2 otherwise our entry into UK, our ILR applications and our spouse's entry into UK were all within very close timelines of eachother
.We nervously waited for 10 mins before being seen by the case worker. I argued with the case worker citing my friend's example
but he dismissed it. He was though kind enough to state that since our supporting documents were all fine , he was okay to give the ILR approval but needed the SET O form filled in and submitted within the next 15 mins before they closed their office for the day. He went one step ahead in being helpful by giving us a printout of the SET O form taken from within the office itself.
The printout was so bad (faded) that I wasn't able to see a single box in the form and ended up making so many mistakes and corrections while filling it up due to our nervousness. To give you an idea, the amount of mistakes we made in the SET O form was more than what we had made in total in any of our various draft applications collectively in all my past 5 years
.We were the last bunch of people in the centre and the case worker was so co-operative that seeing our nervousness, he sat with us outside in the waiting area while we filled up our forms constantly cheering us up.
To our amazement, he collected our form at the waiting area a little after 4 pm and flipping a few pages (review) announced his approval of our ILR application.
We thanked him and all the staff profusely before we left from there.
Lessons learnt:
- Solihull PEO is a great place for VISA applications and i don't have more words of appreciation for all the staff
- If in doubt of your application, head to Solihull PEO
- If you are applying for ILR using SET M form, carry 2 copies of SET O form along (to avoid any risks)
- If heading for PEO try and book a morning appointment so that if there are any issues with the application form or supporting documents, you could head out of the centre to get the docs unlike how I was stuck
- Ensure you are using the correction application form
.