ILR - HSMP - Tier1 Success Story @ Birmingham PEO - Jan 2013

ILR - HSMP - Tier1 Success Story @ Birmingham PEO  - Jan 2013

It was that time of the year when I had to extend my VISA to continue to work in the UK.
I had a few doubts about the ILR process, but reading blogs, forums and talking to friends not only put an end to most of the doubts but also relaxed me through the process,

A few questions remained  and on the day of ILR Interview all those were cleared and I have now got an approval for Indefinite Stay to remain in the UK.

I thought I will outline what I went through which could help the prospective candidates.

First and foremost, find out if you are eligible to apply for ILR using the UKBA website
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/settlement/applicationtypes/ 

Book and Pass the "Life in the UK" test from the below link  - Try to book this well in advance. It took me just a few days reading and using my Smartphone app for a few hours to pass this test..  you need to score atleast 18 out of 24 multiple choice questions... - Dont worry about this much, it is very basic and you can pass it very easily
http://lifeintheuktest.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/


You are only allowed to book your PEO appointment 28 days before your 5 years completion, else your appointment does not stand and they would not see you at the office.
You can start booking appointment online from the ukba website 42 days or 6 weeks in advance.

This was the most tricky part, new appointments are made available every night at  12am, you will need to create an account and have lot of patience to get some appointments.  The website is a bit cranky from 12am and 1am  but this is when you would get the best appointments.

Also, keep searching for appointments once very hour during the day time as well, I got mine when I was casually searching 3 days before.   Good luck with this


I got an appointment in Birmingham which is what most of them recommended as unlike all other PEO offices, in here they verify the documents first and only if they find most of it is good, they would ask you to make a payment, considering the amount it is a very sensible way..

Now on the actual day itself, this is what I went through

1.  I went almost an hour earlier than my appointment, some PEO offices do not allow candidates earlier than 30 mins but the staff at Birmingham were very courteous and let us take a seat after confirming the appointment  and security check

2. About 30 mins before the appointment you would be handed a token number and procedure information which is very helpful

3. At sharp 10:40am, we were called inside for the application assessment

4. During the assessment, I was asked for only the following documents
     a. Application form ( SET (O) )
     b. Passport(s) of both Applicant and Dependent
     c. Life in the UK Pass Certificate ( Applicant`s and any dependent`s)
     d. 12 months Payslips
     e. 12 months Bank statements
      f. 2 Recent passport size photographs ( 45mm*35mm ) of Applicant and Dependent
      g.  Marriage Certificate
      h.   Council Tax bills / Joint Bank Statements  ( to prove that Dependent was staying with the Applicant for 2 years)

Note : I had carried 6 different forms of letters to prove that my Dependent was staying with me for the last 2 years but the officer only wanted Two proofs of which he only took one Bank statement page.   I also carried P60 for the last 5 years and various other documents but apart from the above I was not asked for any other documentation.     It is advisable that you carry as much of documentation but only provide as much as the officer asks for, DO NOT try to give them too many documents and confuse them, it will only complicate your processing.

5. Once the officer was confident that all documentation was good, he told us "everything is good" and asked us to proceed to the Payment counter.

6. Once the payment was taken, we were sent back to the Waiting Place, It took around 1  hour upto this point

7. 10 mins later, we were called for the BIO-METRIC details, where we gave our finger prints and also photos were taken  and once done, we are asked to wait for further 15 mins for the bio-metric results

8.   15 mins later, we were told that everything with the application is good and also the payment has gone through and were asked to come back around 2pm for a decision

9. When we came back at 2pm, we were told that our Application was approved and were told that the Bio-Metric cards would arrive by Post. We were given
  a. Approval Letter
  b. Bio-metric card information and when it would arrive
  c. payment receipt

The staff were very friendly and the service provided was excellent, I did not mind the extra £600 which we had to pay for the premium service, it gave us a peace of mind.

I totally recommend any prospective applicants to go for Birmingham if you want simple procedure, peace of mind for your application

Note: a note at the end , I cannot promise all applicantions would be this smooth, it all depends on the officer and also how complicated your particular case is in terms of meeting the requirements


Wish you good luck

Lake District and Isle of Walney

The winter is now gone and the bright summer is here.
Me and Rajitha were ready to rock the summer.

Drove to Leeds and stayed at Anil's house on Wednesday night ( 27th April 2011 ).
It was University time the next morning, went to the Bradford and submitted the project proposal, Jeff is my mentor for the Project and he was a interesting person.
Jeff is a British who is married to a American and was fun to talk to, he listened to the project proposal and gave his approval to continue my work on the Project ( IT-BPO Challenges )

After the university work was complete, we drove down to the Lake district which was really beautiful, we visited a few lakes in the afternoon and evening, spent some good time at Windermere, we went row boating and on a passenger boat for a ride. Row boats were fun and tiring.

Reached Travellodge in Borrow-in-furness, had a Pizza from the nearby Dominos. I had to login to office to do some work, because the Wi-fi was not free in the hotel, I found out that we can connect using the IPhone 3G, once connected did some work and went to bed.

Next day morning ( 29th April) we got to know of a island "Isle of walney" nearby from the hotel staff. The island was just a couple of miles from the hotel and it was a super surprise. The Island was really beautiful,  there were hardly any people there and non commercial. The island was a few miles long and if we walk for 30 mintues, we would reach from the north to the south and if we walk 15 minutes we reach from east to west.  We spent a lot of time playing by the beaches and walking along the coast.



we drove back to the lakes again and spent rest of the day there. It was time to go back home but then we thought why not give Blackpool a visit which was very nearby from here and also it was a bank holiday and we would get bored if we go back home that quickly.

We booked a B&B and drove to blackpool. The next day morning we had fun at the blackpool beach and also the rides at "Pelasure beach".

Went back to the Anil's house ( leeds ) and had a wander around the Leeds city centre and then drove back to Bristol on Sunday night.


It was a unique experience as we had gone out alone for the first time ( without friends) and also most of it was totally unplanned, we just decided which places to go the previous evenings and just had fun.

when I saw her

When I saw her, I did not know whethere she was the right girl for me.
But it was the face that I could just see and forget everything else.

Great deal of confusion

It is not the first time this thought has arised in the last few months but the thought starts here and then ends very soon with no right decision. The quicker the decision can be made, the better it is.

So the Big Question - should we be continue to live here in the UK if yes then how long OR should we be heading back home ???? ( I can always add a few more ????? ).

I am sure there are several people who are in the same state of mind as me.
so when it comes to me, I have been here over 4 years now, it was fun and it was an experience much different then the one I have had for 23 years back home. It is very exciting some days, yet a another day at times, makes you feel sad of something you are missing back home at times, makes you feel happy that you are away from things some times. The experience by no means is something of a regret, it has never been. This few years have thought me many lessons many to cherish and very few to forget.

But then all this good things would soon become boring if a decision is not taken on what is to be done at the earliest. It is said that the flowing water is the most pureset of water than the stagnant one.

It is almost decision time. It is not a decision that I have to take overnight, I have a while before I decide but the confusion makes me worry and have a few sleepless nights.


All in all a very confused mind, some day for sure we will back to where we belong but until then lets enjoy every day as it is.

I say this several times theories are controversial, yet another example for that.
They say "Be happy with what you have, have fun everyday" and at the same time
They also say "Dont become too comfortable and too content with what you have and Dont fear to Dream Big..", now you can always ask who is this "They", it can be friends, it can be "theories" from experienced and most of the time It can be my "Inner-self"

....................A Confused Mind

debate sessions

I always used to wonder why they have debate sessions in schools / colleges.. it is not which side you choose.. it is how much you can influence the audience and more important judges.
Same theory holds good in life. for ethical reasons, we always use the topic which seems right. There is always an inner self..

few thoughts..

Do you know your friends ?

sometimes I feel I dont know anybody any well
even the closest of my friends
I only assume that i know people well,
until one day I am hit by a strom of ignorance.


Be scared only if it is your fault
otherwise you can just laugh on it.

Where are you !

mornings feel a little different, I wondered why..
then I knew it was a missing hi and a bye...


I know you are away and that is just for a few days
but doesn't stop me looking for you as I open my eyes with the sun rays
in a hope that just in case miraculously a msg pops and Hi it says