Need advice about gathering documents for ILR

[patrickm1978]

I am planning to get ready the required documents for our ilr application the problem is letters
There is no council tax here in North Ireland we have rates and my landlord pays them. Utility bills I don't have letters cause all are direct debit or pre pay card for electric and tv licence
We even don't get bank statements banks here use e banking
So statements are in my electronic mail
Any ideas anyone how we get documents that we need

[Michael Parnham]

You can print your electronic statement, it is acceptable Patrick, I've just printed ours off for ILR. What about rental contract or any mail for any appointments, NHS, job interviews, Specsavers, paperwork from Life in the UK test, also Utility providers must have mailed something when prices changed. Don't know what else to suggest, I'll try and think of something else!:Erm:

[Terpe]

I am planning to get ready the required documents for our ilr application the problem is letters
There is no council tax here in North Ireland we have rates and my landlord pays them. Utility bills I don't have letters cause all are direct debit or pre pay card for electric and tv licence
We even don't get bank statements banks here use e banking
So statements are in my electronic mail
Any ideas anyone how we get documents that we need

The requirement from UKBA is principally to demonstrate that you have been living together at the same address (and still do) throughout the 2 years probationary period.

If you take a look at the ILR application form the UKBA do provide some of the most common examples.

The documents can be joint names, individual names or a complete mixture.
There's really no strict set of documents.

Caseworkers must base their decision on "the balance of probability" and according to what you have stated. The probability is that you live together.

Here's a typical listing of documents that have been used successfully:-

Driving License
TV License
Electricity Bills
Gas Bills
Water Bills
Council Tax Letters/Bills
Bank/Building Society statements
Bank/Building Society letters
Marriage Certificate
Registry Office Letters
NHS medical cards
Letters from GP/Medical Centre
Sports club membership cards
Insurance Quotes
Letters from Church Organisations
National Insurance appointment letters
HMRC Communication/Letters (eg Tax Codes, P60's etc)
Personal letters from friends/family etc
Telephone/Internet bills/letters/statements
Mobile phone bills/letters/statements
Online shopping details of name/address
Tenancy agreement(s)
Letters or other documents from government departments or agencies.
Letters from Dept of Work and Pensions, DVLA etc
Letters from UKVI / Home Office

I'm sure there's many more......

Keep thinking and good luck :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[aprilmaejon]

Hello Terpe,

I am due to apply for my ILR next month as my visa runs out on the 14th of July this year. My problem is that my proof of addresses doesn't really spread over 2 years time...for some stupid reason a year ago, I told my husband to clear all the clutters including all the letters, he have shredded 90% of it. I just realised 6 months ago that I'm gonna need them for my upcoming visa application. I need letters from 2012-2014 and I only have 2013-2014 left as all of the 2012 letters were shredded to pieces. I may have 2 sources in our joint names which the dates spread over 2 years, but the rest that are on single names were from 2013-2014 only.

If my visa runs out on the 14th of July, what date is the best to lodge in my documents considering it should be 28 days before? I am applying by post anyway....

Will my application be in trouble for this?

[aprilmaejon]

The requirement from UKBA is principally to demonstrate that you have been living together at the same address (and still do) throughout the 2 years probationary period.

If you take a look at the ILR application form the UKBA do provide some of the most common examples.

The documents can be joint names, individual names or a complete mixture.
There's really no strict set of documents.

Caseworkers must base their decision on "the balance of probability" and according to what you have stated. The probability is that you live together.

Here's a typical listing of documents that have been used successfully:-

Driving License
TV License
Electricity Bills
Gas Bills
Water Bills
Council Tax Letters/Bills
Bank/Building Society statements
Bank/Building Society letters
Marriage Certificate
Registry Office Letters
NHS medical cards
Letters from GP/Medical Centre
Sports club membership cards
Insurance Quotes
Letters from Church Organisations
National Insurance appointment letters
HMRC Communication/Letters (eg Tax Codes, P60's etc)
Personal letters from friends/family etc
Telephone/Internet bills/letters/statements
Mobile phone bills/letters/statements
Online shopping details of name/address
Tenancy agreement(s)
Letters or other documents from government departments or agencies.
Letters from Dept of Work and Pensions, DVLA etc
Letters from UKVI / Home Office

I'm sure there's many more......

Keep thinking and good luck :xxgrinning--00xx3:


I am due to apply for my ILR next month as my visa runs out on the 14th of July this year. My problem is that my proof of addresses doesn't really spread over 2 years time...for some stupid reason a year ago, I told my husband to clear all the clutters including all the letters, he have shredded 90% of it. I just realised 6 months ago that I'm gonna need them for my upcoming visa application. I need letters from 2012-2014 and I only have 2013-2014 left as all of the 2012 letters were shredded to pieces. I may have 2 sources in our joint names which the dates spread over 2 years, but the rest that are on single names were from 2013-2014 only.

If my visa runs out on the 14th of July, what date is the best to lodge in my documents considering it should be 28 days before? I am applying by post anyway....

Will my application be in trouble for this?

[jane2009]

When I applied my ILR way back 2010 Poe in Croydon we nearly into trouble because of that reason. We arrived here in England , we lived in my in law so we got no bills in our name ,but we have some post in our name in her address but I didn't took it. I only provide a one year proof of address. So the Indian man who interviewed me was so sharp and end up insulting my husband while my husband is trying to explain the situation. He even told my husband to go home read the website again. That was it my husband was furious. My husband took all our documents then asked the security guard if we could talk the manager. Then the security took us upstairs we did file the complain, the manager looked our papers and took as the department who approved the application... Was not a good experience but glad within 2 hours we got my ILR..

[Terpe]

.......If my visa runs out on the 14th of July, what date is the best to lodge in my documents considering it should be 28 days before? I am applying by post anyway....


Looks like you are under 'old-rules' which allows a 2 year immigration journey to settlement.

The spouse visa was normally issued with 27 months validity.
The qualifying period for ILR is 24 months living in UK as spouse/partner
(time under Fiancee visa does not count)
Application for ILR may be made 28 days before the end of the 24 month qualifying period earliest.

When did you arrive to UK ?

[Terpe]

....I need letters from 2012-2014 and I only have 2013-2014 left as all of the 2012 letters were shredded to pieces. I may have 2 sources in our joint names which the dates spread over 2 years, but the rest that are on single names were from 2013-2014 only..........

Will my application be in trouble for this?

The objective of the Immigration Caseworker is to establish that you are both living together and have been co-habiting during the past 2 years.
Don't get too hung up on just considering utility bills.
It's acceptable to have documents in joint names and or individual names.

You need to try your best to meet the requirement in some way. Can you secure back-copies of bank statements ? etc. There'll be a small nominal charge for issue of back-copies

[sars_notd_virus]

Hello Terpe,

I am due to apply for my ILR next month as my visa runs out on the 14th of July this year. My problem is that my proof of addresses doesn't really spread over 2 years time...for some stupid reason a year ago, I told my husband to clear all the clutters including all the letters, he have shredded 90% of it. I just realised 6 months ago that I'm gonna need them for my upcoming visa application. I need letters from 2012-2014 and I only have 2013-2014 left as all of the 2012 letters were shredded to pieces. I may have 2 sources in our joint names which the dates spread over 2 years, but the rest that are on single names were from 2013-2014 only.

If my visa runs out on the 14th of July, what date is the best to lodge in my documents considering it should be 28 days before? I am applying by post anyway....

Will my application be in trouble for this?

I am sure you can still request backdated copy for proof of address.
If not, I would suggest you use the PEO as you can communicate with them directly and explain the situation.

good luck.

[aprilmaejon]

Looks like you are under 'old-rules' which allows a 2 year immigration journey to settlement.

The spouse visa was normally issued with 27 months validity.
The qualifying period for ILR is 24 months living in UK as spouse/partner
(time under Fiancee visa does not count)
Application for ILR may be made 28 days before the end of the 24 month qualifying period earliest.

When did you arrive to UK ?

I arrived here on the 23rd of December 2011 under fiancé visa. My FLR visa expires on 14th of July this year so I am thinking of sending my post on the 14th of June but I'm not pretty sure if that is a good timing for '28 days before policy'...

[Terpe]

I arrived here on the 23rd of December 2012 under fiancé visa. My FLR visa expires on 14th of July this year so I am thinking of sending my post on the 14th of June but I'm not pretty sure if that is a good timing for '28 days before policy'...

That's sounds OK
If you feel uncomfortable and feel you may worry then just post it on Monday 16th
You may apply at anytime during the 28 days prior to FLR visa expiry.

[aprilmaejon]

You need to try your best to meet the requirement in some way. Can you secure back-copies of bank statements ? etc. There'll be a small nominal charge for issue of back-copies

We have bank statements from 2013-2014 but not 2012. I have also looked on my online banking about printing copies of statements but the available statements I could only print off are from 13-14.

As I have said, I could provide 2 bills (Council tax and Water Bill) in our joint names which dates are spread over 2 years, our joint named bank statement only started 2013 so I can only get what it has to offer. I also got couple of documents in individual names which dates spread over 2 years. The thing is they want 6 documents per person to submit, 12 in total for both me and the hubby.

[Terpe]

We have bank statements from 2013-2014 but not 2012. I have also looked on my online banking about printing copies of statements but the available statements I could only print off are from 13-14.

Have you tried to request from the bank......should be no problem.

If you really can't meet the target documentation you'll need to provide an explanation in line with UKVI ILR form notes.

[aprilmaejon]

Have you tried to request from the bank......should be no problem.

If you really can't meet the target documentation you'll need to provide an explanation in line with UKVI ILR form notes.

Terpe, below are the list of my collected documents so far:


*2 Joint accounts 2012-2014 (Council Tax and Water Bill)
*1 Joint name bank statement account 2013-2014
*3 Individually named doc 2012-2014 ( Personal Bank Statement, TV license, Employer's letters )
*2 Individually named doc 2013-2014 (HMRC and P60)
*8 single documents addressed to me with different dates from 2012-2014 such as Prov.Driving License, CRB, NINO APPLICATION, JOB OFFERING LETTERS, GOVERNMENT GATEWAY, GP patient survey, Phone Contract...

As for my husband, I only collected...

*3 Individually named 2012-2014 (Electricity Bill, Broadband and phone statement, Travel Itinerary bookings, maybe his bank statement)
*lots of documents for only 2012-2013 or 2013-2014 (HMRC and Identity protection policy, etc)
*individually named documents like CRB, DVLA, PPI letters, driving license...

Will these wouldn't be enough for them to prove that we are living together for the past 2 years?

[Michael Parnham]

Terpe, below are the list of my collected documents so far:


*2 Joint accounts 2012-2014 (Council Tax and Water Bill)
*1 Joint name bank statement account 2013-2014
*3 Individually named doc 2012-2014 ( Personal Bank Statement, TV license, Employer's letters )
*2 Individually named doc 2013-2014 (HMRC and P60)
*8 single documents addressed to me with different dates from 2012-2014 such as Prov.Driving License, CRB, NINO APPLICATION, JOB OFFERING LETTERS, GOVERNMENT GATEWAY, GP patient survey, Phone Contract...

As for my husband, I only collected...

*3 Individually named 2012-2014 (Electricity Bill, Broadband and phone statement, Travel Itinerary bookings, maybe his bank statement)
*lots of documents for only 2012-2013 or 2013-2014 (HMRC and Identity protection policy, etc)
*individually named documents like CRB, DVLA, PPI letters, driving license...

Will these wouldn't be enough for them to prove that we are living together for the past 2 years?

Are you using a Checking service, because they are very helpful, they will send you an email with exactly what you require and we noticed it's much more simple to follow their list, good luck with your application!

[Terpe]

......Will these wouldn't be enough for them to prove that we are living together for the past 2 years?

I wouldn't want to second guess any individual UKVI caseworker.....but having said that you list look reasonable.
Given your limited sources I think you've both done a very good job in putting that evidence together.

I'd agree with Michael's suggestion to consider using your local (or nearest) checking service.
They usually provide an excellent service and certainly help to minimise the stress by going through your application in detail.
Here's the link for the Settlement checking service (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/settlement-checking-service)

Keep us updated :xxgrinning--00xx3: