From Kansas to the Potteries

I have used this site for both my first and second visas and now again for hopefully my last and thought it would be good idea to say Hello and see if there is any one else from Kansas or in the Potteries (Stoke On Trent/ Newcastle Under Lyme). 

Just by reading other posts I was able to have success with my visas and am very grateful for all the amazing suggestions and advice given here and look forward to posting more on the forum.   

I have used this site for both my first and second visas and now again for hopefully my last and thought it would be good idea to say Hello and see if there is any one else from Kansas or in the Potteries (Stoke On Trent/ Newcastle Under Lyme). 

Just by reading other posts I was able to have success with my visas and am very grateful for all the amazing suggestions and advice given here and look forward to posting more on the forum.   

Well, hello!  I'm not from Kansas (but I've driven across it several times, if that counts for anything), and I'm not up in your area.  I just wanted to say hi and congrats on almost being at the end of your immigration journey!  Yay for ILR soon!

I noticed in your signature that you're planning to apply by post.  If you don't mind sharing your application timeline when the time comes, I would love to add you to the spreadsheet.  Most applicants pay the extortionate fee to apply in person for a same-day decision, so we don't have a lot of information about how long ILR applications are taking by post.  (Based on what I have seen, it's definitely a lot faster than the six months we were all afraid it would take!  Just under 4 weeks for one, 10 weeks for another.)

Oh, also, I don't know if you're waiting 'til the end of September because you think you have to, or if that's just what fits in your plans/budget, but you can apply up to 28 days before you reach 60 months in the UK.  Since you arrived September 18, 2013 on your spouse visa, you could have applied starting from last week.

We would be more than happy to share the progress of the application with you.  We talked it over and really didn't see the point of applying in person as we are not in a hurry.  Plus we can use that money we are saving by not applying in person for our holiday cruising the River Shannon in Ireland next year.   

We were waiting for my husband to decide when he was going to retire and he had his meeting today and will be retiring while the application is being processed so we have decided that the best way was to use the saving and not his pay so that all is above board.

So we will be doing our final check on Monday after we get our bank statements stamped and then sending it off on Tuesday.  I will start a new topic in the visa section once it is on its way.   

Hope you enjoyed driving across Kansas as most people tend to find it boring and comment on the lack of trees.   

Thank you for your warm welcome.

We would be more than happy to share the progress of the application with you.  We talked it over and really didn't see the point of applying in person as we are not in a hurry.  Plus we can use that money we are saving by not applying in person for our holiday cruising the River Shannon in Ireland next year.   

We were waiting for my husband to decide when he was going to retire and he had his meeting today and will be retiring while the application is being processed so we have decided that the best way was to use the saving and not his pay so that all is above board.

So we will be doing our final check on Monday after we get our bank statements stamped and then sending it off on Tuesday.  I will start a new topic in the visa section once it is on its way.   

Hope you enjoyed driving across Kansas as most people tend to find it boring and comment on the lack of trees.   

Thank you for your warm welcome.

If you have the savings ("only" £34,600 for ILR, that you've held for at least six months), that is definitely the easiest way to meet the financial requirement.  I would highly recommend going savings route if you can.

Kansas was ... well, it is as popularly described, but I wouldn't complain.  Driving at night with good music going and nobody around for long stretches of time/highway can be surreal and awesome (a feeling that people who've never left the UK would struggle to experience).

Have been driving back and forth from North Staffs to Cornwall.  I wish the drive was similar to drive the length of Kansas as Birmingham is a nightmare on the M5.  So next week it is the train for me.

Once I get everything back from the home office I will give you the information for your spreadsheet.  However we did do part of it a "bit" different then most.

Whereabouts in Kansas? I used to live in Sterling and Hutchinson.