ILR Woes

I'm a little confused from all this documentation that you are bringing/sending.  Every piece of relevant mail received for 4 years???

I was hired locally here 5 years ago on a UK Work Permit, lived the first year in Asia on assignment so didn't have residnency until I returned from that assignment, and just completed my 4th year of residence.  In that time, I got married to a non-UK citizen in the States - she got a Spouse Visa.  I left the company that hired me here about a year ago and applied for the HSMP Visa before I resigned - received it in 3 weeks.  My HSMP Visa was due to expire toward the end of March this year, a couple weeks before my 4th year but within the 3rd year and 11th month.  I sent in the SET (O) form a week before it was to expire (hence, was living/working without any visa for several weeks but that is OK as long as the application is received by the Home Office before the visa expiration date) with the following documents:

• Passports
• 2 photos for each family member (me, wife, and son)
• Marriage certificate
• Birth certificate for son
• 3 paychecks (even had 3 non-consecutive paychecks because I couldn't find one!)
• Details of dates that I had not been in the UK (spreadsheet for business trips or holidays) over the past 4 years
• A cover letter explaining my situation

That was it.  I received my ILR roughly 4 weeks after mailing it in.  No hassles or anything.  335 GBP through the post vs. the 500 GBP you pay in person.  I have had no complaints...

JB, I think the documentation of other posters is for the SET (M) based on marriage to a British citizen, not the SET (O) that you used.  I'd imagine the rules for documentation are different for each type of ILR application.  People filing for ILR after being married to a Brit for two years have to prove that they've had a sustaining relationship and have lived in the same residence for those two years- hence all those pieces of mail people have to bring in.

Yup - those of us on work permits have it much easier.

I was on a work permit for the first two years, then got married.

Anyways, I got the thing on 19th April, so no probs now. My advice is, make one folder to give to the folks at the Home Office and bring EVERYTHING ELSE in a second folder--just in case. If I'd done that the first time, there wouldn't have been a second time.