FLR(m) - Timing the application

[globalThailand]

My wife and son are off to Thailand over the school holidays.  Her 33 month UK spouse visa expires mid October.

 

Coming back mid August leaves her with just 2 months on the initial visa so the question I have is-- 

 

a) Would this be a problem at border control? (I assume not-- it's not like the '6 month rule' on passports-- but wanted to check)

b) Would this be cutting it fine on applying to the FLR(m)?   With a possible 8 week decision time what happens if the decision is not made by the time the initial visa expires?

[rasg]

It doesn’t work like that. You need to apply for FLR a day or so before the current visa expires. My wife's expired on the 26th April and I paid the IHS fee and application on the 25th. You can apply up to 28 days before it expires but you need to be careful that your wife has lived in the UK for more than 60 months when she gets to ILR.

 

It typically takes around 7 weeks.

 

All of the application is digital now and all information is entered online. After paying the visas and submitting the application you book an appointment and attend one of the UKVCAS centres dotted around the country for your wife to supply biometrics and have the centre scan your documents. You can scan them and upload yourself before attending the UKVCAS centre. All they then do is double check that you have uploaded the required documents. Then sit back and wait. I did the scanning myself as I already had quite a bit of the documentation scanned already and I don't trust stack scanners. I had the opportunity to check, check and check again to make sure that everything had been done correctly. For the princely sum of £800 extra you can have the decision in 24 hours and they have a host of extras that you can pay for to relieve you of even more cash.

[theoldgit]

"a) Would this be a problem at border control? (I assume not-- it's not like the '6 month rule' on passports-- but wanted to check)"

 

For the avoidance of doubt, there is no '6 month rule' on passports for the UK, for visitors they need to be valid for the duration of the stay.

[7by7]

To add to the above; her FLR will commence on the date the application is submitted or the date the previous leave to remain expires, whichever is the earlier, and be valid for 30 months. So she need to have been resident in the UK for at least 30 months when she applies or her FLR will expire before she has been resident in the UK for 60 months and so she will need to obtain, and pay for, another FLR before she can apply for ILR.

 

(If she has not been a UK resident for at least 30 months when her current leave expires then she will need to do this anyway in order to be resident for the 60 months required for ILR.)

 

As rasg says, she can apply up to 28 days before her current leave expires and her application will be treated as being made on the expiry date.

 

10 hours ago, globalThailand said:

 With a possible 8 week decision time what happens if the decision is not made by the time the initial visa expires?

Provided her FLR application is submitted on or before the date her existing leave expires then her existing leave will be automatically extended until the decision on her FLR application is made.

[rasg]

A question please, 7by7.

 

My wife's Settlement (fiancée) visa ran from 8th March 2016 to 8th September 2016. She entered the UK on the 12th March 2016. Her first FLR ran from 25th October 2016 to the 26th April 2019. Does the time from 8th September to 25th October 2016 count towards her 60 months for ILR please? 

[globalThailand]

Sound response!  Thanks all - means I can relax on the summer trip ????

 

7 hours ago, rasg said:

My wife's Settlement (fiancée) visa ran from 8th March 2016 to 8th September 2016. She entered the UK on the 12th March 2016. Her first FLR ran from 25th October 2016 to the 26th April 2019. Does the time from 8th September to 25th October 2016 count towards her 60 months for ILR please? 

Would defer to 7by7 but seems to me as she was lawfully residing in the UK the fiance visa would count.... I would be surprised if they require 2 x 30 month FLR visas to get you to 5 years and you had to apply on the very last day of the second visa  

 

[rasg]

2 hours ago, globalThailand said:

Would defer to 7by7 but seems to me as she was lawfully residing in the UK the fiance visa would count.... I would be surprised if they require 2 x 30 month FLR visas to get you to 5 years and you had to apply on the very last day of the second visa 

I am pretty certain that the fiancée doesn't count. It's the seven weeks that each visa takes that I'm no clear on.

[7by7]

Deleted

 

[7by7]

On 5/6/2019 at 12:50 PM, rasg said:

A question please, 7by7.

 

My wife's Settlement (fiancée) visa ran from 8th March 2016 to 8th September 2016. She entered the UK on the 12th March 2016. Her first FLR ran from 25th October 2016 to the 26th April 2019. Does the time from 8th September to 25th October 2016 count towards her 60 months for ILR please? 

 Sorry, but if her first FLR is dated as beginning on 25th October 2016 then that is the date her 60 months starts. 

 

I assume that you are still waiting for the decision on the second one, but provided she submitted the application no earlier than 28 days before 26th April 2019 that should run for 30 months from that date*.

 

Which means, if my calculations are correct, that the earliest she can apply for ILR is 29th September 2021; i.e. 28 days before 25th October 2021.

 

*Please let us know when she receives her FLR if I'm correct, as I'm sure it will be very helpful for others.

[7by7]

21 hours ago, globalThailand said:

Would defer to 7by7 but seems to me as she was lawfully residing in the UK the fiance visa would count.

 

18 hours ago, rasg said:

I am pretty certain that the fiancée doesn't count

 

It doesn't.

 

From Family visas: apply, extend or switch, Apply as a partner or spouse

Quote

When you can settle permanently

The earliest you can apply to settle in the UK (called ‘indefinite leave to remain’) is after you’ve lived in the country for 5 years continuously with permission to stay (‘leave to remain’) as a partner. You cannot count any permission to stay in the UK as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner.

 

[rasg]

25 minutes ago, 7by7 said:

Sorry, but if her first FLR is dated as beginning on 25th October 2016 then that is the date her 60 months starts. 

 

I assume that you are still waiting for the decision on the second one, but provided she submitted the application no earlier than 28 days before 26th April 2019 that should run for 30 months from that date*.

 

Which means, if my calculations are correct, that the earliest she can apply for ILR is 29th September 2021; i.e. 28 days before 25th October 2021.

 

*Please let us know when she receives her FLR if I'm correct, as I'm sure it will be very helpful for others.

Yes. We only went last Thursday so sometime to wait.

 

I'm happy to update when we have a decision etc.

[globalThailand]

Thanks for the confirmation 7by7.

 

And good luck with the application Rasg - keep us posted... I will likely be bugging you in a couple of months for more info.