next visa

[bo jangles]

Please could someone point me in right direction , My wife is due  to do second  uk spouse visa 5yr  route ,i have been on  the gov site but i cant see what visa  to be honest i getting a little confused . I take it  the form will not be same as first application vaf4  so does any one know where i can get a copy.Once again many thanks

 

[7by7]

What she needs to apply for is Further Leave to Remain. It can be confusing and difficult finding information on this since they combined the guidance for various categories into one at Family visas: apply, extend or switch.

 

At 2. Apply as a partner or spouse you'll see that as she is applying in the UK she can apply online, by post or in person. If applying by post or in person she completes the paper form FLR(M); see link in the guidance.

 

Note that as it says in 7. Knowledge of English for FLR she needs at least A2 in English speaking and listening. If she doesn't already have this, she needs to obtain an A2 certificate or better from an approved provider. Unless she meets the requirement via an acceptable academic qualification or is exempt.

 

You will, again, need to meet the financial requirement; but this time her earned income can be used in addition to or instead of yours if necessary.

 

The fee is £993 if she applies online or by post, a massive £1583 if she applies in person.

 

She will, again, have to pay the NHS surcharge, this time £500.

 

She will also need to update or, if she's not had one before, apply for her first biometric residence permit.

Edited October 8, 2017 by 7by7

[bo jangles]

On 10/8/2017 at 1:16 PM, 7by7 said:

What she needs to apply for is Further Leave to Remain. It can be confusing and difficult finding information on this since they combined the guidance for various categories into one at Family visas: apply, extend or switch.

 

At 2. Apply as a partner or spouse you'll see that as she is applying in the UK she can apply online, by post or in person. If applying by post or in person she completes the paper form FLR(M); see link in the guidance.

 

Note that as it says in 7. Knowledge of English for FLR she needs at least A2 in English speaking and listening. If she doesn't already have this, she needs to obtain an A2 certificate or better from an approved provider. Unless she meets the requirement via an acceptable academic qualification or is exempt.

 

You will, again, need to meet the financial requirement; but this time her earned income can be used in addition to or instead of yours if necessary.

 

The fee is £993 if she applies online or by post, a massive £1583 if she applies in person.

 

She will, again, have to pay the NHS surcharge, this time £500.

 

She will also need to update or, if she's not had one before, apply for her first biometric residence permit.

 thank you ,, just another question when does she apply as she was on about 28 days   which could mean  within 28 days before expiry of existing visa ending  or apply before the 28 day prior to expiry

 

[7by7]

She is not eligible for FLR until she has lived in the UK for at least 30 months. That's 30 months from the date of her first arrival with her spouse visa, not 30 months from the date the visa was issued.

 

However, she can apply up to 28 days before that date. The latest she can apply is when her current visa expires.

[bo jangles]

On 10/11/2017 at 6:33 PM, 7by7 said:

She is not eligible for FLR until she has lived in the UK for at least 30 months. That's 30 months from the date of her first arrival with her spouse visa, not 30 months from the date the visa was issued.

 

However, she can apply up to 28 days before that date. The latest she can apply is when her current visa expires.

Sorry still not sure when she can apply ,, as she thinks she can apply now ,,, she came her the second week of march 2015 and  visa ends secon week of december 2017 

[7by7]

As said, she can apply once she has lived in the UK for at least 30 months, 30 months from March 2015 is, by my reckoning, September 2017.

 

So, if I've done my sums right, yes, she can apply now, and must apply before her current visa expires in December.

 

Edit:

Don't worry about her current visa expiring while her application is being processed. Provided she submits her FLR application before her current visa expires her leave will be automatically extended until the decision on her FLR is made.

 

 

Edited October 19, 2017 by 7by7

[bo jangles]

39 minutes ago, 7by7 said:

As said, she can apply once she has lived in the UK for at least 30 months, 30 months from March 2015 is, by my reckoning, September 2017.

 

So, if I've done my sums right, yes, she can apply now, and must apply before her current visa expires in December.

 

Edit:

Don't worry about her current visa expiring while her application is being processed. Provided she submits her FLR application before her current visa expires her leave will be automatically extended until the decision on her FLR is made.

 

 

ok , thank you so much for your help

[fbf]

On 19/10/2017 at 6:53 PM, 7by7 said:

As said, she can apply once she has lived in the UK for at least 30 months, 30 months from March 2015 is, by my reckoning, September 2017.

 

So, if I've done my sums right, yes, she can apply now, and must apply before her current visa expires in December.

My wife is in a similar situation and I must admit to still being confused by the dates here. She arrived in the UK in mid September 2015 and her Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) is valid until mid June 2018 - exactly 33 months (possibly 33 months and 1 day including the start/end date).

 

On the first page of Family visas: apply, extend or switch it says:

 

Quote

The earliest you can apply is 28 days before your current permission (called ‘leave to remain’) expires. Any time you have left will be added to your new permission to stay, up to a maximum of 28 days.

As a result, I had plans to apply in the middle of May 2018, i.e. 28 days before the BRP expiry date. 

 

However, reading it again, page two seems to agree with your 30 months figure:

Quote

You’ll get permission to stay for 2.5 years, or for 6 months if you’re applying as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner.

After this you’ll need to apply to extend your stay.

Could it be that the expiry date on my wife's BRP is wrong? I dug out the letter of a successful visa application and it states exactly the same expiry date - 33 months in total (my wife landed at Gatwick about 7 hours after it became valid).

 

My guess is that either the above website is wrong (should be 2.75 years not 2.5) or that things have changed since September 2015. One other possibility though - my wife's permission dates were messed up.

 

I would like to do the FLR application as soon as possible. If the "28 days before 30 months" advice applies I'd be able to do it as early as February, but I have my doubts.

 

Incidentally, for calculating dates this comes in handy: Date Calculator: Add to or Subtract From a Date

[Drago]

1 hour ago, fbf said:

Incidentally, for calculating dates this comes in handy: Date Calculator: Add to or Subtract From a Date

Very useful for many applications. Thanks.

[bo jangles]

hi again when we did first visa ,as i had been married twice i provided decree absolute from court for second marriage and stated that i no longer have decree absolute from first marriage stating i destroyed it  as i no longer needed it but now  we have come to full stop as i cant click the box i can provide documents  any help would be grateful

[rasg]

Can you get a copy from the court?

[Mattd]

On 10/21/2017 at 6:55 PM, fbf said:

Incidentally, for calculating dates this comes in handy: Date Calculator: Add to or Subtract From a Date

FYI Windows 10 built in calculator has exactly the same features.

[7by7]

On ‎21‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 12:55 PM, fbf said:

My wife is in a similar situation and I must admit to still being confused by the dates here. She arrived in the UK in mid September 2015 and her Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) is valid until mid June 2018 - exactly 33 months (possibly 33 months and 1 day including the start/end date).

 

On the first page of Family visas: apply, extend or switch it says:

 

As a result, I had plans to apply in the middle of May 2018, i.e. 28 days before the BRP expiry date. 

 

However, reading it again, page two seems to agree with your 30 months figure:

Could it be that the expiry date on my wife's BRP is wrong? I dug out the letter of a successful visa application and it states exactly the same expiry date - 33 months in total (my wife landed at Gatwick about 7 hours after it became valid).

 

My guess is that either the above website is wrong (should be 2.75 years not 2.5) or that things have changed since September 2015. One other possibility though - my wife's permission dates were messed up.

 

I would like to do the FLR application as soon as possible. If the "28 days before 30 months" advice applies I'd be able to do it as early as February, but I have my doubts.

 

Incidentally, for calculating dates this comes in handy: Date Calculator: Add to or Subtract From a Date

It is confusing and complicated! My understanding is as follows, and, unless there have been a rules change I have been unable to find, I believe it is still correct.

 

There is actually no minimum residency period for FLR; though it must be applied for before one's current leave expires.

 

The initial leave (visa) is valid for 33 months and FLR is valid for 30 months. The residential qualifying period for ILR is 60 months. BRPs reflect this and are valid for the length of leave granted or 10 years, whichever is the shorter.

 

Therefore, once one has lived in the UK for at least 30 months one can apply for FLR knowing that once granted the two periods added together will equal the 60 months required for ILR.

 

On the other hand, if for some reason the move to the UK was delayed for more than 3 months, then the initial leave will expire before one has lived in the UK for 30 months, so one will need to apply for FLR before that happens, As it will be valid for only 30 months, this FLR will itself expire before one has lived in the UK for 60 months so one will not be residentially qualified for ILR and will need a second FLR to make up the missing time.

 

The above is for spouses and partners; it is different for fiances as they will need at least two periods of FLR; one after the marriage has taken place and another 30 months after that.

 

 

[fbf]

Yes it is confusing, and I really hope you're right. However, I can't easily ignore the text on this page:

 

Quote

When you can apply to extend or switch

The earliest you can apply is 28 days before your current permission (called ‘leave to remain’) expires. Any time you have left will be added to your new permission to stay, up to a maximum of 28 days.

 

The only other official guidance I can find is on this page; open up the PDF "Form FLR(M) guidance notes" and within that document it states:

 

Quote

You and any children under 18 should apply before the end of your/their permitted stay in the UK. We encourage you to apply 28 days before the expiry date.

 

Looking around online I've seen advice along the lines "30 months after arrival, minus 28 days". Your advice seems to be "30 months after arrival", which actually makes a lot more sense. The government advice seems to be that they don't want people to apply too early, with the main web page having a clear "28 days before expiry" rule and the guidance notes a more relaxed, erm, well not actually a rule even, more of a preference for applying 28 days before expiry.

 

For now I'm inclined to aim for "30 months after arrival in the UK" rather than "28 days before current permission expiry" (which is just over 32 months from arrival in my wife's case). This is the safest option given the 60 month requirement for ILR - presumably the worst that can happen is they won't accept the application if this 28 days quote turns out to be a new rule. I'll probably be using the same-day service so will try a few weeks before that anyway, looking for an appointment on (or just after) the 30 month mark.

 

Given that online applications are now available, perhaps the easiest answer will be to sign into that and see what it allows. Has anyone tried this yet?

Edited October 23, 2017 by fbf

[7by7]

In Section 2 - Under which category are you applying for leave on the application form (FLR(M)) Q.2.3 asks "Please indicate what stage of extension of leave you are applying for or why you are choosing to extend your current leave in one of the above categories"

 

The usual one for members here is "First period of leave to remain (following an initial period of entry clearance as a partner of a settled person, or person who is in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection, or as a child of a person who has limited leave as the partner of settled person, or following an initial period of entry clearance as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner of a settled person - 6 months)."

 

However, one of the options is "You delayed your travel to the UK by more than 3 months after the issue of a visa, and have not yet completed the relevant period of time in one of the categories at question 2.1"

 

Although the actual visa vignette is only valid for 30 days (another money making scheme by UKVI!) the actual leave granted is 33 months; as evidenced by the expiry date of the BRP.

 

As the option above shows, you can delay your travel to the UK by up to three months after the start date of your visa and still be time qualified for the next 30 months, i.e. FLR, at the end of which you will have completed 60 months in the UK and be time qualified for ILR.

 

Although, as said, if you delay for more than 30 days you will have to pay for a new visa vignette!

[bo jangles]

i have sorted divorce papers  so i clear on that ,, we are doing a online application ,one question is  Do you and your partner have any shared financial responsibilities? we have clicked yes next question is  Please list your shared financial responsibilities and how much you each pay each month   ,The only bill we share is the water bill ,  she works full time so she pays rent and council tax 

[crazydrummerpauly]

Is there any time-limit on when the English language test was taken ?  Or put another way, would it be possible to take the test too early before a FLR application ?  

[rasg]

Yes it's fine. A2 as a minimum. If your wife's English is good enough for B1 she could do it. Currently fine for ILR.

[crazydrummerpauly]

32 minutes ago, rasg said:

Yes it's fine. A2 as a minimum. If your wife's English is good enough for B1 she could do it. Currently fine for ILR.

Thanks rasg - i guess the only way a test result could 'expire', is when the border agency or home office decide to create another list of 'Approved test centres' and it didn't include the one the missus attended.