# Biometrics permit for ILR



## shellybeans (Feb 12, 2012)

Hi, I haven't been around for a while but ILR is coming up for us and I'm remembering just how confusing the whole visa process is and how helpful you lovely people were the first time round. When reading the Set(M) form over this morning, I got confused about the Biometric Permit. I remember having biometrics done as part of the visa application process the first time around. Is this what they mean? Or is it something separate that I need to do before time to apply? My spouse visa started on 1 July 2012 and my daughter and I arrived on 26 July 2012 (from the USA) if that has any relevance to the answer. Thanks to anyone who is able to offer help.

Shelly xx


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

New biometrics are taken for every new visa application.


----------



## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

Just a little add to Nyclon's post (because this probably will also come up as a question as you go through the form) - you will be asked if you've ever had biometrics taken. The answer is yes (because you had them done as part of the first application) and you fill in the line as the name of the unit you attended and the city. For example, I had mine done in Birmingham, AL at the Dept of Homeland Security, so my answer went on that line as:

USCIS COLO Birmingham Application Support Center, Birmingham, AL, USA

You can find the info specific to your site by referencing your saved copy of the biometric appointment confirmation email (as pdf or hard copy). 

Best wishes for a successful ILR application. I have to warn you that from my experience it's nearly as stressful as making the initial one was. I'd laugh but just about everyone I know on and offline says the same thing. Just about everyone (pre-9 July 2012) gets their ILR, but boy howdy is getting that application together a tremendously stressful time!

One last word of advice - splash out the extra £££s for the PEO appointment if your application is straightforward (no previous refusals or other previous impediments). The extra few hundred GBPs spent are soooooooooooo worth the spending, and most PEO applications mean an answer within 23-48h if not on the same day you attend the appointment.

Posting it, however, can lead to a delay of as long as six months and you cannot imagine how horrific the stress becomes during the wait

ETA: Doing your daughter's application at the same time as yours does not count as an impediment - a PEO appointment can be made so that both of you can attend at the same time and it doesn't slow down the process.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Postal delay is now around 1-2 months.


----------



## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

Joppa said:


> Postal delay is now around 1-2 months.


Ah, Joppa, I'm going to send my four friends who have been waiting since mid-August through mid-October a link to your post Maybe Joppa-Power will be invoked and their ILR decisions arrive Monday:fingerscrossed:

Hey! It could happen! We're thinking about doing spirit dances (two are from Apache and Commanche nations) to push things along, but personally I have more faith in Joppa-Power!

I'm trying to be funny. But in all seriousness, they have straight-forward cases (I've seen all of their paperwork and supporting documents including credit and CRB checks they thought would be good to include but decided against after the rest of us said NO-No-NO to sending that along. 

They have no previous refusals, DUIs or other un-spents, and plenty of money left over every week, so the delay is eating away at them. Especially because they do come here and see other postal ILR applications sailing through no troubles. 

All of them have had their ILR biometrics letters (all done well before Christmas) but no further word from UKBA; all are waiting for the six month to pass before making an attempt to communicate with the UKBA per UKBA statement to wait six months.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

While individual cases can take longer than average, 1-2 months is the timescale UKBA now publish about in-country postal application.


----------



## shellybeans (Feb 12, 2012)

I was hoping to see the old gang and I'm not disappointed! Hi Nyclon! Hi American in Scotland! Hi Joppa!

I'm also remembering how one question leads to a plethora more and already feeling my blood pressure start to inch up. 

So... I need biometrics done again, got it. Do I do that before I send in my application? Where and how, please, and sorry if that is an absurd question. 

I also saw that bank statements and proof of financial stability are part of the application but I never saw the figure of how much is necessary on the UKBA website which does not seem to have improved its user friendliness an iota since the Spring of 2012. If John made enough to support us at the time of the original application, is it reasonable to assume he still does? I had intended to be working here by now but got pregnant about 20 seconds after we arrived and now we have baby Walt in our family, a lovely but very unexpected surprise who arrived literally 9 months and 2 days after we got here!

Thanks, friends. xx


----------



## AnAmericanInScotland (Feb 8, 2012)

shellybeans said:


> I was hoping to see the old gang and I'm not disappointed! Hi Nyclon! Hi American in Scotland! Hi Joppa!
> 
> I'm also remembering how one question leads to a plethora more and already feeling my blood pressure start to inch up.
> 
> ...


Hiya, ShelleyBeans Oh congratulations on the new baby! LOL, my youngest is about to be 32yo and I can assure you the 'new' still hasn't worn off him or his 36yo sister. To be honest I don't think it ever stops being a wonder, this parenting thing is ultra :cool2:!

If you go postal (sorry, couldn't resist), you send off your application and supporting documents and then wait for them to send you an acknowledgement letter which will either be accompanied by a letter instructing you to do your biometrics (at a Post Office, cost is £19.20) OR you receive a separate letter from them instructing you to enroll your biometrics. 

When you go to the Post Office you must have that letter with you. 

If you go for the PEO appointment they do the biometrics enrollment as part of the appointment and the cost is included in the eye-watering appointment and application fee. (Yes, expensive but really worth it)

Joppa is of course right that the posted average processing time is currently 1-2 months, so going that route (postal) is a significant savings. 

Also, Joppa will know the amount you need left over every week, with one child it does go up - I want to say it goes from around £120 for just the two of you, and then to around £170 per child (for you, your husband, and the baby), but again, Joppa will know the proper amount.


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

About biometrics: If you go for same-day premium service, you give biometrics on the day of your appointment at PEO, so nothing further to arrange or do. If you apply by post, you will receive by post an acknowledgement and biometric notification letter with barcode. You must then go to a walk-in biometric centre at certain post office (no appointment necessary), take your letter, pay a fee of £19.20 and your biometrics will be captured and are sent electronically to Home Office. See Biometric Residence Permit | Post Office

You must meet the maintenance requirement for ILR. As you now have a child, you need at least £194.94 left each week after taking from your total take-home household income your housing cost (rent or mortgage) and council tax. So, for example, if your net weekly income is £500, you pay £200 in rent and £30 in council tax, you have 500 - 200 - 30 = £270 left so you meet the requirement. You need to enclose bank statement for up to 6 months, rent receipt, tenancy agreement or mortgage statement and council tax payment schedule and attach a sheet working out how you are meeting the requirement. £194.94 is made up of income support for a couple of 112.55, 64.99 personal allowance per child and family premium of 17.40. This is to show you are at least as well off as a British couple with a child in receipt of income support. While nowadays you get child tax credit instead of child's personal allowance and family premium, for working out adequate maintenance, you use the same formula as existed prior to April 2003.


----------



## shellybeans (Feb 12, 2012)

Thanks so much for those numbers. Can you tell me where to find them on the maze that is the UKBA website? And we actually have 2 children because my daughter, Violet, came with me originally. How does that change the numbers? Also, my husband claiming child benefit doesn't count as me accessing public funds, does it? I worried about that at the time he applied for it (when Walt was born) but whoever he talked to at the time said it was fine since it was him (UK husband) claiming the benefit, not me (US wife.) But that person would have been at the child benefit office (or wherever he applied for child benefit) and not UKBA. 

And my blood pressure continues to rise...


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

To work out maintenance requirement, see http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/s...w/IDIs/chp8-annex/maintenance.pdf?view=Binary. For up-to-date income support levels, see How much Income Support? - Care and support - NHS Choices
As there are two of you - you and your older child Violet- for ILR, you need to book a family appointment for 2 persons. See UK Border Agency | Booking an appointment for our premium service
Claiming child benefit for your younger child Walt (your husband's biological child so thus a dual British national) is fine. But you cannot claim for your older child Violet as she is on a visa preventing access to public funds, like you. Be careful, as Home Office can and often do check with Child Benefit Office to see if benefit is being claimed.


----------



## shellybeans (Feb 12, 2012)

Thanks again Joppa. Although the benefit part is not good news. We argued about it at the time but when John was filling out the paperwork for Walt he called and talked to someone who told him it was fine to put Violet on that application too. He did it and both of them were accepted. I was dubious but since her visa was one of the things we sent in as part of that application I assumed that he must have been right and that it was okay. So what do we do now? Obviously I will just be up front about it in the application but should we do anything else preemptively? And do you think it affects the outcome of ILR for us, or is it just a simple matter of returning the £ he has been receiving for her (only since W was born.)


----------



## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

If Violet's visa clearly states no recourse to public funds, then you aren't entitled to claim child benefit for her. You must stop it at once (phone child benefit office) and offer to repay the amount already paid out. Then in your ILR application, you must answer yes to the question, 'Have you received public funds?', explain the circumstances and the fact you have now repaid it. They will probably check with HMRC to seek confirmation of your story, and if all is well, it should not jeopardise your application, though it's a negative factor. Child Benefit Office staff aren't immigration officers so can't be expected to know the intricacy of immigration rules.


----------



## shellybeans (Feb 12, 2012)

Thank you Joppa. I really appreciate your answer, even though it was not was I was hoping to hear. I am going to call Child Benefit today and hope they will talk to me about it, even though the Child Benefit is in John's name. He still doesn't believe I'm right about this and doesn't think he's done anything wrong. I'm glad to know now, though, while there is still time to try to make it right before I have to mail in the application. Thanks again. x


----------



## drummerdave (Nov 1, 2011)

Joppa said:


> To work out maintenance requirement, see http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/s...w/IDIs/chp8-annex/maintenance.pdf?view=Binary. For up-to-date income support levels, see How much Income Support? - Care and support - NHS Choices
> As there are two of you - you and your older child Violet- for ILR, you need to book a family appointment for 2 persons. See UK Border Agency | Booking an appointment for our premium service
> Claiming child benefit for your younger child Walt (your husband's biological child so thus a dual British national) is fine. But you cannot claim for your older child Violet as she is on a visa preventing access to public funds, like you. Be careful, as Home Office can and often do check with Child Benefit Office to see if benefit is being claimed.


Hi Everyone, An American in Scotland directed me to this post to address some questions I had in another post. I am soon to apply for ILR at a PEO with Form Set(M), and I am currently on a pre July 2012 Spouse Leave. I cannot believe the shroud of mystery surrounding information on the Home Office website regarding what the actual financial maintenance requirements applicable to me are. I am sure you all know what I am talking about. This posting is the most specific advice I could find anywhere online, but I have some questions and concerns after I followed up and combed thru the links provided by Joppa above.

It seems to me on the IDI Chapter 8 FM 1.7A guidelines describe a slightly different process of determination of adequacy than what was described here earlier on this thread. 

I don't see any mention in the document of Council tax included in the prescribed deduction of housing costs. Is it just implied as a given? What do you all think? {Actually strike that, just saw it at the very bottom of the document in the Evidence Requirements. Yes it applies}

Also, something I hadn't quite taken into account into account is that this is based on Net Income, as opposed to Gross. That seems like a ridiculous oversight now, but for some reason I had it in my head for a long time that this was all based on Gross. This is a big deal for me, and my latest biggest hurdle because I am self employed AND I didn't register with the HMRC until the 2013/2014 tax year, a year after my residency began. (Yes, I know... all wrong and stupid. For that first year my income was exclusively from the US business I still worked for and I hadn't realized that I had to register here right away). Anyway, my problem now is looking at the Evidence required where self employment is concerned, I don't know how to prove my tax rate, and discerning my net income is kind of dependent on that, and I don't have a latest annual assessment yet, and, and, and... I'M FREAKING OUT!

Anyone have any advice on what I should do? Do I have to call HMRC and say I made a mistake, can I file for 2012/2013?


----------

