ILR - Application date and utility bills question

[John.C]

Hello. On behalf of my friend who is not online.
She completes 5 years working in the uk on 23 November this year. The home office website suggests that the earliest application for settlement would be 28 days before that. I am puzzled by this - I thought the window to apply was 3 months before the 5 years comes up. Has something changed or have I misunderstood?

Also - she rents a house which is shared - The utility bills are not in her name. If she cannot supply a gas/council tax/water bill to support her application will this be a problem?
There must be others in a similar situation. If it is a problem would a copy of tv license count as a utility bill?
Thank You!

[John.C]

We have plenty of time to worry about the applications date.
But can anybody answer the utilty bill question for me please?

[Arthur Little]

Ideally, Council Tax Statements are the standard utility bills expected to be presented. Failing their availability, a TV Licence MIGHT-well be acceptable ... after all, the Home Office OUGHT to realise that nobody is [usually] enough to pay the licence fee for a television set installed at an address where they're not normally resident.

[Terpe]

Based on the brief information given it's not possible to be 100% certain which visa category your friend has, but I'm going to make a guess it's either a work permit or HSM/HSMP
In this case you friend can qualify for ILR application after 5 years continuous stay legally in UK under her specific approved conditions/category

The earliest she can apply for ILR is 28 days before the 5 year anniversary of her specific qualifying date.
Be aware it's very important she does NOT apply earlier than this.

In order to apply your friend will need a pass certificate for the Life in UK Test. There has been an announced change for this effective March 2013 so she will need to study and take the new test (unless she has any exemption)

Here is the ILR application form that I'm guessing will be needed

and here is the associated guidance

It is critical that she check these documents carefully to confirm they are correct for her specific circumstances, and that she now starts planning out and preparing all the documentations she will need.

She really must take particular note of any specific conditions for her immigration category, especially those for work permit holders who must provide documentary evidence that clearly domonstrates they are being paid at or above the appropriate rate for settlement applications.

My suggestion would be to take advantage of any local authority Settlement Checking Service.(Check the UKBA website) They are well trained and experienced in identifying any weakness in the application and any documents that may be missing from the submission.

On the question of documentation, unless the rules have changed, I'm not sure that there is any requirement to provide any utility bills her own name.
There's are a good deal of documents she must provide covering the complete 5 year period, but mostly these are in connection with authorised employers, employments, payslips etc.
Of course she will need to provide bank statements etc as well, but unless she has specific requirements to prove co-habitation then I don't see any need for utility bills. Her immigration status and ILR qualification is covered largely by her continuous fully documented employments.

Anyway, have her review the application form linked above and be sure she fully understands what is needed.

If there are any specific questions please ask or have her join the forum.

The documentation can sometimes get complicated.

Hope that helps.

[John.C]

Many thanks for both replies.