Uk Flr Or Ilr .... Confused

[Merangue]

Hi folks

Well the time is approaching for my wife's settlement Visa to end.

I have a couple of questions that i hope all you folk able to understand the UKBA rules and regs will be able to help with.

1st:

Initially the visa was issued June 2009 and has a period of 27 months on it. Not 24.

Does the new application need to be made within 28 days of the 24 month or the 27 month dates? At what time doe we have to apply by and what is the earliest we can do so?

2nd;

My Wife's English has not improved to the level we had hoped. ( Frankly the first year was a waste of time as the class she was in was very poorly run and she got very little from it. )

This year she has been in a much better class and will have completed ESOL entry level 1 ( with a slight chance she may be good enough to get to Entry lvl 2 )

Needless to say this would mean she is not going to be able to pass the life in the UK tests etc.

As i understand it she would need to do so in order to apply for ILR so that is out and FLR is our only option.

Can anyone confirm if i am reading this correctly?

Everything else EG: Income, accommodation, genuine marriage etc is up to scratch so it is basically the above questions i need to get sorted out.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

PS... MY god the price of the FLR is £900 ? is there nothing our government will not rip us off for?

[Eff1n2ret]

1) His wife can apply after 2 years spent in the UK. They started giving 27 months on the Settlement visa to accommodate those who didn't travel to the UK within 28 days of issue and therefore wouldn't fulfil the 2-year requirement for ILR before the visa expired.

2) If she can't meet all the requirements for ILR then a further FLR application is the only option. However, she will still have to pass a basic English test even to qualify for FLR. See P5 of these guidance notes:- http://www.ind.homeo...flrm1020091.pdf

[7by7]

Off topic post removed; there is a current topic running on UK visa fees, please post comments about fees there.

[kennkate]

Merangue I am in the same position as you are my wife got her FLR visa in june 2009 and we got to the UK one week later.

the visa expires in Sept this year.

My wife passed entry Level 1 in in Dec. However her tutor is saying that in order to apply for ILR she will need Level 2

That is not what it says on the Border agency web site

It states that you need to make progress, And that if she was acessed when she stated the course at below level 1 then that is progress

You do however need to supply a letter from the school to state that.

I did ring the Border agency to get conformation that this was correct and was assured that it was.

The requirement to pass basic english in order to get FLR only came into effect after we got our visas so I dont think this would apply to you. I could be wrong

If 7by7 is around maybe he would be good and give us his take on our possition

Lke others I dont want to have to pay for FLR and then again in 2 years time for ILR If I dont have to so any advice appreciated.

[Eff1n2ret]

I think I should have added a rider to the second para of my previous post, that if the OP's wife has passed an ESOL test but made insufficient progress to qualify for ILR, the test she has passed may well meet or exceed the 'A1' level required for an FLR application. I would advise her to ask her tutors when she knows what she has passed.

[7by7]

If you are not an English speaker - ESOL and citizenship course says

The Immigration Rules for ESOL courses changed on 7 April 2010. If you want to demonstrate your knowledge of language and life with an ESOL qualification, you must now meet the following requirements:

• You must have attended your ESOL course at an accredited college.
• The course must have included citizenship materials derived from the document 'Citizenship Materials for ESOL Learners' (ISBN: 1-84478-5424).
• You must have obtained a relevant ESOL qualification from an approved awarding body.
• You must demonstrate that you have made relevant progress.

it goes on to say

To demonstrate 'relevant progress', your college must confirm that you have progressed by at least one level from the level at which you were assessed at the beginning of the course that led to your relevant qualification. For example, if you were initially assessed by your college as being below Entry 1 level, you must obtain a relevant ESOL qualification at Entry 1 level or above.

So kennkate is correct, progressing from below Entry Level 1 to Entry Level 1 is sufficient to meet the requirement, provided she has obtained a relevant qualification as well.

A 'relevant ESOL qualification' is:

• an ESOL qualification in speaking and listening at Entry 1, Entry 2 or Entry 3 level approved by the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual); or
• one National Qualifications Unit in ESOL at Access 2, Access 3 or Intermediate 1 level approved by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

So she needs proof of the relevant qualification and a letter from the college to confirm that to obtain that qualification she has progressed at least one level from the level at which she was assessed when she began the course.

Your college should provide a letter confirming that the relevant criteria are met. We have drafted a template of the letter (PDF 27KB, opens in a new window) which you can use. The college should also provide evidence to show how it meets the definition of an accredited college.

[Merangue]

Apologies for the delay in responding to your replies. I have had to virtually rebuild my entire PC in the last week.

Folks this is excellent information and i thank you.

From the above it would appear, that assuming she completes this year ( should end May/June ) then she will have satisfied the requirement for Relevant progress.

It is an accredited course and it does contain Citizenship materials.

That being true i would hope we would be able to apply for the ILR rather than the FLR.

I am still not 100% clear on the 24 -27 month rules however.

Am i right in thinking we can apply any time between the 24th month and the 26th month or does it need to be done within 28 days of the 24th month only?

The reason i ask is that i am not sure we will have the Proof or even the confirmed result for the Esol course in time for June.

Might i add this site and the people who contribute to it are such a brilliant resource to those of us who get lost in the never ending legalese of the UKBA.

[TheFiend]

Nice to see a few familiar names on here!!!

My wife is currently doing her ESOL ( with Citizenship) course at our local college.

She is loving living in the UK despite the weather - it's quite funny I told her it very rarely snowed where we live and it has snowed 2 winters in a row!!! She loves the snow...

Yep, it's getting towards that time we need to start thinking about putting together the application for the visa renewal..

One of my mates married a friend of the Mrs and they are just about to do the spouse visa, she has already been over on a visit visa

[7by7]

I am still not 100% clear on the 24 -27 month rules however.

Am i right in thinking we can apply any time between the 24th month and the 26th month or does it need to be done within 28 days of the 24th month only?

To apply for ILR one must have a valid leave to enter or remain in the UK.

A spouse visa is valid for 27 months.

The minimum residential qualification for ILR is 24 months, but one can apply 28 days before the date one meets this requirement.

So, the earliest one can apply is 28 days before the 2nd anniversary of one's first arrival in the UK; the latest is the day the visa expires (27 months after it was issued).

If the visa is about to expire but for some reason one does not qualify for ILR then one will need to apply for FLR instead.