New Online Application and UKVCAS System - My experience (applying for ILR)

Good news! I guess it is still better than waiting for ? months for a decision. Congratulations!


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This was indeed the case for me. I got an email at 5:30 this morning from DX: “Home Office item has been dispatched” and in the body of the email it said my BRP was scheduled for delivery today. The knock came at 11:30 and I saw that beautiful piece of plastic at last. I’m grateful and relieved.

However, I’m not satisfied with the Super Priority Service for which I paid £610...

Congratulations! 

This was indeed the case for me. I got an email at 5:30 this morning from DX: “Home Office item has been dispatched” and in the body of the email it said my BRP was scheduled for delivery today. The knock came at 11:30 and I saw that beautiful piece of plastic at last. I’m grateful and relieved.

However, I’m not satisfied with the Super Priority Service for which I paid £610...

Congratulations! I have a year to go before this step but I appreciate your post about the process. Now that you have your BRP, perhaps there is a way to leave feedback about the services provided? Even being able to check the status yourself online would be preferable.

Congratulations!

I had a couple questions about your experience though.

"- It also asks for evidence of monthly housing costs and council tax costs (but doesn’t mention Land Registry document). It says evidence of council tax costs is optional. I included all three documents anyway. "

This is new....I was always advised that they don't care what your costs are as long as you meet the income requirement. Any idea why they are asking this now? And also, to what extent is this? Do they just want mortgage/rent and council tax, or all bills? How did you provide evidence for these things?


Secondly, I have seen this already that they want the 6 documents over the length of the last visa (2.5 years). It is still just 6, correct? Do they still offer the option of 2 items with individual names on it for the same month? Also, how did you space things out? I am applying in a year and I was just going through my files today to get things organised and there may be some months that I need to submit the 2 items.  Does it have to be exactly every 5 months (which would be 6 items evenly spaced over 2.5 years) or can it be within a range like it has been? For example, if I apply in Jan 2020 - my last item should be between Aug and Dec 2019.

Thirdly - you got your passport and FLR(M) brp card back at the time of your appointment, right? One of my biggest fears about postal applications is that the Home Office would loose my passport or BRP as I have heard stories of in the past.

Fourth - did you have to pay the NHS fee? Im hoping ILR applications are still exempt.

Good news! I guess it is still better than waiting for ? months for a decision. Congratulations!

Yes, indeed! But in my opinion, when they charge as much as they did for old PSC, truly "same-day decision" appointments (in most cases), and promise a decision in 24-hours for most cases, they should deliver.

Congratulations! I have a year to go before this step but I appreciate your post about the process. Now that you have your BRP, perhaps there is a way to leave feedback about the services provided? Even being able to check the status yourself online would be preferable.

I think in a year's time everything will be figured out, you'll be fine! I do plan to leave feedback, and possibly even write a letter. Wouldn't that be a novel idea to be able check the status online yourself?! If it was truly a 'modernised service' you'd think that would be a given.

Congratulations!

I had a couple questions about your experience though.

"- It also asks for evidence of monthly housing costs and council tax costs (but doesn’t mention Land Registry document). It says evidence of council tax costs is optional. I included all three documents anyway."

This is new....I was always advised that they don't care what your costs are as long as you meet the income requirement. Any idea why they are asking this now? And also, to what extent is this? Do they just want mortgage/rent and council tax, or all bills? How did you provide evidence for these things?

Thanks!

I have no idea why they ask for it now when they didn't before. They don't want all household bills, otherwise it would state that.
I provided:
- Land Registry document (downloaded from the website)
- Mortgage agreement (The initial one where it states what the monthly payments will be. I used the yearly mortgage statements as correspondence for proof of address/residence.)
- Council tax bill for 2018/19

Secondly, I have seen this already that they want the 6 documents over the length of the last visa (2.5 years). It is still just 6, correct? Do they still offer the option of 2 items with individual names on it for the same month? Also, how did you space things out? I am applying in a year and I was just going through my files today to get things organised and there may be some months that I need to submit the 2 items.  Does it have to be exactly every 5 months (which would be 6 items evenly spaced over 2.5 years) or can it be within a range like it has been? For example, if I apply in Jan 2020 - my last item should be between Aug and Dec 2019.

I don't know where the specific guidance on this is (KFDancer, ksand24, larrabee??), besides the old SET(M) paper form. That specified that you could supply 2 individually addressed letters in place of a jointly addressed letter, that they needed to be evenly spaced over the period, and from 3 different sources.

All it says now on the SET(M) online form is that you need to supply "6 letters and/or other documents addressed to you and your partner at the same address to show that you have been living together during the past 2.5 years." I played it safe and followed the old guidelines, and I also had to supply quite a few letters addressed to us individually (from the same month). Because I wasn't vigilant and didn't notice some of our utilities automatically switched us to online bills, it was tough to piece together and I ended up with 11 letters (8 individual, 3 joint) spaced between 3 and 5 months apart. I don't know if it's ideal, but it worked for me!

Thirdly - you got your passport and FLR(M) brp card back at the time of your appointment, right? One of my biggest fears about postal applications is that the Home Office would loose my passport or BRP as I have heard stories of in the past.

My passport and BRP never left my sight and came home with me. They only took them to scan them with their special scanners, but I was sitting there watching the whole process. (Still can't travel before you get your decision, though.)

Fourth - did you have to pay the NHS fee? Im hoping ILR applications are still exempt.

Nope, still exempt. Since it's for indefinite leave to remain, it would be awful to have to pay the IHS indefinitely!

This was incredibly valuable, thanks! I've just got my appointment set for Croyden in January after the holidays, am applying to switch from a Tier 2 business visa to a spouse visa (we've been married 14 years, but just moved to the UK last June).

A few rookie questions:
1. Did your spouse have to go with you? (I know, I know, super basic, just haven't found anything definitive on the official websites either way)
2. What is the "mini-statement" from the bank for? Part of the financial docs or part of the proof of being together with your spouse?

This was incredibly valuable, thanks! I've just got my appointment set for Croyden in January after the holidays, am applying to switch from a Tier 2 business visa to a spouse visa (we've been married 14 years, but just moved to the UK last June).

A few rookie questions:
1. Did your spouse have to go with you? (I know, I know, super basic, just haven't found anything definitive on the official websites either way)
2. What is the "mini-statement" from the bank for? Part of the financial docs or part of the proof of being together with your spouse?

Hi mooseelks!

I don’t know anything about switching to a spouse visa, but I can answer your questions from my experience.

1. I couldn’t find any information on that either, so my husband did come with me but stayed in the car in the end as it was pretty crowded in the waiting area. They never asked for him, so my best guess is that the answer is no. (They didn’t even ask for his passport, but maybe if my scanning job hadn’t been up to scratch they would have needed it.)

2. The mini statement from the bank was for financial proof. Because of the timing of my bank’s statements, they hadn’t yet issued a statement showing the deposit of the most recent pay check. The mini statement showing the latest transactions was kind of a top-up, so all 6 months of payslips would have proof of deposit.

Hope this helps, and all the best with your prep for January!

1. I couldn’t find any information on that either, so my husband did come with me but stayed in the car in the end as it was pretty crowded in the waiting area. They never asked for him, so my best guess is that the answer is no. (They didn’t even ask for his passport, but maybe if my scanning job hadn’t been up to scratch they would have needed it.)

In the past, before this new system, it was a requirement for the spouse to attend the appointment, and if they could not attend, they had to write a letter of support for the visa. This may have changed with the new system though.

2. The mini statement from the bank was for financial proof. Because of the timing of my bank’s statements, they hadn’t yet issued a statement showing the deposit of the most recent pay check. The mini statement showing the latest transactions was kind of a top-up, so all 6 months of payslips would have proof of deposit.

I'd just be careful using the phrase 'mini statement' to describe it.

Mini statements are those tiny pieces of paper which are printed by ATM machines if you want a recent transaction record. They are not accepted by UKVI.

I assume what you mean is a 'partial statement', which is an extra statement that you can request from the bank if your official statement has not be issued yet.

I'd just be careful using the phrase 'mini statement' to describe it.

Mini statements are those tiny pieces of paper which are printed by ATM machines if you want a recent transaction record. They are not accepted by UKVI.

I assume what you mean is a 'partial statement', which is an extra statement that you can request from the bank if your official statement has not be issued yet.

Thanks for your input. Yes, that’s an vital clarification!! (Confusingly, Santander calls both the ones printed in branch and through the ATM mini statements, so I didn't even think of the trouble that could cause someone!  That's why we need your voice of experience!)

In any case, it should look something like this if you need it, mooseelks.

We have lloyds and they are amazing! Will print and stamp in branch no questions asked. Just in case someone is wondering!

Update! I just got back from the US. (Will be staying put now until the baby is born!) There was a Signed For letter which had come through the letterbox with ‘PSC Croydon’ written on the envelope.

Inside was a letter dated 31 December stating that my application wasn’t decided within the 24-Hour service standard for super priority applications, an apology, AND that £610.00 will be reimbursed in due course. What a happy surprise!!!!

I had been meaning to write a letter requesting a refund but hadn’t gotten around to it...and now I don’t have to go to the trouble.

I’m so happy I could cry!

Thanks again, Sivara!

I'll give this a good read with my husband later, but first, a dumb question: Do we have to book an in-person appointment? Did they take away the option to mail things in and wait a few months?

Thanks for sharing your experience! I've spent almost this entire day filling out the form and ensuring everything I need is together or accounted for (even if that's in the post headed to me). I am really frustrated and confused about some of the questions in general and am hoping you can help explain further how you approached it. Questions are as follows:

1. Where they ask about friends/family ties in the US or other countries you've lived in 5+ years, did you name them *ALL* or were you more vague about it? I've named my immediate family with the last part stating that I've listed my immediate family but all my extended family live in the US as well. With the friends, I've named a few friends but I also wrote that all my childhood friends and friends I've made up until I moved live in the US but I can't fit them in the box due to length. How did you approach this? (friends box more so than family)

2. for the question "Are you part of any social groups or do you have other cultural ties in your country of birth, nationality or any other country where you have lived for more than 5 years?", you mention you put that you aren't part of anything formally but attend a conference. Did you have any issue with this? I've ticked "no" and it seems like a bit of a weird question to ask as I'm not sure many people who've lived abroad for 5+ years still actively participate in cultural or social groups from their country of birth from where they currently live... In the explanation box, I've currently put "I am not part of any groups presently as i only return back to the US for 2 weeks every year" but am not sure if this is what they are looking to see? Bit of an odd one that I don't ever remember being asked before....

3. In the beginning of the application, it states "You must include all your reasons for wanting to stay in the UK on this application.You need to tell us any reasons why you should be allowed to stay as soon as you can. If you apply later giving these reasons you may lose the right to appeal a refusal of that application.You can give additional information in the space provided at the end of this application if needed." - Did you write this in some type of letter-format or did you list this separately in the notes?? Or are we to assume that this is clear by what is being filled out on the application?

Thanks in advance!

1. Seems like the questions I've seen before on FLR(M), and we answered the same way as you did - no extended family, just immediate ones.

2. That is a new one on me - I'll let someone else answer!

3. This was typically on the FLR(M) although encoded a little differently. The preamble on the cover page stated:

"All your reasons or grounds for wishing to stay in the United Kingdom must be stated in this
application. This requirement is being given under section 120 of the Nationality, Immigration
and Asylum Act 2002. If you do not tell us now of any reasons or grounds for remaining in the
United Kingdom and you tell us later without good reason, you will lose any right of appeal
you may have otherwise qualified for if we refuse your claim. You can use the box at 8B"

In our §8B for FLR(M), we left this blank. As with other applications, I *think* (please someone else correct me if I'm wrong) this is the box they would refer to if e.g. the income requirement wasn't met or there was some other reason for them to consider granting it "outside the rules".