FLR (M) Timing of Application.

[crazydrummerpauly]

Hi all. My wife's first UK spouse visa ends on June 1st this year - that is the 33-month point since she entered the UK on September 12th, 2016. We want to apply for the Further Leave to Remain as early as possible without being too early and eating into the 60-month period necessary for the final ILR application. Asking a probably stupid question - do the home office just use calendar months when counting up, and not defining a Month as for example, 4 weeks ? So based on the simple calendar method, i'm counting from her initial entry to the UK as SEPT 12, 2016 > SEPT 12, 2018 = 2 years, plus SEPT 12, 2018 to MARCH 12th, 2019 (6 months) = 30 Months - is that correct ? I really don't want to mess up here! Then using their '28 days before the 30 months point' as the earliest safe date to apply, does that bring us to FEBRUARY 12th, 2019 as the earliest possible SAFE date to apply ? I'm rubbish at dates so i really would appreciate someone double-checking these numbers for me please  Many thanks and a belated happy new year to everyone, and apologies for a very dull post on an old topic.  It is quite urgent for us.

[rasg]

I answered your question on the other forum.????

[crazydrummerpauly]

"I don't even bother trying to calculate dates etc."  ?

[globalThailand]

I've been looking into this a bit lately as it's time to start planning the FLR(m) for my wife.  I'm thinking there's no real need to rush into the application at the earliest though.  As you point out you have that 60 month requirement for the ILR so you may as well apply on month 32 of the initial stay to give yourself some leeway a couple of years down the line when it comes to applying for that.  Happy to hear thoughts of those with more experience though ????  

[crazydrummerpauly]

On 1/16/2019 at 9:50 PM, globalThailand said:

I've been looking into this a bit lately as it's time to start planning the FLR(m) for my wife.  I'm thinking there's no real need to rush into the application at the earliest though.  As you point out you have that 60 month requirement for the ILR so you may as well apply on month 32 of the initial stay to give yourself some leeway a couple of years down the line when it comes to applying for that.  Happy to hear thoughts of those with more experience though ????  

Yep, that's perfectly ok and good thinking.  We have personal reasons for wanting to get it done and dusted as early as possible without messing up that 60-month rule for the ILR.  The way the guidance is written is (to me) totally illogical.  It basically says you can a) Apply up to 28 days Before the end of the permission to stay in the UK - as shown on the BRP card, or b) Apply up to 28 days Before the date at which the applicant has been in the UK for 30 months dated from the day they entered the country.  As the spouse visa is 33 months long, that means there is an approx. 2-month period between those two dates which is in no-man's-land.  It is not covered by either of the rules a) and b).  See what i mean ?  I need to ask a new question, which is about whether any periods outside the UK on holiday count as part of the 30-months continuous residence...

[7by7]

The three month period you refer to, i.e. the reason why the initial visa is valid for 33 months, is there to allow people to wind up their affairs once they have their initial visa and before they make their first entry to the UK using that visa. 

 

(Although UKVI introduced a sneaky trick a few years ago where it is valid for entry for just one month and if you delay travelling past that you've got to pay to extend it!)

 

Your wife can apply for her FLR at any time once she is in the UK; the day she arrives if she wants! But if she does so too early then it will expire before she has lived in the UK for a total of 60 months and so she will not be time qualified for ILR and have to make, and pay for, another FLR application.

 

So the earliest she should apply is 30 months after her first arrival, although as the guidance says she can actually apply 28 days before this; provided she did not delay her first entry for more than 3 months. The latest she can apply is 33 months from the date of issue of her initial visa, though again she can apply 28 days before this, provided her initial visa, and BRP, is still valid.

 

She can also apply at any time between these dates.

 

Most people apply at the earliest opportunity; i.e. once they have been in the UK for the 30 months, or 28 days before that date.

 

You say

On ‎1‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 1:14 PM, crazydrummerpauly said:

My wife's first UK spouse visa ends on June 1st this year - that is the 33-month point since she entered the UK on September 12th, 2016

It doesn't expire 33 months after she entered the UK; it expires 33 months after it was issued!

 

As said, she can apply after living in the UK for 30 months; by my reckoning that's 11th. March 2019 (check, I could easily be wrong!).

 

In which case she should be able to get her application in before the fee increase in April; though she will have to pay the increased IHS surcharge which came into force on 8th January.

 

Are you also aware that A1 in English speaking and listening is no longer sufficient for FLR? She now needs A2.

[crazydrummerpauly]

1 hour ago, 7by7 said:

The three month period you refer to, i.e. the reason why the initial visa is valid for 33 months, is there to allow people to wind up their affairs once they have their initial visa and before they make their first entry to the UK using that visa. 

 

(Although UKVI introduced a sneaky trick a few years ago where it is valid for entry for just one month and if you delay travelling past that you've got to pay to extend it!)

 

Your wife can apply for her FLR at any time once she is in the UK; the day she arrives if she wants! But if she does so too early then it will expire before she has lived in the UK for a total of 60 months and so she will not be time qualified for ILR and have to make, and pay for, another FLR application.

 

So the earliest she should apply is 30 months after her first arrival, although as the guidance says she can actually apply 28 days before this; provided she did not delay her first entry for more than 3 months. The latest she can apply is 33 months from the date of issue of her initial visa, though again she can apply 28 days before this, provided her initial visa, and BRP, is still valid.

 

She can also apply at any time between these dates.

 

Most people apply at the earliest opportunity; i.e. once they have been in the UK for the 30 months, or 28 days before that date.

 

You say

It doesn't expire 33 months after she entered the UK; it expires 33 months after it was issued!

 

As said, she can apply after living in the UK for 30 months; by my reckoning that's 11th. March 2019 (check, I could easily be wrong!).

 

In which case she should be able to get her application in before the fee increase in April; though she will have to pay the increased IHS surcharge which came into force on 8th January.

 

Are you also aware that A1 in English speaking and listening is no longer sufficient for FLR? She now needs A2.

Thanks again 7x7 - solid advice as ever.  So yes, i calculated the 30 months period for my wife after entering the UK on September 12, 2016, as being March 12th, 2019, but it could be the 11th - i will double check.  So does that make the earliest application date 28 days before that - February 12th ?  (Or 11th).  I'm double-checking on this as it is only 3+ weeks away.

 

Yes- the English test is all done and dusted - she passed the B1 test with A grades in Leeds Trinity yesterday.  A small victory !

[7by7]

49 minutes ago, crazydrummerpauly said:

So does that make the earliest application date 28 days before that - February 12th ?  (Or 11th).  I'm double-checking on this as it is only 3+ weeks away.

If she wants her FLR to start on the day 30 months after she first entered the UK and therefore finish 5 years after that in order to be time qualified for ILR; then yes she should apply no earlier than 28 days before the date she will have been in the UK for 30 months.

 

Though to be honest, whilst it may be worth utilising this for ILR, I see little point in doing so for FLR; unless it is to get the application submitted before an announced fees rise.

[crazydrummerpauly]

5 hours ago, 7by7 said:

If she wants her FLR to start on the day 30 months after she first entered the UK and therefore finish 5 years after that in order to be time qualified for ILR; then yes she should apply no earlier than 28 days before the date she will have been in the UK for 30 months.

 

Though to be honest, whilst it may be worth utilising this for ILR, I see little point in doing so for FLR; unless it is to get the application submitted before an announced fees rise.

Point taken, thanks.  There is an area of concern right now about the wife's salary being a vital part of the £18,600 financial requirement. I understand of course the need for 6 months wage-slips and matching bank statements, but her current quite high salary was not in place 4 months ago when she was doing 2 part-time jobs.  So i wonder - how does UKVI calculate the Annual salary ?  Eg :  if someone has been earning the £18,600 for THREE months, will they helpfully multiply that up to a 12-month total ?  Or does an applicant have to have actually worked for 6 months at the higher salary to meet the requirement ?  This is causing stress....aaargghhh.  I suppose it is in home office guidance somewhere ?

[globalThailand]

Financial Requirement bumpf  - <<< Have a read of this 

 

It looks like she falls into category B (Less than 6 months with an employer).  As with all these government docs it's not an easy read.  As far as I can see category A and B cannot be simply combined.  Instead they assess both partners as Category B and break it up into 2 parts - 1) The current combined salaries of you and your partner need to meet the financial requirement and 2) the combined earnings of the 12 months before the application need to have met the financial requirement.

[globalThailand]

10 hours ago, 7by7 said:

[...] get her application in before the fee increase in April.

Quick side question.  Didn't things go up last Oct?  O.o

[7by7]

16 hours ago, crazydrummerpauly said:

There is an area of concern right now about the wife's salary being a vital part of the £18,600 financial requirement

It`s not a vital part; but it can be used if need be; either alone or in combination with yours.

 

Reading the financial requirement appendix I linked to earlier and globalThailand linked to again above will answer the rest of your questions.

[7by7]

13 hours ago, globalThailand said:

Quick side question.  Didn't things go up last Oct?  O.o

 For some reason the government issued a press release last October about the visa and LTR fees.

 

A certain member (me ????) posted this as an increase. But it wasn`t, it was simply confirmation of the fees set the previous April.

[crazydrummerpauly]

On 1/19/2019 at 10:22 PM, globalThailand said:

Financial Requirement bumpf  - <<< Have a read of this 

 

It looks like she falls into category B (Less than 6 months with an employer).  As with all these government docs it's not an easy read.  As far as I can see category A and B cannot be simply combined.  Instead they assess both partners as Category B and break it up into 2 parts - 1) The current combined salaries of you and your partner need to meet the financial requirement and 2) the combined earnings of the 12 months before the application need to have met the financial requirement.

Thanks for that...i think we can cover it just about.  But all that Category A and Category B stuff is a pain.  I'm going to try to cover all bases by supplying 12 months payslips and bank statements for her, and 12 months bank statements for me (showing pension payments), and hope for the best.  That way they can look at/calculate whatever they want - either 6 current monthly incomes totalled and divided by 6 then multiplied by 12; or 12 x latest monthly incomes; or simply Add up the ACTUAL receipts into our bank accounts for the past year - losing the will to live here...