Difference Between Flr And Limited Leave

[owl1971]

Hi ,

My GF sucesfully passed her A1 english test at a UKBA accredited centre in January 2011 , she then applied for a fiancee visa and was succesfull , she arrived in the UK in April 2011 and we got married in Aug 2011.

We applied for Further Leave to Remain in September 2011, provided all the relevant supporting evidence including her English A1 (listening and speaking) Cetificate with a pass of 85%.

We then recieved her passport back which had limited leave to remain until 5/11/2014, On looking through the supporting documents last night we have also found a letter in the middle of all the documents which States:

'Your application has been refused , You sought further leave to remain as a spouse on 16th Sept 2011, However you have not provide an english test certificate from a UKBA approved provider as at 17 July 2011 (apparantly the palce my wife took her A1 English is not accredited as of 16th July 2011).

You do not meet the the requirements of the immigration rules however you have been granted a period of discretionary leave until Oct 2014, the secratary of state is satisfied this decision does not breach your article 8 rights .

It also states that " You are not entletd to appeal against this Decision"

As you can imagine this is abit of a shock and I have a couple of questions.

1) We intend to bring my Wifes 8 Yr old Son to the UK Early 2012 , do you think there will be a issue applying for settlemet for my wifes son, due to my wife been on limited leave

2) As my wife is on Limited leave , does this now mean that she will have to apply for further leave in 2014 or can she apply for Indefinate leave (I must add my wife english is a good standard , and should hopefully pass the Life in the UK test)

[bobrussell]

It seems the UKBA may have shown an element of common sense here and it is not as bad as it looks.

FLR is for two years and instead of being refused a visa they appear to have used their discretion and granted the same period of leave on a discretionary basis! As far as I know (and will be corrected if wrong) the rights on DLR are similar or identical to FLR.

Perhaps you should have applied for Indefinite Leave to Remain and to save money should do so next time. A lot of colleges have been removed from the approved list because of bogus or unreliable courses. Your college may have been caught up in this. I don't know what the criteria are for accreditation.

I don't see why this should affect a childs settlement visa which is usually the same as the mothers. The child will need to meet the requirement (sole responsibility etc) to get this visa if your wife had got FLR or ILR anyway. If in doubt contact an immigration specialist or solicitor. Child applications can be quite difficult if parent and child apply at significantly different times.

[owl1971]

Hi ,

I agree that they seem to have applied a bit of common sense .

I have spoken to the UKBA this morning and they have confused me even more , they have said that because my wife applied for FLR this is classed as settlement and therefore she needed to have completed the Life in the UK test or done a ESOL course which is approved by UKBA , which is fair enough.

However it cleary states that my wife was refused FLR because her A1 certificate provider was not on the approved list at 17 July 2011, this is factauly incorrect as the institution in which my wife got her A1 PBSET is still on the approved list.

Its seems that now my wife has been given discretionary leave for 3 years , the next time she applys she will be given another 3 yrs discretionary leave, resulting in her not been allowed to apply for indefinite leave for at least 6 years, we were hoping to get FLR and the pass the Life in the UK test and then apply for Indefinite Leave.

It seems because of this ruling this is going to cost me more money to get Indefinite Leave.

Although I cannot appeal , I have been told by UKBA that i can write to the officer who made the decision for further clarification.

Cheers

[bobrussell]

If you think the UKBA have made a mistake then contact them and discuss it with them. Unfortunately as far as I know someone with DLR has to be in the UK for at least 6 years before they can apply for ILR.

As always if in doubt get legal advice from an immigration solicitor or registered immigration adviser because I dread to think what ILR will cost in six years time if the present rate of immigration inflation continues! Sorry to rain on your parade more!

[owl1971]

Hi ,

I have spoken to the instituton where my wife took her A1 English (Listening and speaking), and they have confirmed that the new format of the English A1 (Listening , speaking and writing ) came into affect 1/4/2011 and the UKBA only accepted the old format up to 17th July 2011.

I seems likely that the UKBA will not change there minds , so It now means that we will have to apply for indefinite leave in 6 years time , this seems highly unfair and a additional financial burden .

I understand that they have shown discretion regarding our relationship , in that they have not sent my wife back to thailand, but I think they should have considered my wifes earlier A1 english achievement a little more.

My wife was due to take her Life in the uk test next year , but we may hold off now untill 2014, as its seems like the UKBA can change the goal post without a lot of prior notice.

[bobrussell]

You have nothing to lose by talking to your MP. Write a letter stating the facts and expressing how upset you are by this harsh implementation of the immigration rules! Copy it to the UKBA and perhaps the Home Secretary's office. As there is a legal technicality involved it is worth putting up a bit of a fight. Let them know that it was a genuine mistake and you thought the test was valid and perhaps a gentle dig at the fact they keep changing to rules so often that it is difficult for ordinary people to keep up!

The UKBA can be influenced and as this is already discretionary leave and outside the ordinary immigration rules the Home Secretary has the powers to show further discretion! Don't hold your breath, the Home Secretary is already up to her neck in UKBA issues!

My advice would be to get the Life in the UK passed and under your wife's belt. It is another small indicator of her desire to fit into British life.

There are no guarantees but not much to lose other than a bit of time and effort. Remember the UKBA enforce the rules but do not create them. Regretfully they probably consider they have been nice to you already!

Edited November 8, 2011 by bobrussell

[owl1971]

HI,

Think I will raise my concerns with the UKBA case worker who handled the case.

My main basis of my compalint will be highlighting the misleading information on the UKBA guidance notes and application form , Web site links that do not work, Web site links that do work but are out of date, and web site links that cleary should be included in the guidance notes.

I will post more concise details when I have collated all my facts

Can I just clarify that because my wife has been given discretionary leave , she will not be able to apply for indefinite leave for at least 6 years.

Cheers