Mine started with putting all official correspondence that might be useful into a
box file as it arrived, from the time I got my fiancee visa and first came over here. I also put all of my husband's payslips into the box file as we received them in the post.
But, officially, each application process started when I'd check the forum a few months before my visa renewal was coming due, to see if there had been any significant changes since my last one (I checked for ILR a year in advance, and I'm
so glad I did, because the fee I thought I needed to save up was about 1/2 what I actually needed, so I had to really ramp up my savings schedule!). After checking in at the forum, I'd put together my document checklist (unique to me, because everybody's set of circumstances is different, and everybody requires slightly different things).
Then, about a month before, I'd let my husband know that it was time to order his bank statements from the bank and how far back they needed to go (6 months for the first three applications, 12 months for the last). A few weeks before each application, I would tell my husband to get his employer letter(s). For the first three applications, I used the same old tenancy agreement from the house we were renting, and our landlord was our neighbor, so I'd go next door and ask Sarah for a new letter giving me permission to stay because I wasn't on the original lease (I think I didn't need a fresh letter each time, but it didn't hurt to have one). After we bought our house and moved, I obtained a copy of the Land Registry document, and included the mortgage statement that had been issued because we'd been in our house for 18 month by the time I had to apply for ILR. All of these things went into the box file. And, of course, we had a certified copy of our marriage certificate in there. That also was where I kept our passports, so everything was together.
My husband was at the same job for the first three applications, so he'd get a fresh employer letter each time, and I'd include the same tired old copy of his employment contract, the newest payslips, and bank statements, and the latest P60. For the last application, he changed jobs about a month before we applied, so I did 11 months of payslips from the old job, one payslip from the new job, a letter from the new employer, his new employment contract, and 12+ months of bank statements.
After collecting everything quietly, trying to avoid stressing my husband out too much, I organized it all into a neat pile, and then went through it all again and again and again... and again. My checklist items were complete, and the checklist was UKYankee-approved... there was no need for this overwhelming sense of doom and constant checking and re-checking. But I am willing to bet real money that we
all do it!
