Case:
WP (2Y6M) + T1G (2Y9M)
Single Employer
Absence at the time of appln: 740+ days biz trip and 100 days personal trip.
17 trips (14 biz trips, 3 personal trips) outside the UK in 5 yrs; no single absence was more than 75 days. No unpaid breaks.
Self + 3 dependents (deliberately all of us went together by car).
Summary of my experience at the Croydon PEO:
1. Arrived at 12:40 pm for the 12:45 pm appointment [just made it in time].
2. Passed through airport-style security [others have explained amply]
3. SET(O) screening and passport checks - 15 min in Grd floor.
4. Details entered into system and handed payment token and told to proceed to 1st floor to make payment.
5. On 1st floor, security checked Token No. and SET[O] form again, then directed me to the payment counter.
6. Payment thru Chip/Pin machine as I was paying through a debit card. I was then issued a token and told to wait in the waiting area on 1st floor. In spite of having informed my bank abt a large figure payment I had to go thru the payment gateway security check.
7. Waited 1h15m, before being called at 2:15pm. My wife and me sat in front of a supposedly Senior Male CW. Children continued to play behind.
8. CW was professional and very patient. Took 35 min to check all the passports old+current. Scanned all the photos and stapled them to the appln. He did everything to put us at ease and seemed a hardcore professional querying only when required.
9. Reviewed Covering letter, SET(O) and supporting documents. Asked for absence record and did not find anything surprising when he saw 740+ days of biz trip in the last 2.5 yrs. Letters from company HR and Line Manager were handed over which amply justified the business trips as company requirement and my core skills deployment. No hitch at all. He did not bother to have a look at the personal holidays' spreadsheet at all.
10. Later on asked ONLY COPIES of the documents and specifically told us that he does not need the originals. Reviewed them and then at 3.30 pm told that he is thru with his work. He asked us to collect our passports at Counter 22 by 4.45pm. We confirmed whether that is a sign of approval of ILR to which he said YES. We sighed big in relief.
11. We did not go out as it was cold and we had not had our lunch. The interval gave us time to relax a bit, eat something that we had carried along and had a cup of hot Espresso from the coffee shop in 2nd floor.
12. At 4.45pm we got our passports with ILR stamped and we were out of the PEO in glee by 5 pm.
I s'd really appreciate the CW as he calmly looked into ALL the details without getting up even once from his seat and took decision on his own. I was so impressed with him that I left a very good feedback and dropped it at his desk.
Having read the saga and experiences of so many applicants here on this board, I had gone fully prepared with plenty of documentation. Except for the generally perceived UNREASONABLE absence of 840+ days in total they could not have pointed out at any single blot which showed that I was not economically active in the country even though I am on non-taxable (NT) status since mid 2009. I have one employer throughout with evidence of economic activity/salary growth.
Documents requested by the Case Worker
1. Token Number and evidence of payment made [receipt]
2. Covering letter + SET [O] Application Form
3. List of Absences (only biz trip checked) + HR/Line Mgr letters
4. 2 photographs for each applicant
5. Passports for self + 3 dependents
Rest ONLY Copies
6. LIUK Test certificate
7. 12M payslips & 12M bank statements
8. Voluntarily handed over the Earnings Statement for 12M (which was useful to CW and he acknowledged that)
9. 5 years' P60
10. Cohabitation document - Council Tax for the last 5 years
11. Finally copies of all the passports (old+current) of all of us.
I had carried loads of other documents as back up that were not required - Higher points claim from PB Calculator+MBA Cert, Pension Contribution Receipts, Other bank statements to show available funds, Mortgage statements, Bldg+Contents Insurance (Jt name), Electoral Register letters, Utility bills, wife's bank statements, etc.
History: My 1st attempt at PEO Solihull on 19Jan12 went waste as I met a lady CW (perhaps the same one a few applicants and board members have encountered and reported as being very rude). She did not even go thru the entire SET(O) form. Within 5 min she asked me the absence record. Seeing the 840+ days' absence she simply decided that the appln merits postal treatment and reaffirmed with her Senior's backing. She did not give me any chance to explain and justify my absence even though I had the same documentation that I eventually submitted at Croydon. I doubted her intentions. She was really very rude with me even. In 10 min I was out of the PEO having gone all the way from London by train.
Lesson: No matter how many doors are closed there is always a door open for you to try. I immediately tried for another appointment at Croydon knowingly that I w'd be taking a chance at losing the money paid upfront before the case is opened. Luckily I got one and it turned out to be successful at Croydon.
