Application For Ilr Help/Advice (Uk)

[rushdentillidie]

Hello,

Sorry for the long post, but I am looking for some advice. My wife is currently in the UK after coming across from Thailand on 28/08/2010. She currently has a UK settlement visa which is due to expire in October 2012. It is my understanding that the next visa that we would apply for is the ILR, this can be done after she has been in the UK for 24 months?

So far she has worked full time in the UK since arriving here, has a UK bank account, UK driving licence, NI number ect. In the past 2 years we have been back to Thailand but only for 4 weeks in total. Although we are due to travel back in September for 3 weeks. So my first question is how long does the application take? I understand that she can stay in the UK while the visa application is been process. So we are hoping to apply once she comes back to the UK in early October? As we will need her passport for travel.

From what i have read on that internet i believe that we should be able to put the application together ourselves. We did this with the help of the form for the settlement visa so see no need to use an agency. Do most people do it this way have experience?

Although i am a bit confused with regards to the ESOL course and life in UK test. Would my wife have to pass these before we apply for the visa. Her English skills are very good and used on a daily basis in life and with work. I dare say that the life in UK test she could pass ok with a bit of study, but which if these are required for the application?

Also can anyone give any idea about the best time to start to prepare the application. I know that we can not submit before 28 days, of her 2 years date in the UK. But should there be certain documents that we need to collect and put together?

Any advice that you could give would be a great help.

The next step would be to do UK citizen which is something that she is also interested in. But i believe that she would have to have been in the UK for 3 years before we can do this?

Thanks again for you help.

[madmin]

best you both go down to your local college book an appointment to be assessed take her passport and mariage certificate, this way you can see where her esol level is, for the esol you need to show progress ie: assessed at level 1 progress two level 2, though if your at level 3 or above she will have to take Knowledge Of Life in the uk test you can get some books online for this, as for uk citizenship she will have to pass KOL in the uk test

[madmin]

best you both go down to your local college book an appointment to be assessed take her passport and mariage certificate, this way you can see where her esol level is, for the esol you need to show progress ie: assessed at level 1 progress two level 2, though if your at level 3 or above she will have to take Knowledge Of Life in the uk test you can get some books online for this, as for uk citizenship she will have to pass KOL in the uk test

Your other option if she's not quite ready for KOL in the uk test, plus as an esol course is approx 220 hours is to apply for FLR which i believe gives you an extra 2 years stay

[7by7]

Indefinite leave to remain is for most people very straightforward; mainly a matter of showing that you and your wife have been living together in a genuine relationship for the last two years and still are.

See here for more details of what is required, documents etc.

She must, though, have satisfied the knowledge of life and language in the UK requirement (KOL), otherwise her application will be refused. You will see from that page that it is not an ESOL course and the LitUK test; as madmin says, it's one or the other. (This will change in October 2013 when an ESOL with citizenship course will no longer be acceptable; from then on it must be a LitUK test and a B1 in speaking and listening from an approved provider.)

If at all possible I would avoid madmin's suggestion of applying for FLR to give her more time to satisfy KOL. FLR applications are very expensive (currently £561 by post or £861 in person!).

At this time of year, with summer holidays approaching, I think it unlikely that she will be able to join an ESOL with citizenship course which will finish before her current visa expires; but from what you have said her English is more than good enough to pass the LitUK test, so I'd do that. If she can't pass it, then consider an FLR application.

She must be in the UK to make an ILR application, so as long as you are back from Thailand before her current visa expires then she can apply on your return. But if her current visa expires while she is out of the UK, she will not be allowed back in!

If this is likely then she will, if able, need to apply before you leave. As you rightly said, she can apply from 28 days before the second anniversary of her first arrival with her spouse visa.

Postal applications take at least 3 months to process, sometimes 6 or more. So if she needs her passport back quickly she will need to apply in person for a same or next day decision; but this does cost £1377 against £991 for a postal application.

If she is not able to apply before you leave and will not be back in the UK before her current visa expires then I'm afraid you will have to postpone or cancel your trip. Otherwise she will have to start the whole process all over again by making a new spouse visa application while in Thailand. As this will be after 9th July she will fall under the new rules, see here.

Once she has ILR and has been in the UK for at least 3 years she can apply for naturalisation as British. See British Citizenship Basics for more details.

[rushdentillidie]

Thanks for the help, It seems that the Life in UK test would be the best option. She has been studying the book and materials for a while now, given that he english skill is good this should be the best option.

thanks again

[waz9235]

Hi,

It seems 7by7 has covered everything for you but I will just add about our own experience.

My wife found it a waste of time studying at college and quit after just four lessons, mainly because of the material they were teaching. She studied the book for life in the UK herself and took the test so I would suggest this as your best option.

The application is straightforward enough to do yourself and the best documents to produce would be from her employers and government departments which are addressed to her or both of you, they must cover the full two years she has been resident here.

The processing time could take upto 6 months via post, or you could make an appointment to have it the same day as stated by 7by7 also. The price has increased by a substantial amount since our application, and I thought it was expensive back then.

Hope this helps and good luck.