Hi Everyone (who may or may not remember me; I've been busy and haven't posted for quite some time)!
I just wanted to share some news:
At approximately 9:45 this morning the doorbell rang. It was the postman with a package to sign for. That package was for me. It was from Croydon…
I signed for it. I made directly for the phone to call Jamie (who is working while I have some time off from the day job type place (for those who don't know/remember me, I work for a software development company by day during the week and am the lead singer of a band by night). Why? Because, we need the money). He waited while I opened it and reached inside it to discover my passport, opened to page 10, displaying a beautiful new stamp in it.
All this to say…
It is finished. The battle is over. Elation coupled with utter relief…
I have INDEFINITE LEAVE TO REMAIN, which is to say, of course,
I have permission to remain – forever – with The Reason I Breathe.
Happy Thanksgiving, indeed.
We ended up having to apply by post rather than in person as we wanted to in the first place. The reason for this was that I delayed my trip into the UK on my spousal visa two years ago for three weeks after receiving it (not knowing, at the time, this would cause a problem), and that caused a SNAFU for applying in person. I was advised - by a nice man in Croydon - to apply by post because it would give a grace period between the time the Visa was expired and when they processed the Indefinite Leave to Remain.
So, that's what we did. It took them a good month to process it, and due to this Jamie and I weren't able to go visit the States to see my kids for Thanksgiving as we had hoped... but, right now we are just relieved and ecstatic that I have my ILR.
Thanks to those of you who remember me and have always been supportive here on UKY. The info here was invaluable in me receiving my Spousal Visa two years ago.
Thanks especially to the amazing Garry - without whom I wouldn't have survived this application for ILR (this isn't overdramatics; it's simply the truth).
And, good luck to anyone who is presently in the process. If they'll grant it to me, there's hope for anyone!
And....Happy Thanksgiving to all!
