Step After Settlement

[liveforever]

good morning,

sorry i've not posted for a while, hope everyone is ok.

the wife is 2/3 through here stay in uk on settlement visa, can anyone advise me on the next steps to be taken for her permanent stay here.

been so busy and off the forum so your help would be great.

kind regards.

Edited December 14, 2011 by liveforever

[toddmeister]

Next step ILR. Has you rwife done the Life In The UK test or an ESOL course to qualify for the English requirement?

[liveforever]

Are both needed or can you choose which to take?

[toddmeister]

It's an either or thing. Is she does the ESOL course it has to be a college course with citizenship, but I have no idea how long it takes, probably months. I believe during that time you wife must show a level of progression. If she can't pass one of these before her current visa expires I think the only option is to apply for another 2 year FLR

[liveforever]

Thx, she speaks perfect english so will have to look into it, thx for your help, maybe the uk test will be the answer, seems strange your english can't be assessed at a collage to be good enough really

[toddmeister]

If her English really is that good then the LITUK test may be the better option. The reason being, for the ESOL course she would be assested at the beginning of the course and told what level she is at. She would then have to prove that she has progressed a level throughout the course to qualify for ILR. If she is already at a high level, showing progression may be hard to do. That's how I read into it anyway. My wife just arrived on her settlement visa so only just starting to look at the options for ESOL etc so I could be wrong.

[bobrussell]

LitUK is the easiest and cheapest option for those with good English skills. It is a case of learning facts and figures and doing a multiple choice exam. Quite cheap to do (often at the same places driving test theory is examined).

My sister-in-law did it this way without problems (the study book was kept in the loo for those quiet moments!). There is a Thai language edition (2010) available from all good bookshops! There is also a cd version in English.

It is a case of learning the facts. I failed even with google to help me but I had not read the book!

My wife took the ESOL route which gave her a lot of confidence although I suspect she would have been fine with the LitUK test with a bit of help.

Make sure you have letters addressed to both of you (eg Council tax bill) or keep official letters addressed to each of you. Doctors registration papers, bank statements will do. You will need to provide six items (I think from more than two sources) to help convince the UKBA that you live at the same address. I felt that a photo of me before we got married and the drawn, haggard look in recent photos would convince them that we are still married!!

Start saving the extortionate sum to pay for ILR.

[toddmeister]

Hi bob,

Do you mind if I ask the cost you paid for the ESOL course? I don't think my wife is at a level where she could pass the LITUK test so I think the ESOL route is going to be her best option. I've tried emailing our local college as they do list the ESOL but have not had a response. It's early days for my wife (only been over here 3 weeks) but I don't want to leave it too late to get something sorted

Regards

[MAJIC]

Hi bob,

Do you mind if I ask the cost you paid for the ESOL course? I don't think my wife is at a level where she could pass the LITUK test so I think the ESOL route is going to be her best option. I've tried emailing our local college as they do list the ESOL but have not had a response. It's early days for my wife (only been over here 3 weeks) but I don't want to leave it too late to get something sorted

Regards

From other Posters on Thai Visa,the course fees vary around the Country. the advancement from one level to the next,after the initial assessment, should not take longer than 3 x 12 week terms and the cost in my area of the Country is £90 a term.and plus £20 Exam fees.

Which will produce ESOL and City and Guilds Certificates. You must clarify with the chosen College that the Course contains Citizenship Materials/Attachments,and that they will give you a Accredited College letter to confirm that,at the end of the course.

The Certificates (ESOL C&G) come in 3 Parts, (an exam at the end of each term) so you can reasonably judge if your wife is on target to pass in 3 terms.by how difficult,she finds the course, If she should fail the 3rd part for example,she can take that part again.

You are correct, to start thinking about ILR as soon as possible.

Edited December 14, 2011 by MAJIC

[liveforever]

many thx guys for your helpful responses, thank you.

i seen to remember doing the same tod and trying to get sorted early, but here we are with only 9 months to go; we did buy the lituk books months ago but seem to have been put on the back burner.

majic, thx for the info will look into that, sounds a clearer option but only if shes up to it, like i say her english is very strong but thoses questions in the books are hard even for us guys.

kind regards

Edited December 15, 2011 by liveforever

[liveforever]

does anyone also know the earliest the lituk test can be taken after arriving in the uk?

kind regards

[toddmeister]

Hi bob,

Do you mind if I ask the cost you paid for the ESOL course? I don't think my wife is at a level where she could pass the LITUK test so I think the ESOL route is going to be her best option. I've tried emailing our local college as they do list the ESOL but have not had a response. It's early days for my wife (only been over here 3 weeks) but I don't want to leave it too late to get something sorted

Regards

From other Posters on Thai Visa,the course fees vary around the Country. the advancement from one level to the next,after the initial assessment, should not take longer than 3 x 12 week terms and the cost in my area of the Country is £90 a term.and plus £20 Exam fees.

Which will produce ESOL and City and Guilds Certificates. You must clarify with the chosen College that the Course contains Citizenship Materials/Attachments,and that they will give you a Accredited College letter to confirm that,at the end of the course.

The Certificates (ESOL C&G) come in 3 Parts, (an exam at the end of each term) so you can reasonably judge if your wife is on target to pass in 3 terms.by how difficult,she finds the course, If she should fail the 3rd part for example,she can take that part again.

You are correct, to start thinking about ILR as soon as possible.

Thanks for that Majic, we better start looking into the courses early in the new year I think

Cheers

[bobrussell]

We paid between £200-300 for a years ESOL. This was the full 'life skills' course but was taught with citizenship materials so the college could write the correct letter and the certificates are accepted by the UKBA. My wife got a lot of insight into the way the UK functions on a practical level so the life skills part of it gave her much greater confidence.

Some colleges charge more if the student has been in the UK less than a year. Best contact your local further education college. They are OFSTED inspected so you can be reasonably sure of high teaching standards.

There are shorter ESOL with citizenship materials courses but I am afraid I don't know much about them, the college should!

At the moment we are waiting for ILR to be processed and fingers crossed this should be just an expensive exercise!

[toddmeister]

Thanks for the info Bob

[7by7]

does anyone also know the earliest the lituk test can be taken after arriving in the uk?

kind regards

Technically, immediately. Obviously, though, you'll have to book a test and take it when the next one is available.

[Pattayarox]

Just curios guys..............do Thai nationalists have to do any english exams or anything if they are applying to settle in Ireland?

[marksm]

hi all

ive been looking to send my tg/wife to collage once we are married in the new year. My local collage is Quoting £10 a hour with the session 2 hours at a time this cost there telling me because she is a international student this cant be right can it?

[7by7]

Just curios guys..............do Thai nationalists have to do any english exams or anything if they are applying to settle in Ireland?

No idea, and as this is a topic about UK settlement I doubt many who know will see your post. Maybe you should start a new topic?

ive been looking to send my tg/wife to collage once we are married in the new year. My local collage is Quoting £10 a hour with the session 2 hours at a time this cost there telling me because she is a international student this cant be right can it?

From this post by bangkockney

Residency is the qualifying factor when judging someone to be a home or international student for the purposes of fees, as set out in the Education (Fees and Awards) (England) Regulations 2007.

Any visa endorsement is irrelevant.

In order to qualify as a home UK student, you must meet all of the following criteria:

you must be 'settled' in the UK on the 'first day of the first academic year of the course'

AND

you must also have been 'ordinarily resident' in the UK on the 'first day of the first academic year of the course'

AND

you must have been 'ordinarily resident' in the UK and Islands (the Islands means the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) for the full three year period before the 'first day of the first academic year of the course'

AND

the main purpose for your residence in the UK and islands must not have been to receive full-time education during any part of that three year period.

As the academic year usually starts in September, if she entered the UK with her settlement visa after September 2011 she wont qualify for home student fees until September 2012.

Edit The above sentence is incorrect! See post 21 below.

Edited December 19, 2011 by 7by7

[steve187]

Other than the LITUK test, you also need paper proof of having lived together for the 2 years, spread over the 2 years, bills, council tax, bank account etc. etc.

all the best with the application when its due

Edited December 19, 2011 by steve187

[marksm]

So if my misses gets her flr visa in may 2012 she's got to wait till may 2013 ? If this is the case she will only have 1 year left on her visa so will 1 year collage be enough for her applying for the Llr visa or not ?

[7by7]

Many apologies, I missed one very important, perhaps the most important, part of Bangkockney's post

you must have been 'ordinarily resident' in the UK and Islands (the Islands means the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) for the full three year period before the 'first day of the first academic year of the course'

Which means, I'm afraid, that you'll have to pay the international fees; unless her English is good enough to take the LitUK test instead. You could wait until she has been in the UK for three years; but this would mean she wont qualify for ILR in two years time so would have to make another FLR application. Cheaper to pay the international fees for the course, I think..

BTW, you say that you will be marrying in the new year, but that she wont be applying for FLR until May. Two things:-

1) Does this mean she entered with her fiance visa in December 2011? If so and I understand Bangkockney's quote correctly, and my maths are correct, this means she wont qualify for home student fees until September 2015!

2) She does not have to wait until her fiance visa expires before applying for FLR; she can do so immediately after the wedding. There may very well be a fees increase between now and May, so better to get the application in ASAP and avoid this if it happens. The same in two years time for her ILR application.

[bobrussell]

It is worth checking with a couple of colleges. They do not seem to have a standard policy. My wife paid £200 for the full year but some others from Eastern Europe only had to pay £10 if they were on benefits! She was allowed to start part way through the year.

Apparently everyone pays the same now (about £300 I think). It was great value and my wife is going to restart once she has passed her driving test. They changed the time and day for the courses and I was unable to get her there and back because of work!

[marksm]

thank you for your reply s ive only been too one local collage. We have a few in the Manchester area so i think i will ask a few more .They also told me she could start at any time as they was no time limit has students come and go .

.Yes she only come at the beginning of December but i like to know and be a little organised in what we need too do to make things go smoothly but i know it never does