ILR Walk-in Croydon Enquiry!

This is an enquiry for Garry or anyone else who has gotten their ILR by walk-in at Croydon!

My Spousal Visa (Entry Clearance) is due to expire July 16. If I were to take the normal route (and less expensive, I  might add  ) and post away my application for ILR, I may not get my passport back in time to go to my brother's wedding on Sept 4th. The home office has targets, but cannot meet all of them and that means some people don't get their passports/ILR back for 90 working days! Too long!

So, we are going to pay the £500 to do the Walk-in approach. How far in advance of the expiry of my Spousal Visa can we do this? Which day of the week is best for walk-in application for this sort of Visa? Does anyone have any advice or tips from their own experiences?

Thanks!

Jen

Hey jenny

Unless it's changed from when I did it,, you should apply from 30 days of when your FLR or spousal visa is to expire.  I don' t think they like it when you apply for it earlier than 30 days. We sorted my ILR back in 2003, and went in person to Croydon as well. This was before they changed things a bit, and during that time, it was a nightmare to get in. We arrived around 6 am, and the queue was already quite long. They opened the doors at 8 am, we got in around 10 am, waited two hours, saw an agent, gave them the application and such,, was sent away for another two hours,, and by 3 in the afternoon, it was done and dusted.  I don't know if the queues are as long anymore tho.

Did you walk-in, Tebs? I wasn't sure if it was the same for walk-ins as for postal applications.
Ta!
Jen

oops,, just added that bit to my above post,,lol. Yeah, we walked in. Actually, we went twice,, we went on a Friday,, but got there too late in the day to be seen. We got there at 8 am!   By the time we got in, 11 am,, they said we would not be able to get it done that day. So we went back the following Monday, got there much earlier,, (see above). I don't know how the queues are these days tho. With them encouraging more people to post the applications, I would like to think it's much better.

Jenny - call the Croydon office and make an appointment.  You can't go sooner than 4 weeks before the expiration of your FLR - and when I called for my appointment they were making them for 2 weeks out.  I wouldn't rely on walk-in because they see the appointments first and then you're in and out and you don't have the horrendous queue to stand in.

And make sure you have EVERYTHING on the list.  There is a newer form, so make sure you have that one and go over their checklist with a fine-tooth comb.  PM me if you have any specific questions - just did it in person on 18th & 30th March ( ).

Thanks to both of you!

PM me if you have any specific questions - just did it in person on 18th & 30th March ( ).

Peedal, you may be sorry you said that! hehe Thanks so much!
X Jen

ahh,,, so much better to be able to do it by appointment   Wish we had that option when we were at that stage.  You will be fine Jenny   Like Peedal said,, just make sure you have all your ducks in an order, and no prob