Thread: Indefinite Leave To Remain In The UK - Your Experiences

Today marks the start of that very narrow window, in which a settled foreign national in the UK has to apply for permenant residency AKA indefinite leave to remain.

It's all going pretty well so far, and my wife has already procured her Life in the UK test pass, and we have just located what we believe to be the exact type of documents we need for both financial and living together proofs.

It's now just a matter of booking our appointment with the public enquiry office nearest to us, and hand over our £1020 (ouch!) for an on the spot reply...it's either that or spend £200 less and wait 6 months for an answer.

I'm working full-time, she's working part-time, daughter is at school, we've adhered to the rules to the letter...pretty solid case given the dubious people they do let through.

I reckon it's all pretty straight forward, and a lot less stressfull than the settlement visa application, for one thing there is already a precedent set by the granting of the settlement visa in the first place.

One thing that this taught me was to keep absolutely everything, because you need documents proving you have been living together spread out over the entire 2 year period...either addressed to both applicant and partner or separately at the same address, and quality docs such as DVLA, electricity, NHS, banks, council tax, and HMRC. We have an abundance of this stuff, but for the shredders amongst you, don't even think about it.

Life in the UK is a pretty tough test, but given a bit of study it's pretty doable as there are only ever a limited number of questions that get asked....even the "what %" questions become familiar after a while. It's either that or do one of the mickey mouse ESOL courses for several months...it's baffling how an MA in English will not suffice....and you thought the TCT was a mystery.

Anyway, I'd love to know how anyone else got on with getting their partner's ILR, and hope this thread can be a guide for others in the future. There will of course be regular updates until the big day.

Yeah tell me about it...supposedly it's to keep out the rifraff, but that flies in the face of whet I see on programs like UK Border Force. It seems to be something of a cheek, when asylum seekers get a council house for zilch.

I had that exact same notion as you just suggested yesterday with the wife when we were debating what docs to supply. Just take the whole bloody lot along in the car just in case the selection we had didn't cut the mustard. We're going on the threory that we both have to be seen as living at the same address in the same quarter across the two year timeframe. Solihull, although not that far from our house is too far to have to go back because a borders agency guy doesn't like a certain document.

---Update---

Incidently Jasper, can you confirm, is it 28 days before the date that the visa is valid until that you have to apply, or 28 days before the 2 year anniversary that you entered the country? I am suspecting the former...

Originally Posted by LDMA

It's now just a matter of booking our appointment with the public enquiry office nearest to us, and hand over our £1020 (ouch!) for an on the spot reply...it's either that or spend £200 less and wait 6 months for an answer.

Don't bother with the public enquiry same day thing, Louis, in my humble view - you just pay an extra £200 for nothing. If she doesn't need ILR straightaway (for example, if she had been due to fly back to Thailand next week), why give the buggers more? The wife had her passport back with ILR within 7 weeks of sending the papers off by post eighteen months ago; by making the application your wife's leave to remain is automatically extended by law. It should be absolutely fine, don't worry.
The wife's shiny, new UK passport arrived last week in the post - no more immigration/visa hoops to jump through, oh goody

Originally Posted by paully

The wife had her passport back with ILR within 7 weeks of sending the papers off by post eighteen months ago...

my wife got hers a couple of weeks ago after three weeks. that's all it took louis, we were expecting up to nine months as advised, we got it in three weeks.

i was suprised as to how easy the whole thing was.

my wife posted -

1. the completed 'set m' form
2. 'life in the uk' test certificate
3. pay slips from the last year
4. utilities bills from the last year
5. mortgage statement
6. 800 nicker

3 weeks later, passport arrives with i.l.r.

couldn't have been easier.

you'll be more than fine mate.

Well, the Public Enquiry thing is out the window...no appoint ments until late next month a good 2 weeks after we have to apply so, we'll be taking our chances by post. Well on the bright side it's 200 notes cheaper, Hales' 3 week turn around is encouraging and on the opposite end Defender's Mrs' ILR took 10 weeks. Very few straightforward cases it seems take the threatened 6 months.

Still not wanting to assume anything, we have shelved our holiday plans for Spain til we have our passports back. So after much analysing of the application form we have submitted, the last 6 months worth of payslips and bank statements for the financial side, and about 21 different documents addressed jointly (or if separately, from the same time frame at the same address) from HMRC, two different local authoritys, the NHS, our respective banks, Southern Electric, insurance companys, phone bills and credit card companies along with Life in the UK pass certificate

We'll be sending the whole lot with painstakingly analysed form and bank card details tomorrow via special delivery to Croyden.

We're figuring too much rather than too little, and have added helpful appendices stating what docs, addressed to me, her or both and the date.

Fingers crossed, here we go.

you have nothing to worry about louis. why would you? it's a genuine marriage and your wife is supporting her self. end of story.

Originally Posted by LDMA

We're figuring too much rather than too little

to be honest we went the other way with this and the settlement visa. figured they'd appreciate us being concise and to the point rather making them wade through endless paperwork. seemed to do the trick.

Originally Posted by LDMA

t's baffling how an MA in English

it isn't mate - my Mrs does one of those ESOL classes and there is a Thai chick in their with an Thai MA in English and she can hardly string a sentence together.

---Update---

Originally Posted by paully

The wife's shiny, new UK passport arrived last week in the post - no more immigration/visa hoops to jump through, oh goody

That must feel good - not to mention overseas future travel! Can she get a state pension?

Originally Posted by Desertexile

it isn't mate - my Mrs does one of those ESOL classes and there is a Thai chick in their with an Thai MA in English and she can hardly string a sentence together.

I guess it does help that my wife was an English teacher for 10 years previously....incidently she's also one of the very few Thais being paid to teach English to non-Thais in England.

Originally Posted by LDMA

I guess it does help that my wife was an English teacher for 10 years previously....incidently she's also one of the very few Thais being paid to teach English to non-Thais in England.

Mate - dont take that the wrong way! I know your Mrs is a smart lass! My point was just that an MA in English from some Rajacrap doesn't really spell fluency.

No, I meant an MA from a UK uni...not Rajabottoms...surely THAT should count for summat...

Loads!

The problem is people like this.