GarryUK

On 3/20/2017 at 5:10 PM, rasg said:

Never in a million years would I pay the extra £500 a Premium Centre charges unless there were huge reasons to do so. The visa etc is expensive enough as it is without adding another £500. The only possible I can think of would be if we needed our passports fast for a family emergency. A holiday would have to wait.

The thinking behind using the Premium service was with the assumption that we'd be able to get a visa within 10 days and so get it all done and dusted before the expiry date. Once I realised that the nearest appointment was a month away, more than 2 weeks after visa expiry, I too was of the thinking that why should I pay all that money if I can't get it done right away.

In the end I posted it Special Delivery on Monday so it's with them now. As for it not getting there 15 days before (running out I guess) otherwise it could be refused, all we can do now is wait and see what happens and hope they don't get petty. If I get a letter asking the wife to go and submit her biometrics at the Post Office I'll read that as a positive sign....

7by7 I'll give you the requested review of our experience with the online application soon.

I'll keep it fairly short...

Due to lots of reasons mainly around getting the necessary supporting documents and waiting until I'd completed 6 months in my job, we've left the FLR visa application until now. We're completing the application online and I've litterally just hit save and continue later. Technically we could have applied in January, but having been out of work 6 months prior to starting my current job I didn't want to encounter problems meeting the financial requirement. I've paid the £500.00 NHS surcharge (not happy that we still have to even though she works and contributes NI) and came to pay the visa application fee. Having seen that applications should be sent 15 days before (I assume visa expiry), which would have been Friday gone, I decided to stump up the extra £500.00 for the Premium Service which would also give me the opportunity to take along additional documentation in case anything was not acceptable but something else we have was. However, choosing the Premium Service Centre in Solihull which is the nearest to us we can't get an appointment until 19th April at the earliest, but her visa expires on the 2nd April. In fact none of the centres can offer an appointment before her visa expires.

What do I do? Select Standard Service and post everything Special Delivery tomorrow to arrive 21st March, possibly late in their eyes but at least before the visa expires, or go with the Premium Service but not get an appointment before her visa expires anyway and be out of pocket an extra £500.00? I know from previous threads that my wife can remain in the UK whilst awaiting a decision, but can she continue to work between visa expiry on 2nd April and decision date?

Seriously need advice from the big hitters, admins and/or visa agents on this. While I appreciate all contributors, new posters and/or those without experience of this situation will only speculate as to the outcome depending on the route I choose.

Garry and wife.

Anyone point me in the direction of detailed guidance notes for the online application? I found these for the printed form, but they don't say anything about how detailed specific answers need to be: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/592950/FLR_M__guidance_notes_12-16.pdf

Anyone else applied using the online form? Will I have to print it out and the end and send it to the address in Durham given in the above mentioned guidance notes along with my supporting documentation?

Thanks 7by7, always a fountain of knowledge and advice.

Just got this question which I think is a bit silly: "What family or friends do you have in the country where you were born and/or any other country whose nationality you hold? Please provide details of these family and friends, for example, their names, relationship to you and where they live". Once again left wondering just how much detail we need to go in to? I've listed her father, mother, brother and niece who all live at her home, but I've only listed the town and Thailand, not given a full address. She has many relatives (both parents are from big families) but wasn't really close to any, and she has a few friends, one being her cousin. Do we really need to list these? We've nothing to hide but why list extended family you rarely/never see?

I've completed the first section now, but numerous answers allow 5000 character replies, for example "Where did you first meet your current partner?". I've had to be honest so put "Pattaya, Thailand where I was working in Family Mart" but with so much space do we need to go into any more detail? I really wouldn't know what else to put. Another example was "What type of ceremony was your wedding or civil partnership?" where again my answer was simply "Simple ceremony at Ampur (equivalent to Registry Office in UK)".

The time has come to start the FLR visa application. The wife has been in the UK for 31 months with her visa due to expire 2nd April. We've been hanging on as I was out of work for a while but will have 6 payslips from my current job at the end of February so it saves a lot of complication.

It's not long ago that I posted about her English certificate. We believed she now needs A2 but only has A1, and we decided she should try to pass B1 so she wouldn't need another when we get to ILR. Of course she knew best, so with virtually no preparation she took it and failed. As it happens though, as her visa expires before May she can still use her A1, so that was £165.00 down the drain. If only that had been clearer in the first place.

We're now completing the application online and got to this question: "Country you lived in. Type the name of a country; use the arrow keys to navigate and 'enter' to select one. Please enter the country you have lived in. You will be able to enter additional countries after you click save and continue. Include all countries no matter how long you lived there". What's not clear is whether we have to state the obvious, i.e. Thailand since birth because she's a Thai national (I've gone with this option but saved for later at this point), or whether they only mean other than your country of birth, what other countries have you lived in. Any body sure of the interpretation?

And what happens if we submit the application at the start of March once I have my payslips if we don'y hear back by April 2nd? Must she leave the UK and wait for the outcome? Or overstay? I believe the In Person same day service costs something like £500 extra which is way to much to pay if I can possibly avoid it.

Thanks again as always, Garry.

According to UK Visas & Immigration there are no approved test centres in Leicester: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/573290/Approved_Secure_English_Language_Tests_and_Test_Centres.pdf

And according to the Trinity website there are also no official Trinity test centres in Leicester: http://www.trinitycollege.com/site/?id=3286. It looks like we'll have to use Peterborough if we want to avoid Birmingham if we stick with official sites.

But according to the College of Skills & Learning their qualifications meet the requirements for visa applications and they offer tests in Leicester which the wife wants to use: http://www.cslearning.org.uk/ukba-requirements

I'm concerned that contrary to what they're claiming about meeting the requirements for visa applications, and even though they're displaying a Trinity logo, if they're not approved then the UKVI aren't going to accept the test are they? The Thai girl my wife works with says she took her test in Leicester about a year ago. However, I think I've been told she's been here 8 years so I'm not sure what test it was or what it was for as she'd have been on a 2-year track back then. I suppose it could have been citizenship to get her British passport (which I'm told by the wife she has), don't know if after ILR there's any different requirements or whether she did Life In The UK locally and if that would be okay?

2 hours ago, tutsiwarrior said:

have you checked out Loughborough Univ? not too far from Leicester...

 

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/international/applicants/english/

 

 

That would be for study, for which she can go to, and has been to, Nuneaton (North Warwickshire & Hinckley College). No, we need an approved test centre near to us as the wife doesn't want to go to Birmingham next time for fear she gets the same woman. But thanks anyway for the input.

4 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

A1 to B1 is quite a jump in levels unless she was a particularly strong A1 or picks up language easily. the grammar is more challenging, especially tenses for thais. can she confidently use comparatives, superlatives, modals, future continuous, past perfect/continuous/simple, present prefect, present perfect past and phrasal verbs. if she can and she failed you have a case, if she cant then the examiner was probably correct

To be perfectly honest I don't know what most of those are. Picking up on some of the words and what I've read, I've been trying to make sure she can talk about past and future and can express a preference.

Yes, within seconds the examiner knew she could speak English so she walked out with an A/A pass.

Since the A1 test my wife took to come to the UK is no longer acceptable for her FLR application, we decided she should go for B1 which, unless they change the rules in the next few years, should sort her for the ILR application. So she recently took a B1 test in Birmingham, and from what she said about the woman conducting the test it doesn't sound like she enjoyed her job. She's (my wife) been in the UK over 2 years now and she has a job in a shop, so she can communicate perfectly well, but she was failed on pretty much everything she could fail on. Now I'm sure she wasn't properly prepared for the test which can't have helped, but the fail sheet pretty much suggested she doesn't speak or understand English which I disagree with. Sadly I can't be present and she can't record the test, so we'll never know if my wife sucked or if the woman was overly harsh. At the risk of getting the same woman, my wife wants to retake her test somewhere else. We live in Leicester, and a Thai girl she works with said she took a test about a year ago in Leicester, so that's where my wife wants to go.

I was looking at the approved test providers, and it's not clear if the following is acceptable for taking a B1 test as anyone can put a Trinity College logo on their page, doesn't mean they're affiliated or approved. Can anyone help me out?

http://www.cslearning.org.uk/b1-test-leicester

Another reason I'm not sure is the test cost me £150 in Birmingham which I assume is the rate Trinity College charges, but these only want £125. Would hate to pass the test only for Immigration not to accept it.

We're just a few months off doing FLR ourselves, so would appreciate a running commentary Rob on everything you have to do, and how it's going for you. Can you expand on the "months of gathering documents and paperwork" please.

When the wife first came to the UK she had to pass "Grade 2 Graded Examination in Spoken English" at level A1. Although technically expired, I know you were always able to use it again for the FLR, only needing to show improvement when applying for ILR. However, the wife has now been told (and so believes) it's not good enough any more, she needs to pass A2 level. Do you know anything about this? She was easily A2 level when she took it the first time, but as A1 was all she needed that's all they gave her, with Distinction. Won't be happy if I've got to pay again.

And what about the NHS Surcharge? I understand for people applying for their first visa, but I think it's not very fair making people pay at FLR that didn't need to on first entry.

Good luck!

Long way off, but just a thought....

What happens if they fail the Life In The UK test? And how soon can you sit it so as to allow time for retake(s)?

Her English is fine, it's the additional cost we are going to have to pay that doesn't make good reading.

Why can't you quote something from the original post, but you can quote replies? That doesn't make sense!

Thanks for the info Rob180, sadly it's not good reading for us with regard to her A1 test not going to be valid by the time we have to do our FLR in December/January. BTW, the application form/process at the moment only refers to the need for A1, although the "Approved secure English language tests and test centres" list dated 18th May 2016 does indeed start at A2. I found a link to the announcement here.

Anybody know the level required for ILR? And if she takes and passes that level this year, will it be valid when we do ILR in just over 3 years time? I ask the latter as it's always been accepted that you can use the same test that you passed for the initial application for the FLR application even though it would have expired. No point aiming for a higher level if it'll have expired and need to be taken again, especially if the cost goes up relative to the level being taken.

I'm not sure that it's automatic, though it might be, this route, as I understand it, is meant to cover those who wish to apply using the Human Rights provision of a family life.

Family_Life_10-year_routes_guidance_August_2015.pdf

How annoying, everything I typed in my response was replaced with a copy of the document OldGit posted so I'm having to edit my post and respond again

In short the wife is of good character and neither of us have criminal records or any immigration discrepancies so this is a positive contribution in answer to the original question posed, thanks.

Remember that if your wife is working then for both FLR and ILR her income can be added to yours to meet the requirement.

I'm afraid that if she does have to return to Thailand because you cannot meet the requirement then if she is out of the UK when her current visa expires she will have to start the whole process all over again.

As I feared. Okay, two application forms for Domino's Pizza it is then if I can't land something in the meantime

Can you meet the savings requirement?

No I've emptied everything. My mum has money from when hers died so she won't see me lose anything like the house or car, but if she transfers any of it to me to meet the savings requirements for the visa then my benefits will stop. I know £70 a week is nothing, but it's still £70 a week to go on food.

A settlement visa (M) means that you will have to get married in the UK within the six month period of the visa before applying for Further leave to remain. Big money if things don't work out or she hates it here. And she can't work in the six months she is here.

I've not been active for a long time so I'm sure my knowledge of visas is not what it was, but I'm not sure that statement is correct (not that anyone has quoted or commented on this so I don't suppose it really matters unless someone applies for the wrong visa as a result of reading that and not researching properly)...

The fiance visa is the one that lasts 6 months during which time you must get married in the UK. Don't hold me to this because I could be wrong, but I think you might be able to apply for a settlement visa once you're married and before the fiance visa expires without leaving the UK (if the fiance visa expires she should already be back in Thailand, married or not). That might be classed as 'leave to remain'. 'Further leave to remain (or FLR)' cannot be applied for until she's been in the UK for 30 months, following which the next step is 'Indefinite leave to remain (or ILR)'. I believe she cannot work whilst here on a fiance visa, but once she's on a settlement visa she can work.

Just been reading through Appendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_August_2015 and it looks like you have to meet the income requirements for every visa stage, so yes I've just got to hope I can sort out the job front.

But a question I meant to add in the original post. Let's say I'm not working, the visa expires and the wife returns to Thailand. What happens when I then get a job, do we have to start from scratch? Or assuming she's only been back in Thailand for let's say one month, can she then return to England once I meet the financial requirement and carry on from there?

Married for nearly 3 years, have a daughter just over 2 years old, wife and daughter have been in the UK for nearly 2 years. Around Christmas we'll need to apply for FLR but I've been having some problems on the job front. Lost my job last May, payout kept me going but it took until December for me to find work again so basically I spent everything. Then at Easter I lost that job too and I've been out of work since. We're considering the wife getting a part time job locally which'll help financially even if she only pays for childcare and keeps anything left over, if nothing else it'll help with her boredom and integrate her into the UK better, but it won't meet the financial requirements for the visa.

So... Budha help us if I'm not working by Christmas, but how's that going to affect the FLR application?

If you are financing the trip then you should also include your bank statements and evidence of your income, you should also provide a covering letter indicating why you are sponsoring her, if that's the case, and that it's reasonable for you to do so, either way provide details of her financial situation. You should provide evidence that you've actually met and proof that you're in regular communication.

We got caught out by this one for our first application, so don't skimp. With regard to having met I had this covered by providing flight boarding card stubs and passport stamps for all of my visits to Thailand, plus photos of us together (dated and with brief descriptions) for each of my visits. However, I totally messed up on the proof of regular communication:

I had two phones, Orange and WorldSIM, and while I included the call logs for both in our application I only listed the Orange number in my covering letter, so they said the WorldSIM logs could have been anybody's. If you have more than one number you call from, list them all and explain why you use more than one (in my case international calls were cheaper using an alternative SIM).

We would chat daily via Facebook or Skype, but with no log export facility in either I merely mentioned this without providing any proof, again a mistake. For the second application I took 21 screenshots of Facebook chat showing different dates, and manually copied & pasted chat from Skype into Word (editing out everything bar the video call start and call duration entries showing daily chat often for over an hour, and in the process reducing 92 pages down to 11).

A few comments on the OP and other issues/questions re the application.

 

- I typed 'Min Foreign Affairs' in the (limited character space) relevant box.

 

- The question "What is their relationship to you?" in the sponsor section does not have an option to put 'Spouse' or similar so I opted for 'Other relative'. Strange not to be offered what must be the most common situation. Any comments?

 

- There was an ambiguous question about 'voluntarily electing to leave the UK' to which I responded "No" assuming that they were referring to candidates who had overstayed or had been threatened with deportation. On the other hand, my wife had visited the UK previously and had voluntarily left when she returned to Thailand at the end of her stay. A cryptic question to which I'm not sure I've answered correctly!

 

- OP talks about travel dates being within 3 months. I've just submitted "5th November 2014" as the intended date and that is >3months and has been accepted so maybe they've made some changes to their website. I any case I'm assuming that the visa, if granted, would then be valid from 4th/5th November so one would need to be sure that one wasn't perhaps wanting to travel before that date. Correct?

 

- My wife does not know her father's date of birth so I entered 1st Jan 1900, as per a previous Visitor Visa application. Again, cryptic and unsure whether I've answered correctly.

 

Any suggestions appreciated. 

 

No help, but maybe a little reassurance. I agree with all your assumptions bar the date of birth which I've no idea about - did you explain in the "other information" bit that you'd put that date because you weren't sure of the proper date, though I would wonder why you couldn't make a simple phone call to ask someone. I'm sure many people will reply along the lines that a visa starts from the date of issue, or up to 3 months after if specified at the time of application, but it can't start any later than that. However, even if you'd asked for a date 4 months on I'd hope they'd have the sense to start it 3 months on as it would still be fine to use (you have 3 months in which to travel to the UK in order to spend 30 months here).

I think they need the long version to confirm if you are either a British citizen otherwise than by descent or a British citizen by descent.

In other word are you able to pass on your British Citizenship to your son who was not born in the UK?

Agreed. My interpretation is that if your parents were not born in the UK then the only way your child is entitled to be a British citizen is if they were born in the UK, even though you hold a British passport. If however your parents were born in the UK then your child/children can claim citizenship even when born outside the UK, but the same rules would apply to their children (would need to be born in the UK or have one parent whose parents were born in the UK).

Wow, that was easier to think than it is to say.

Garry . What father birth certificate did you supply?

My wife has setylement visa, so If I applied for a visitor visa on my sons thai passport , do you think it would work?

I was born before 1984 so I don't need to provide copies of my parents' birth certificates, and fortunately I had my long version with me (and will take it again just in case).

The only problem I foresee with a general visitor visa is the need to return to Thailand. I imagine that as your wife has a visa and you both intend to live in the UK, they'll not believe the child intends to return to Thailand so will likely refuse it. I would normally suggest you speak to the passport advice line detailing your situation and enquire as to whether the need to return would be overridden by the issuing of a British passport, but my calls to them have been fruitless so I doubt they'll offer useful (or even correct) information. If you could convince them that you'll all return to Thailand before the visa expires (why not take a short holiday?) you'd then be able to return to the UK using the passport. Not the cheapest way to do things, but it should satisfy everybody if you can convince UKVI that you'll really go back to Thailand.

To be honest I hope one of the moderators or more experienced posters like 7by7 review and comment on my thoughts here.

Your wife could get your daughters passport if you sent her a consent letter for her to do it. You would have to have it notarized at the embassy in London though.

See for passport application info: http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/1415/21479-Requirements-for-the-Ordinary-e-Passports-Applicat.html

Have just been reading that as you posted the link earlier, thanks. I think rather than go to her home from the airport we're going to have to stay in Bangkok so on the Monday after arriving we can go to the MoFA together and apply for a Thai passport, then to the British Embassy if her British passport doesn't arrive by then to see if an Emergency Travel Document is possible having not actually held a British passport yet (am following another thread where the guy will investigate this route tomorrow).