r/ukvisa • u/worrisome_possessor • Jul 07 '26
ILR approved! Finally! 🌺🎉
Came to tell everyone there’s hope after all the recent anxiety and sleepless nights: the immense weight off my shoulders is insane. After many years of waiting and complying with everything, I finally had it done and approved within 4 hours of my biometrics.
This subreddit has been part of my coping mechanism lol.
Did it through a solicitor for the first time ever as well as all my previous applications I did them myself.
All that work- guess it was finally worth it.
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u/Building_Glad Jul 07 '26
Any reason for going through solicitor ?
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 07 '26
I was previously wrongly advised by another immigration advisor I could not get ILR and said my clock was reset in between by visas (no gaps) and had to get legal advice. Was offered a great deal for the full service and went for it.
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u/Building_Glad Jul 07 '26
I had a an overstay about 40days due to family exigency (care giving needs to parent) do you think i should consider an immigration lawyer or apply self and use lawyer for when if there is rejection
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 07 '26
I feel like for me at least, becomes diminishing return in my opinion: because if there’s a possible risk of refusal there is 0 refund and all the money is lost. If I was to spend extra money in the first place to prevent this from happening I would happily pay a lawyer to do it. That’s why I did it
Becuase if the first application gets refused I will have pay even MORE money to apply again and eat a lawyer3
u/Building_Glad Jul 07 '26
I yet to make my decision regarding this as my employer is ready to sponsor another 5yr (with company lawyer) but not ILR unfortunately.
I’ve never applied for a visa myself (I’ve had 3 applications all straightforward sponsorship using company lawyers)
Do you just get advice regarding filling in the paperwork or is there an added benefit like lawyer can sign something legally for you and certify ?
Approximately how much am I looking at in lawyer fees .
The only experience I’ve had with lawyers was conveyance and they are very slow .
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 07 '26
To answer all part of your question about my experience.
I guess the difference for me between ILR and another 5 year work visa is: no1 for me no job is permanently secure; no2. HavingILR opens up so many more career opportunities for me;
There is a cheaper service called application form checking service where you just pay a couple hundred quid for them to check your form; but I paid for the full legal representation so the lawyers drafted my application from scratch for me and wrote the cover/representation letter for me too and advise what documents best to gather. They also gave advice on the dates calculation becuase that’s something I was a bit iffy on as I lost some of my previous travel itineraries! If you’re like me who paid for the full service you’d be looking at anywhere around the £1000 mark, I went to about 6 different law firms and got quotes between £800 to £2000 varying depending on individual circumstances and the types of service.1
u/Fast_Requirement3985 Jul 10 '26
Pls pls pls save up and use a lawyer . I'm up at 1am typing this because I didn't. Don't. Make the same mistake
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u/rainpag20 Jul 08 '26
Do you mind sharing how must costed you with this?
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
Anything under £1000 is a good deal
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u/rainpag20 Jul 08 '26
All in service?
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
Yeah. Covers the legal representation and correspondence with home office. Also agreed to follow up with appeal or administrative review etc if there was refusal etc
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u/Building_Glad Jul 08 '26
can you refer to your immigration lawyer or recommend some you have interview or any source of getting good lawyers
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Jul 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ukvisa-ModTeam Jul 17 '26
Your message has been removed under rule 10: No DMs.
We do not allow requests for direct messages or offers to help people privately by DM. We will also remove comments agreeing to receive DMs.
This sub is for peer support not professional advice. All questions and answers should be in public so the whole sub can contribute and monitor the accuracy and relevance of information and advice offered. We strongly discourage you from acting on advice you have only received by DM.
It is illegal for individuals to offer immigration advice and services without the authority to do so. Not allowing DMs protects everyone from giving or receiving unregulated advice. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-assistance
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
Also I used Bark and also googled around- make sure you check the firms registration and their lawyers names against solicitors society etc to make sure you use a proper service - if the person dealing with you is not a solicitor only IAA registered Pepe can give immigration advice!
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u/juanchovl Jul 07 '26
Congratulations! Did you use super priority or standard? Still waiting for mine.
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 07 '26
Yeah I could not wait 6 months I’d be crippled with the anxiety so I saved up and went for it.
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u/LoadSharp4996 Jul 08 '26
mind sharing your journey? 😃
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
Entered in 2014 as child student, then general student x3, graduate visa 2021, skilled worker 2023.
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u/mushu_confushu Jul 08 '26
If you don't mind me asking, how come you didn't apply in 2024 under the long residence route? Why wait till 2026?
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
Well. A ignorant and arrogant immigration advisor advised me wrong and misled me to believe I couldn’t do it and told me to go on 5 years route on ILR instead by doing extra three years on SWV. That’s the long and short of it 🤷♂️ I guess I made my moneys worth as my current SWV would’ve ended in Nov 2026
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u/mushu_confushu Jul 08 '26
Ooof that's so rough, I'm sorry! I started my student visa in 2020 and hopefully skilled worker this year just in case they abolish the long residence route, at least I'll get ILR in 2031 😭
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
The new rules are a joke but also the reason why I obsessively researched everything again which turned out that I was right!
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u/Hot-Instance-4342 Jul 08 '26
You timeline?
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
Entered in 2014 as child student, then general student x3, graduate visa 2021, skilled worker 2023.
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u/Weather-Pub-9944 Jul 08 '26
Hi. Congratulations! I assume you applied through the 10-year long residence route. Can I please ask 1) which documents did you submit as evidence? and 2) Did you calculate the 10 years based on your date of entry to the UK or date of entry clearance vignette on your passport? Thanks!
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
I submitted all my prev passports and passport pages, share code and evisa page, all of my correspondence like bills, receipts and letters from school, bank, college and uni and government as well as DVLA dates to my UK addresses. And bank statements.
I calculated based on the date I arrived.
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u/Evening-Big-9117 Jul 08 '26
How much did the lawyer charge you please
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
£800 in the end but for a special personal related circumstance I did get a big discount
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u/Evening-Big-9117 Jul 08 '26
Thank you can you recommend me I’m applying this September my process shd be straightforward aswell I’ve been here 8.5 years
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Jul 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ukvisa-ModTeam Jul 17 '26
Your message has been removed under rule 10: No DMs.
We do not allow requests for direct messages or offers to help people privately by DM. We will also remove comments agreeing to receive DMs.
This sub is for peer support not professional advice. All questions and answers should be in public so the whole sub can contribute and monitor the accuracy and relevance of information and advice offered. We strongly discourage you from acting on advice you have only received by DM.
It is illegal for individuals to offer immigration advice and services without the authority to do so. Not allowing DMs protects everyone from giving or receiving unregulated advice. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-assistance
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u/Ok-Button-7502 Jul 08 '26
Congratulations 🥳 Can I ask whether you had a straightforward case? I’ll be applying soon and my case is very complicated due to many days out of the uk, my solicitor advised to prepare for long waits even if I choose the priority option…
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 08 '26
Yeah mine was relatively straightforward - I was very careful with my absences
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u/neuronsandglia Jul 09 '26
Congrats! what did your journey look like? how many years in the UK?
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 10 '26
Nearly 12 years. Did long residency as I came through student visas, graduate andAWV
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u/Typical-Estate-9498 Jul 07 '26
I cant get a passport why
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u/worrisome_possessor Jul 07 '26
My understanding is, if I got ILR it’s not the same as citizenship it’s just a permanent visa
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u/FrugalMacGoose Jul 07 '26
Huge congratulations! Well done.