Wife Currently In Uk On Settlement Visa

[baannambua]

Hi guys, my wife has been here since June 10th 2010. She came here on a 2 year settlment visa. Our daughter was then born June 8th 2011. She has worked here and has national insurance number and has worked legally etc. Now she is in college doing her English course which will finish in June just before her visa date runs out. I was just wondering what is the next step. Does she now apply for ILR? And does she have to be in Thailand or UK? We are planning on going back to Thailand for about 4-5 weeks in June 2012. Also is the second application as long and in depth as it was getting the settlement visa? Obviously this time we dont have any problems of evidence of relationship etc etc. Just trying to prepare myself for all this as I know the next 6 months will be gone very quickly. Also does anybody have any info on costs of the next part of her visa? Sorry also I should add that we do have future plans for my wife daughter and myself to continue living and working in the UK. Thanks

Edited December 30, 2011 by baannambua

[Thongkorn]

If you go on the Boarder Agency site you will get all the information you require. your wife must apply for her indefinite Leave to remain before her 27 months, you must apply two or three weeks before the end of the Spouce Visa. date expires, You cannot be out of the country if her Visa has expired, or while it is being processed. the cost of the IDLR, visa is now nearly £1000.

[baannambua]

OK so the next thing I need to do is apply for ILR 28 days before her visa date runs out. I did have a read through some stuff but couldn't find out what does FLR stand for? Is ILR the best and only option? Also what happens with this UK knowledge exam? She is currently doing her English course in the local college, does this mean she won't have to do the UK knowledge test? Thanks in advance.

[7by7]

ILR is Indefinite Leave to Remain; which lasts indefinitely.

FLR is Further Leave to Remain; which lasts for two years.

If she meets all the requirements for ILR, basically is time qualified and has satisfied the KOL requirement (see below) then she should apply for ILR; if not then she should apply for FLR. Both applications can only be made in the UK.

To be time qualified for ILR she must have been living in the UK with either a spouse visa or FLR (or a combination of both) for at least 24 months. The earliest she can apply is 28 days before the 2nd anniversary of her first arrival as your spouse, the latest is the day her current visa expires.

KOL is the knowledge of life and language in the UK requirement. There are two ways of satisfying this; either by passing the Life in the UK test or by increasing one level on an ESOL with citizenship (sometimes called 'skills for life') course from an approved provider. There is no need to do both. See Demonstrating your knowledge of language and life in the UK and the relevant links from there for more.

From what you say it appears that you plan to be in Thailand when, or shortly after, her current visa expires. You may need to change your plans. If her visa expires while she is out of the UK then she will have to start the whole process all over again by applying for another spouse visa!

If applying for ILR by post, then the process usually takes three to six months. During this time her passport will remain with the UKBA so she will obviously not be able to leave the UK. If she asks for her passport back before a decision is made then her application will be treated as withdrawn and she wont get the fee back. Plus, of course, she will no longer have a valid visa for the UK so were she to leave the country she would not be allowed back in again.

You can, however, make an appointment to apply in person for a same day decision. Remember, though, that the earliest she can apply in person is 28 days before the 2nd anniversary of her first arrival and if she has not satisfied KOL, and received the required documents to prove it, when she applies then her application will be refused and you will have wasted your money.

Current ILR fees are:

• £972 by post
  
• £1350 in person.
  

These are the fees as at today's date. They are usually increased around March/April each year, so you should check the actual fee when she applies.

For more on how to apply for ILR see Completing application form SET(M) and the relevant links from there.

[Guest jonzboy]

I can see another problem for baannambua.

Given the dates you mention, your wife will complete her English language course at about the same time that she must apply for a visa extension. From what I understand, the results of such courses, and the examination at the end, can take quite a long time to process. This time may extend beyond the date deadline for applying for the visa. Also, what happens if your wife does not achieve the required grades to pass the UKBA requirements?

May I suggest that your wife immediately takes the separate and much easier test to at least qualify her for FLR to avoid being left in the position come June 2012 that she has no English test result whatsoever. A friend of mine suffered this same problem and his wife was given discretionary leave to remain only. This decision cannot be appealed and means that his wife cannot apply for ILR for at least six more years, and in the meantime is subject to possible deportation should anything untoward happen.

[bobrussell]

I am sure much of the delay in processing postal ILR applications is to try to push people into the more expensive in person route! I wonder how much it costs to safely store all the applications until they can be bothered to process them. ILR must be the most straight forward visa application to process in the vast majority of cases!

Fortunately because of the cost of locum cover I am unlikely to have a holiday in the near future but my wife is keen to head to France to see an old friend! So far her passport being held by the UKBA is saving me a fortune so I am not really complaining!

[steve187]

Dont forget all the paper work to prove you have been together over the whole two year period, council tax bills etc. and also unless i missed it in the posts, does the course that your wife is taking include citizenship material that is approved by the border agency?