Today I have made a successful ILR application. I have been reading the forums and gathered valuable information and now I think I should share my experience.
Entered UK in 2003, first working VISA in 2005, Work Permit started on 23rd October 2006 (60 months). Converted to Tier 1 G on 14th Oct 2008 valid till 14th Oct 2011. You can see although I am 9 days short but still within 28 days limit.
I kept all my bank statements and pay slips from Oct 2006 onwards. On 18th of Aug I booked my appointment for 26th of September. I started ringing for appointment couple of weeks before that. I wanted to make sure that 9 days short of 5 years will not be an issue. I was bit lucky to get through the phone lines very quickly every time I called.
My appointment was at 9 am today that is 26th of Sept 2011. I live near Solihull so drove and got there by 8 am. Spent 30 mins at the bar opposite drinking coffee. When we (me and my girl friend) reached the front door of PEO there were two people already there. The doors opened at 8:30, we were second to be let in. I asked I can bring my gf in and the security said yes. We went through the airport style checks, asked for the form and how I will pay then were seated. The man at reception only wanted to see if I have the form and how I will pay.
Soon after the security handed us the token (timed 8:33). After around 10 mins the token number was called to a counter and even my gf was allowed to accompany me.
The case worker was a calm smiley but bit formal woman. She asked for my Passport and form. She checked which type of application it is and did various checks on my Passport and filled a form looking at my Passport and computer screen. Then she asked me for LIUK certificate which was all good I never asked my score though.
She said she now wanted to look at my pay slips and corresponding bank statements for last 12 months. I handed them over, she started to look in payments made but I said I have highlighted the salary going in. She was pleased and went through matching the two very quickly. In total there were pay slips from 3 different employers and in one month there was over lap (paid by two employers in same month). She stopped at this month but I made it clear and politely apologized for it being confusing. She said it is not a problem.
She then said she will not ask for any more documents and she has to do one more check on my passport. She got back within 5 mins and said everything is fine and she said she will grant me ILR. She asked me if the photos were recent and I said they were taken yesterday she told me to make the payments at counter 6 and come back after 2 hours. She kept my pays slips and bank statements, I asked if she needs any copies and she said no she doesn't.
She added it is great to have a straight forward case first thing on Monday morning. I said I am glad that it was straight forward for you. We exchanged parting greetings and I made the payments and left. We came back after 2 hours and the Passport with ILR stamp with my documents was ready at the reception. The woman at the reception asked me to check the name and birth date and also if all the documents are returned. It was all fine. I thanked the staff there and came out before 11:30.
In all it was a pleasant, short and sweet experience. The documents I took with me:
1. Form
2. Passport
3. LIUK Certificate
4. 5 Years pay slips
5. 5 Yeas bank statements
6. Savings account statement last 6 years
7. Letter from current employer
8. Current employer contract
9. Work permit letter
10. Work permit leave grant letter
11. Masters degree certificate
12. Tenancy agreement
13. 2X passport size photos
14. P60s last 5 years but one was missing.
15. Letter from HMRC; employment history (to make up for missing P60 as well)
I also had copies of every document mentioned. Out of the originals mentioned above the case worked asked for:
1. Form
2. Passport
3. LIUK Certificate
4. Last 12 months pay slips
5. Last 12 months bank statements
6. 2X passport size photos
I am thankful to the nice case worker, various forums and everyone who supported me in making a successful application.
I wish good luck to all who are in process of making ILR application. Please make things as straight forward and simple as possible, check check and recheck, my employer got my birth date wrong in their letter which they replaced only days before.
Please do ask me any question if you have I will be happy to help.
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