bigyin

Excellent news. You can relax now for another 2 years.

My wife recently got ILR and citizenship and the service agreement was an answer within 6 months. I don’t know for sure but I would have expected FLR (M) to be the same.

Edit. Just checked on the website and they say 2 months for FLR(M) so you should have had something by now. I would give them a ring to see what is happening.

Good point by Tony M. Other parts of the application are like that. I used pension income in my wife’s application so I never tested that out.

You can always attach a covering letter with a full explanation together with all the required financial statements.

I agree with that. If she can do B1 now then that will see her right through to citizenship then it will only be the LITUK test to worry about later. I don’t think you will have any problems getting the visas but I think you are underestimating the costs. The initial visa plus FLR are about £1000 each but the IHS is, I think, about £1600 each time. ILR is around £2300 and citizenship is about £1400. LITUK test is £50 a pop and passport £75 so about £9000 in total if she does B1 now. The English tests are £150 a time in the UK. I brought my step daughter now adopted daughter over and she is waiting for her GCSE results now and I agree with all 

your reasons for coming back.

That’s right your kids don’t need the test. My wife has just got UK citizenship and we arrived here in August 2015. The applications are not difficult but it is a a long and very expensive process to get to the end. Your wife will have to pay the NHS surcharge on top of the visa for this one and the FLR but not for ILR. Good luck.

As you live together in Thailand you will not have a problem with reasons to return and the financial position has already been well covered.  This should be as straightforward an application as you can get.

The B1 test is not at all difficult and only lasts for 10 minutes. My wife missed out A2 completely for FLR and went straight from A1 to B1. LITUK is an entirely different beast. There are a number of free sample test websites. The one my wife used even has audio which you can also use in the test so the alphabet issue can be got round. LITUK does, however, require some serious practice.

I echo everything 7by7 has said. My Thai wife did B1 English for ILR and it is very easy. She also, to my surprise, passed Life In The UK Test, got ILR and is now a UK citizen with passport. The LITUK test is not easy but well worth some effort and coaching on your part to pass.

Regarding the vaccine, just discovered that the government website confirms that visitors to the UK can receive the vaccine free of charge. It does not say anything about following the age criteria so I don’t know how it will work.  I must say I am very surprised but I suppose the view is to have as few unvaccinated people as possible.

There is no facility to obtain or deliver the vaccine privately.  I agree that it is very unlikely someone on a visitor visa would be able to get the vaccine.

That may be so but it is still an old link and the situation is as I explained above having been dealing with my wife,s ILR and citizenship since last July.

One further point is that the above link is actually from last year when the app was in use. It actually slowed the process and people started booking appointments even after using the app so they put out this message.  They should really take it down now.

They only used the app last year during the first lockdown. Only for student visa use now. I am afraid there is no substitute for attending a biometric appointment. A warning here, the appointments are released a month ahead at midnight each day and get snapped up. There are free ones but the average cost is around £130. ILR applications Set (M) are currently slow with current approvals for applications made in October.

That’s correct. She has to cut up and return the old BRP when she gets the new one which comes in the post around 3 days to a week after the e mail granting ILR.

I did all this for my wife last year.

1. I just uploaded the acknowledgment of payment showing the reference number.

2. For you as the sponsor just upload the details page of your current passport.

3. Nothing is retained by UKVCAS staff at the biometric appointment. There is no physical submission of evidence.

In all honesty no chance of getting the vaccine. You need an NHS number.

All sound advice given already. They don’t really care whether the applicant has any money or not as long as someone can afford to pay. The key issue will be reason to return and the 2 things you mention viz. money tied up in the restaurant (proof?) and more importantly the fact that you are planning to move out to Thailand might just be enough. That is definitely the area you need to fully address as I think the financial side will be fine. Good luck.

I had to do this a couple of years ago when I adopted my Thai daughter. I did it myself and no problem. Police e mailed me direct for further information.

Just a follow on to my original post.  I decided in the end to pay for the same day service at the Premium Centre in Solihull.  The price is quite extortionate but it does get the job done on the day and they organise the biometrics while you are there.  You do have to book your appointment well ahead, however.  I left it a bit late and got an appointment only 8 days before the visas ran out.  The staff at Solihull were quite friendly which helps given the whole process is quite stressful.  After you hand in your application and do the biometrics you are free to go out and they call you when it is sorted. You go back in and your documents are brought out almost immediately.  It is really just a question of is it worth the money to have less worry and for me it was but not for everyone.

I am about to do my wife and step daughter's FLR application in mid February and we were hoping to go back to Thailand at the end of July on holiday.  Does anyone have any recent experience of the processing times at Sheffield for FLR?  Also do they keep all the original documents like passports, birth certificates until the final decision or do they send those back earlier?

Thanks for that rasg.  I agree the cost is outrageous and I certainly am leaning towards not paying the extra.  We won't need the passport anytime soon after the application.

In considering everything for the FLR application I am still torn between a postal application and taking pot luck on how long the process takes or paying the exorbitant sum required for a premium service application to know the result on the day.  Has anyone had recent experience of making an application and if so how long did it take from application to decision?  I am a natural worrier and I know I will be on tenderhooks the whole time even though I am sure I will have covered everything in the application

My wife and step daughter's initial visa expires in March next year so I have been planning the FLR application.  Rather than go for A2 at this stage and then B1 at ILR stage we decided to go straight to the B1 test now so that we 'only' have the Life in the UK to worry about later.  My wife took the test in Birmingham on Saturday and passed with flying colours so I would certainly recommend that any Thai  who has lived with a British person for 2 or 3 years or more should do the same.  Just a couple of words of warning.  I did the application for her and just gave her first and last names in the application.  Despite being married she is a Miss on her passport so she has to be a Miss on everything else.  The test centre told her that she should have put her name down as Miss...... They let her take the test anyway but better to enter the full thing.  Secondly we had read lots of sample questions and watched the Trinity videos on Youtube but the actual questions were harder.  She was asked 'Do you think public transport will become more popular in the future and if so why?'  My wife wasn't actually sure what public transport meant but she did answer it well.  She was also asked about her favourite movie and then 'How long was the movie? Who goes to a movie and watches the time?  Questions like this can make a candidate flustered or confused.  Anyway as with all these things being prepared is the answer and most people should sail through.