Background
- SET O form , Tier 1 G 5 year route with 1 dependant (old rule so 2 year needed for ILR).
- Initial Tier 1 G was granted out-of-country.
- Main Applicant - Degree outside UK, 10 points awarded on PBS calc.
- Dependent - Degree outside UK, 0 points on PBS calc., NARIC statement of comp. and Letter from Uni.
- Leaves > 180 days in any 12 months - NO
- No Work related leaves from UK, only personal leaves.
- 5 years of permanent employment and no self employment.
General Doubts prior to application and on App form
When to book Appointment? - The appointments become available 42 days before your date of application at 00:00...
When to apply?
The guidance notes says "Please do not apply more than 28 days before completing the qualifying period. If you apply earlier than that, your application may be refused. If that happens, we will not refund the fee and you will have to pay again when reapplying."
28 day rule: I had loads of confusion regarding the earliest date I can apply and how to count 28 days before the qualifying period.
Below is the response I got from UKBA on how to calculate 28 days...
"You would need to count back 28 days from the day before you become eligible i.e. you don’t include the day you hit the five year period in your 28 days."
To put it simply use the http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html and simply subtract 28 days from the date you qualify and you should be fine...I applied exactly 28 days before my qualifying date.
Doubts on application SET(O) application form and what I did...
During booking PEO I selected SET (O) --> Tier 1 General.
Payment Details: SET(O) - Q6 - Q12, leave blank. Make sure you take your payment confirmation sheet with your appt.
4.3 - For both of us I selected
• An academic qualification deemed by UK NARIC to meet the recognised standard of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or PhD in the United Kingdom and:
˗ UK NARIC has confirmed that the qualification was taught or researched in English;
4.4 - Left blank
4.5 - 4.8 - Left blank as we have not given any english language test.
5.3 If so, what is your pay each month after income tax and other deductions? - Sum of 12 months net pay/12.
6.3 - Left blank , although I provided letter from employer and self explanation absence letter.
6.4 - This refers to the last time you entered the UK for ex. after a holiday or work related leave outside the UK.
Section 5: ILR don't have maintenance requirement. But there was question about finances in section 5, and evidences of "Your finances" on the form.
Your last 6 months bank statement would suffice for this. But you would be submitting this anyway for salary proof. So that would suffice.
Section C - Continuous residence c1 - Left blank
12L - Left blank
Section 13 - Consent for the Home Office to request verification checks
The dependent signed the "Name and address of joint customer" declaration as we had co-habitation documents in joint names.
The preparation of ILR should start at least 2 years before your date of application. Things to remember:
1. Keep all your addresses up-to-date specially with govt. departments - we tend to forget updating addresses when moving house specially with
- DVLA - V5C Vehicle registration and driving license
- Council tax and TV license
- Electoral Register
- UKBA
2. As proof of co-habitation include your spouse name in as many documents as possible at-least 2 years before date of appln.
3. Pay by direct debits whenever possible specially with Council Tax, TV license, car insurance, Credit card (min payment). Keep your debts under control..
4. Take control of your taxes and check your employment history regularly with HMRC every couple of years and when you switch jobs.
5. Be safe behind wheels.
Documents submitted
I had 3 folders. One all originals, second all photocopies. Third I had extra docs, kept with myself, which had any extra docs that CW might ask just in case.
- Main applicant old passport,- Main applicant current passport,Dependant current passport
- Biometric card of main + dependant
- 2 passport size photographs taken recently of both, with full names written on back
- Filled Set O form
- Application Payment sheet
- Appointment confirmation email print out
- 12 months pay slips
- 12 months joint bank statement of me and dependant (has incoming salary of main applicant for 12 months - salary bits highlighted)
- Main applicant original degree qualifications + - PBS calculator summary - Tier 2 awarding 10 points
- LIUK of main applicant + dependant
- Dependent Original Degree + NARIC letter of compatibility + Letter from Uni
- Cohabitation docs from council tax, joint bank statements, electoral cards, letter from GP surgery and electoral for address history, various utility bills spread over 2 years
- Cover letter explaining points and absences in each year. Had only a total of 27 days of absences in whole 5 years.
- Absence letter self explanation.
- Employer letter for absence. Only took personal absences
- Photocopies of all the above except SET O form
The whole process took 2 hours and surprise surprise, I was told the 3 magical words "ILR is approved"
I was almost in tears.. The staff at croydon was very pleasant, organised and helpful
What a relief now. Thanks all of you. Any questions please ask and Im happy to help you out. Good luck with your process.
Thanks
RD
