CCity Rocker

Hi again,

Just an update to this thread. My wife received her biometric residence permit this morning, 8 weeks and 2 days after the application was submitted. Many thanks again to everyone who helped me with this application. 

Hi again

This is just an update for those in the process of applying for the FLR(M) visa. I submitted the application on 13th of November and confirmed its receipt by Royal Mail track and trace on the 15th. I had been expecting a letter of acknowledgement to officially confirm receipt of the application unless there was a problem concerning the payment of the fee, as stated in section 11 of the FLR(M) guidance notes version 11/2015. 

I had not received anything as of today, so this morning I rang the enquiries number as given in the guidance notes 0800 3898 289 which just rang out for over 5 minutes. I then called on  0300 123 2241 which was answered immediately, and was informed that letters of acknowledgement are no longer being sent out for any visa applications.

I checked the relevant account and noted that the fee of £811.00 had been taken out on the 15th of November.

Just a heads up, for anyone waiting for a letter of confirmation. 

Thanks 7by7 for clarifying matters as usual. It seems I am prone to overthinking things as I appear to have been on the right track. 

Many thanks again, your help has been invaluable.

bobrussell and 7by7, thank you both very much for these replies. I would have replied much sooner, but for some reason I have not received any notification of responses to my last post?

I thought it would be good to provide an update on section 4 - Dependent Children, as it may be very useful for others in this situation. I contacted the home office last Tuesday on 0300 123 2241, and I can confirm that a child in this case is a person under the age of 18. Anyone under the age of 18 should be included on the form whether they are applying or not and the relevant documents (birth certificate plus translation) have to be included. 

Non-dependent adult children do not have to be included. I was advised to tick NO on question 4.2 as the child in our particular case is 23, non-dependent and not coming to the UK. 

I hope this clarifies things. It would be so much easier if a paragraph explaining this was added to the notes at the beginning of section 4, as this part is badly worded and the exact information required is unclear. 

I was also advised just to enter 'Immediate family and friends' on question 10.14 Please state what ties you have with:

• The country where you were born.
• Any other country whose nationality you hold.
• Any country where you have lived for more than five years.

I was told that there was no need to enter names, ages or relationship details.

I am going to go down the adequate maintenance route, as we have everything prepared regarding the required evidence, also I've completed everything apart from where to add my savings. I am therefore assuming that I enter them in the box on page 39 of form FLR(M) as I cannot see anywhere else in section 7B which allows them to be entered. The table in 7.7 only allows income sources already indicated in 7.5 and 7.6, or is this incorrect and I should use the method in Para 12B for the calculation used to 'convert' them to income and then add them to the table as an income source? 

Apologies if this is a stupid question, I'm probably too tired to process it all currently!

Many thanks for your reply Rob 180. Thankfully all of our translated documents are already certified. I just thought that it was yet another requirement that had been added since our previous application. Also, the documents have been previously accepted and I have clearly been overthinking this. 

I have been working on this application in my spare time since August and fully agree with your views on the  FLR application. The form is really badly planned and worded, is often contradictory and is almost deliberately complex for no other reason than to frustrate. How somebody with a minimal grasp of English at the required A2 level could hope to deal with it successfully is beyond my comprehension, but perhaps that's the idea!

I'm afraid this arduous process has done nothing to reduce my cynicism or general stress levels. Thanks again, it's good to know I'm not alone in my thoughts. 

Please anyone?


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Hi There

I have a few questions I'm afraid. My wifes spouse visa expires on the 28th of November 2016 and for a variety of reasons we still not have submitted the application. My wife passed her B1 with Trinity college London last week, so now we're sorted for this application and the ILR in 2 and half years time. 

I am currently in receipt of carer's allowance for looking after my dad and therefore exempt from the financial requirement, but we must show what they call "adequate maintenance." Luckily I have over the £62,500.00 in savings to cover this. Could anyone advise me how I should enter these savings as income sources on the form or should I just explain the situation on page 39 of the document?

The documentary evidence for the provision of adequate maintenance regarding accommodation seems to be a bit unclear. I am providing a letter from my mother confirming that we have been living in their house since April 2014. It states that the mortgage is settled and there is sufficient space for all of us. I also am providing a copy of the deeds and a letter confirming the settlement of the mortgage. I can't understand  if I need to provide details of the council tax payable. Does anyone know if this is necessary and/or should I be providing anything else to satisfy the adequate maintenance requirements regarding accommodation?

Lastly,  I have a problem regarding question 10.14  Please state what ties you have with:

• The country where you were born.

• Any other country whose nationality you hold.

• Any country where you have lived for more than five years.

Some people have advised just writing 'Immediate family and friends', others have said list all family members. Does anyone know which is best here? The reason I ask is that in one of my previous posts I asked  about Section 4 - Dependent children, question 4.2 asks: Do you have any children whose parent is not your sponsor? yes or no. The true answer is yes as the question does not include the word 'dependent'. I answered no, as my wife's son is 23, financially independent, living and working in Thailand, married with a child and has no intention of ever coming to live in the uk. Therefore, if I list him as a family member in 10.14 would I not be opening a can of worms and making even more problems for myself?

I am sorry that this post is a bit long, but I'm genuinely concerned about how deal with these issues in the correct manner.

Please, If anyone can offer any advice or personal experience at all I would be extremely grateful.

Many thanks in advance.

Hi again

I have a few more questions I'm afraid. My wifes spouse visa expires on the 28th of November 2016 and for a variety of reasons we still not have submitted the application. My wife passed her B1 with Trinity college London last week, so now we're sorted for this application and the ILR in 2 and half years time. 

I am in receipt of carers allowance therefore I am exempt from the financial requirement, but I must show what they call "adequate maintenance." I have over the £62, 500.00 in savings to cover this and I also work part time for a charity as a volunteer and receive around £150.00 per month in expenses. My wife also works part time and receives a salary. Could anyone advise me how I can include these as income sources on the form or should I just explain the situation on page 39 of the document?

The documentary evidence for the provision of adequate maintenance regarding accommodation seems to be unclear.

I am providing a letter from my mother confirming that we have been living in their house since April 2014. It also states that the mortgage is settled and there is sufficient space for all of us. I am providing a copy of the deeds and a letter confirming the settlement of the mortgage. I cant work out if I need to provide details of the council tax payable. Is this necessary and/or should I be providing anything else to satisfy the adequate maintenance requirements regarding accommodation?

My wife was divorced from her Japanese husband in 2006, unfortunately we no longer have the original divorce certificate. We have no idea how this was lost, as we have every other document from our spouse visa application. We do have a photocopy of the original certificate and a photocopy of the  translation which was stamped and certified at the ministry of foreign affairs. We also have the original copy of the stamped registration of family status document from the Amphur (An original is never  provided as each divorce is recorded on an individual page in a large book) we also have a certified translation of this document which we used for the spouse visa. We have tried to obtain a copy of the original certificate but have been told by the Japanese embassy that this is not possible unless my wife can contact her ex husband and get a signed letter granting permission for the issue of a copy. As they have had no contact since 2005, we have no idea of his whereabouts and dont even know if he is still alive, this will be impossible. There is so much conflicting information regarding missing original documents that I am concerned about how to manage this. Does anyone have any experience of this or know if a letter of explanation would be acceptable?

Lastly, there seems to be a degree of confusion regarding question 10.14  Please state what ties you have with:

• The country where you were born.

• Any other country whose nationality you hold.

• Any country where you have lived for more than five years.

Some people have advised just writing immediate family and friends, others have said list all family members. Does anyone know which is best here. The reason I ask is that in one of my previous posts I asked  about Section 4 - Dependent children, question 4.2 asks: Do you have any children whose parent is not your sponsor? yes or no. The true answer is yes as the question does not include the word 'dependent'. I answered no, as my step son is 22, married with a child and has no intention of coming to live in the uk. Therefore, if I list him as a family member would I not be opening a can of worms and making even more problems for myself?

I am sorry that this post is so long, but I don't know how else to address these issues unless I make a series of additional posts for each question.

Please, If anyone can help at all I would be extremely grateful.

Many thanks.

Please anyone? 

I am struggling to understand the full implication of this statement:  (iv) if the applicant is applying for leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain, certification by a qualified translator and details of the translator or translation company’s credentials.

I have looked back and cannot see if this particular requirement was in place when we originally submitted our documents 30 months ago. Has anyone had their original documents recently certified for FLR(M), or I am completely overthinking this and the fact that they were accepted for a successful application of the spouse visa be enough?

Guys, 

Further scrutiny of Immigration Rules Appendix FM-SE: family members specified evidence JULY 2016 has led me to another question. 

(j) Where any specified documents provided are not in English or Welsh, the applicant must provide the original and a full translation that can be independently verified by the Entry Clearance Officer, Immigration Officer or the Secretary of State. The translation must be dated and include:

(i) confirmation that it is an accurate translation of the original document;

(ii) the full name and original signature of the translator or an authorised official of the translation company;

(iii) the translator or translation company’s contact details; and

(iv) if the applicant is applying for leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain, certification by a qualified translator and details of the translator or translation company’s credentials.

Does this mean that the translations we submitted with our documents for the spouse visa now have to be certified again by a qualified translator for FLR (M)?

Thanks 7 by 7, sorry for the delay in response I've been on holiday in Brecon without wifi for a few days!

Thanks rasg, that makes sense. 

Hi there

Many thanks again for the advice which has been offered on this subject. I am now at the stage where I will be submitting the application once I receive the last up to date bank statement.

Our situation is a bit different, we have been living at my parent’s house for the last 30 months since our marriage and our original intention was to get established in the UK and move into our own place as soon as possible. My dad has advanced Alzheimers disease and my mum had a stroke 2 months after we arrived. I am in receipt of carers allowance as I am the primary carer for my dad and I also look after my mum. My wife works part time and earns £13, 400.00 p.a. after tax and NI and I am fortunate enough to have savings exceeding the limit required to meet the adequate maintenance requirements.

 I am would be very grateful if members with experience of could clarify or advise regarding the following:

As we do not have any bills or official documents in our joint names, I am providing the required number of documents in our individual names and will also provide a letter of explanation. Would something along the lines of the above paragraph be sufficient for this purpose?

I am also providing a letter from my mother confirming that we have been living in their house since April 2014. It also states that the mortgage is settled and there is sufficient space for all of us. Should this follow any particular format or mention anything else?

I am providing a copy of the deeds and a letter confirming the settlement of the mortgage. Is this necessary and/or should I be providing anything else to satisfy the adequate maintenance requirements regarding accommodation?

I am including letters from the DWP confirming my receipt of carers allowance, the corresponding bank statements, and statements from my other accounts, marriage and divorce certificates and certified translations that we used for the spouse visa, wife’s pay slips and letter from her employer confirming her salary etc., passports, photos, official letters and bank statements for my wife and the A1 BULATS English test certificate (I am aware that this will no longer be acceptable in October)

Should these documents be presented in a folder and organised in a logical format?

Is there anything in that list I may have overlooked?

I am reasonably confident that I have it all covered, but bitter experience has taught me to be very cautious and be prepared for the unexpected. Any advice or comments regarding any of the above would be gratefully received.

Many thanks in advance and apologies for this rather long post.

Thanks for the replies crazydrummerpauly and 7by7,

I feel much better about ticking the 'NO' box now. On reflection it seems to be the logical way to proceed and it also saves a lot of unnecessary work for my stepson and I. Thanks again for the clarification.

Hi there

I'm not sure if this post is in the right place, but perhaps someone could advise if not? Please could anyone clarify how Section 4 of the application should be approached, as my wife has a child from her previous marriage. He is Thai, 22 years old, married with a child, lives and works in Bangkok with no intention of ever coming to live in the UK. Obviously he is not a dependent child. However,  Section 4 - Dependent children, question 4.2 asks: Do you have any children whose parent is not your sponsor? yes or no. The true answer is yes as the question does not include the word 'dependent'.

I am confused as to how this should be answered accurately.

Hi,

I have not been on for a while although I read the forums most days, and am now at the stage where I am preparing to apply for my wife's FLR. Thanks for the raising the questions guys and for the clarification from 7by7. The help I received on this forum last time around from people like 7by7 and TonyM was excellent and allowed us to successfully apply for a UK spouse visa without any hitches.

Thanks again, and I'm sure I will be asking plenty of questions again very soon.

Good for you mate. We are flying back to the UK at the beginning of next month.

Accepted 78 working days November the 15 th I submitted didn't think I had a chance thanks for or your replys

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Accepted 78 working days November the 15 th I submitted didn't think I had a chance thanks for or your replys

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I've only just seen this mate. Congratulations, I'm pleased that your waiting is over and you got the result you deserved. Good luck with everything and all the best for the future.

Welshmale147

Sorry mate, I've only just seen this question. I used an agent the first time I needed to get a UK tourist visa for my girlfriend and we were successful. This time for the settlement visa, I did not use an agent. I just did a lot of reading and research on this site and took it step by step. I asked loads of questions as I was going through it and would not have managed it without help from the guys on here.

Did you get any advice the other day or is there any progress?

Welshmate147. This is the second time I have seen this post. I'm not sure if you will get quick replies. I'm afraid I can't advise you, but I'm not sure if enough people are seeing it here.

I would try to ask 7by7 or theoldgit for some advice directly. You can send them a message directly by clicking on their icons. They have both posted previously in this thread. I had to do this before and nobody moaned at me, although I'm not sure if this is how you should do things.

I think your post should be moved but I don't know how to do that either I'm afraid. Give it a try mate, I'm sorry I can't be of more help but it sounds like you need some help fast.

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Application submitted 7th January 2014, Visa approved 28th February 2014. We just collected it!

Many thanks to all on this forum who helped with their excellent advice.

Thanks bifftastic,

Today has been tough, I'm worn out and my wife is getting very anxious about this application. I appreciate the advice and your kind words.

Gentlemen

I am sorry to have to ask for assistance in this manner, but my wife's interview at the VFS is on Tuesday and she has a major hospital appointment tomorrow, hence time is limited and we desperately need some advice.

We now have every document in place signed, certified, translated, copied etc. and we are ready to go. There is one problem; I completed the the on-line uk spouse visa application form on the visa4uk.fco.gov.uk website, checked the final version about 20 times, signed the declaration, made the appointment, paid for it and printed the .pdf version as instructed.

The printed version of the form contains the following errors:

Guys,

Please could I offer some input here and also request some advice as this does seem to be rather confusing? I have just completed the on-line spouse visa application through www.visa4uk.fco.gov.uk. as this is now a mandatory requirement in Thailand, and there is no mention during the process that the form is VAF4A at all. The option to select VAF4A does not exist and you are forced to select Settlement - Settlement - Wife, which appears to be the only form applicable to the UK Spouse Visa application. I have tried to get confirmation on this, but can find no other mention anywhere. I sincerely hope this is the right form as I have submitted and paid for it now, and completing it was an excruciating test of endurance anyway due to its numerous bugs, which made it a totally miserable experience. The completed printed document which is a .pdf file contains further errors, as the applicants details inherit the sponsors contact telephone numbers during file conversion from the on line form to the final .pdf! It is shockingly poor really considering its importance and if anyone could advise me if I can amend the errors on the printed form I now have, without incurring any penalty or problems with staff at the VFS when the submission is made, I would be more than grateful.

Finally, the first mention I have heard of 'APPENDIX 2 (VAF 4A DECEMBER 2013) FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT FORM' is when reading the above posts tonight, which is a quite a shock. I was convinced I had everything in place as I had followed the route on the UKBA website to the on-line application, but I obviously missed something vital. I have also added an update regarding my application under my original post on UK Spouse Visa Questions. I was aiming to get this done by the middle of November, but my wife fell ill and was hospitalised which has delayed everything by about 6 weeks!

Any advice is greatly appreciated as always. Thank you.