As we left the story last time, I was waiting to hear if I'd been approved-in-principle for a Quality Migrant visa. The results being published approximately quarterly, I was expecting end-of-August results to be followed by end-of-November results, but the end of November came and went without any sign of results on the QMAS website. I will admit that I got a little obsessive, checking the website hourly, and getting more and more frustrated. Finally, while out for dinner in the first week of December, I checked the website on my phone and found that - woohoo! - it had been updated. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, the list is published as a PDF, and - boo! - my phone didn't have a PDF reader on it. I managed, tapping away madly on my phone in a restaurant, largely ignoring two understanding friends, to find a web-based PDF reader which worked, only to find - double boo! - that all they publish is a list of approved application number, and I couldn't actually remember my number. Rushed home, pulled out one of the letters with the application number on it, loaded up the list, and...
My number was on it.
After more than 4 months of waiting, I had an approval-in-principle, meaning that they had accepted my application, and as long as I could prove that all the papers I'd submitted had been genuine, and that I hadn't otherwise falsified anything on my application, I should be in. Sounds simple, isn't. A couple of weeks later, I got a letter confirming the approval-in-principle, and instructions on what paperwork they needed me to bring to my 'interview', which should be booked by calling them within 3 months. They asked me to bring:
- That letter
- My passport
- A completed copy of an attached survey, just for their records
- Proof of no criminal record from UK and HK police
- Originals of a variety of papers which I'd previously submitted copies of
Except there was one other little issue. I got my Dad (aka my lawyer/solicitor) to send me the originals of some papers he holds for me, so I had all the other paperwork I needed - all the paperwork I'd submitted, that was. For some odd reason, something had apparently got mixed up at the Immigration office, and they asked for the originals of some references I'd given them to support work visa applications in 2005 and 2007. I don't know where the papers are from back then, so I just decided to ignore them and hope they'd go away...
Paperwork collected or on the way, I called to book my interview mid-February and was given an early-March date. I got my papers together, rechecked them a few times - yes, slightly obsessively - and was all ready when the interview date rolled around.