I booked my premium service appointment for my SET(M) ILR, 4 weeks ahead just to make sure I can get a slot. There are plenty of centre to choose from. We chose Cardiff, as it was the closest.

To book an appointment, click here:

https://www.gov.uk/ukvi-premium-serv...an-appointment

Once you finish filling up your details, you can now choose the centre and pay. Just follow what it says on the site. It’s easy to navigate anyway. Unfortunately, you have to pay in full. The booking fee (£400) plus the visa fee (£1,093). Meaning you must be ready to pay the whole amount before you book an appointment. After that, you will receive a confirmation letter and payment form. You must print both because you will need them to enter the building.

On the day of your appointment, you must be there 15 minutes early. In our case, the office called me to tell that I can go there early because apparently they are not busy. So my husband and I arrived there at 11am (an hour early) and underwent some security checks. I had to leave my bottle of perfume. They said it’s a threat to others. I guess it is then. The guard also asked for my confirmation letter and the payment form.

The receptionist will be the first person to greet you inside to confirm your identity. Then you will be asked to sit in the waiting room and the lady gives you a number. We were Number 103 - even though they were only two applicants. . We only waited about 5 minutes before they called our number. The guy scanned through my documents. He complimented me on my files and said they were very organized. Remember to separate one folder for the originals and the other for the copies. You must do this to make your application faster.

After that we were sent back to the waiting room again for my biometrics. After some time, they took my finger prints and photo. And we again waited for the last step to let them check all my papers. We waited nervously about 1 hour and 45minutes before they called my back in. I was so glad when the lady said they'd approved my visa. She gave me back my two folders. The only things they did keep were my biometric card for my FLR(M) and some of my copies. I will receive my new biometric card after 7 to 10 days or earlier.

Here are are all the things I gave to them. I might have ‘over killed’ it. Well, it's better to give them more than to gave them less.