How to prepare for ILR

Okay...so I came in on June 1st with my spousal visa. So, in May 2007 I will need to apply for ILR, right?

Is there anything I should be doing now to be prepared then? I mean, I believe you're supposed to provide proof that you've been living together as a married couple for the two years. So, do I hang onto bank statements for these two years? Do I need to be doing other things like that? I never keep those kinds of things so it would be good to know what I need to be hanging onto when I go to apply in a couple years.

Anything else I should be doing?

Thanks.

Keep your rental agreement or motgage papers, bank statements, credit card statements,  utility bills....everything that you have both jointly and/or individually at the same address.

If you go onto the Home Office website it will tell you exactly what you need to present. 

Yes its a pain but if you start to organize now and file it away....it will be much easier. 

We have no rental agreement...  My father-in-law has a verbal agreement for this place (he has two businesses below our flat) so there's just nothing on paper. I don't imagine us living here for longer than a year but you never know. Could that end up being a problem?

Also, the only thing I'm on right now his bank account. He tried to get my name added to the BT bill (to get me on the bank account but we sorted it out anyway) and BT wouldn't do it. They said they only allow one name on accounts now... I don't know what that's about. Anyway, we really don't have anything else right now to add my name to.

If I collect bank statements this year and then have more things next year, should I still be okay? It's not common for them to deny ILR, is it? I know it's early to be worrying about that and I'm really not... I just want to make sure I'm prepared. lol

Thanks.

Good that you are saving that stuff from now as I go for my ILR next month and I am struggling to scrounge up old mail.  The thing is they want 10 pieces of mail, but no more than two from the same source which is problematic as I have reams of bank statements and not a whole lot of anything else.  You don't need things with both names on (though I think it "looks" good to them), but you must have mail from both of you with of your names on it.  BT must have changed their policy as my name was added to the bill about a year ago.

Save anything "official" dated with both years, as you need to show you lived together for the two years.

Utility bills
NHS letters
National Insurance Number mail
DVLA correspondence (I am hoping my license itself will be admissable as it has my name and address on it)
Bank statements
Credit card statements (if you only have US credit cards, change your address on at least one of them to your UK address)

Couldn't your Father in lawmake up a rental agreement?.  I don't know how official they need to be, but I imagine a formally typed up document stating the address of the flat and both your names, rental amount etc would constitute an "agreement".  Just a guess, as I don't know the first thing about property or any other kind of law.

We're gathering up the stuff for my ILR appointment (this Friday!).  So far we have:

my passport
DH's passport
SET (M) application
2 photos of me
1 photo of DH
our marriage certificate

From year one: (8 documents addressed to me, 3 addressed to both of us, 6 addressed to DH only)
my NHS card
four of my Bank of America bank statements
my NIN letter
one of my Barclays bank statements
one Simply Be account statement
our first rental agreement
our second rental agreement
two of DH's bank statements
council tax bill
two water bills
two gas bills

From year two: (one addressed to both of us, seven addressed to me, six addressed to DH)
our rental agreement
my NHS card
two Simply Be account statments
Bank of America statement
two Barclays statements
one Evans statement
two water bills
two electricity bills
two gas bills

Just hold on to anything "official".  It doesn't matter if it's not addressed to both of you -- they'll take a mix of things addressed to each of you individually as long as they're to the same address at the same time.

Yikes. For some strange reason I haven't been thinking about this - I'll have to go in next year at this time. Guess I better start hanging on to stuff.... Damn that new shredder that we just bought!!! 

Thanks for that info Lola!  I have an appointment this friday (the 9th) and was a bit confused.  They don't make it very clear on the Home Website whether or not to bring 10 supporting documents for each year or a combined total of 10 for both years. I am going to do what you did and take plenty of ducuments to support both years.  How did your interview go?  Was it pretty simple and straightforward?  I am going to the Birmingham office...fingers crossed they won't chew me up and spit me out. 

P.S. I don't chat much on this forum....just when I need advice which isn't often these days since I have settled down, but I remember you (perhaps with a different user name) about three years ago.  You mentioning your hubbys name DH made me remember when you were newly married.  Hard to believe three years has passed!  Hope it's been a good journey for you!  Seems like yesterday I was crying while typing plenty of tear jerking messages of distress from adjusting to a new life over here.  Looking back, it was worth it and I survived.

Thanks for the info!