Sheffield premium service visa centre

[mrskint]

Just to let people who are interested know, I went here last week with my wife to get the first FLR (M) sorted and it was all very efficient and done within about 2 hours.

You go in to reception, they quickly check you have filled the form in correctly and that you have included the key documents. It then is assessed by a case worker, in the meantime you will get called for fingerprinting, photo etc for the biometric card (told it would arrive within a week). Then we were called up and told everything is order and he explained what other info would be required for the next extension in 2 and a half years time.

If there is an issue and some documents missing they will give you a chance to come back with them rather than just say no. Was happy with the service.

It does cost more though, doing by post is £601, this way is £1001, but I wanted to speak to somebody first hand if there was an issue so it was worth the extra for me. Plus I would hate sweating on it for a few weeks if I did it via post, so the instant decision was took a lot of worry away for me also.

[MaprangHolmes]

I done my wife's ILR in the same office and can not rate them highly enough excellent service from the moment you walk in to there offices.

[durhamboy]

Glad to hear that you got a good service but I have to ask - is it really worth £400 extra for peace of mind?

What happens if someone does not meet the requirements for FLR e.g. income requirement or having an English cert from a struck off test provider? What does the Home Office do in those situations? I have asked the question before and no one seems to know. Do they deport the person? Put them in an immigration detention centre? Make them pay another FLR fee?

It would be interesting to hear from someone who failed to get FLR.

[keithsimmonds]

Just out of iinterest,what English Test did you submit with your application mrskint?

[mrskint]

Glad to hear that you got a good service but I have to ask - is it really worth £400 extra for peace of mind?

What happens if someone does not meet the requirements for FLR e.g. income requirement or having an English cert from a struck off test provider? What does the Home Office do in those situations? I have asked the question before and no one seems to know. Do they deport the person? Put them in an immigration detention centre? Make them pay another FLR fee?

It would be interesting to hear from someone who failed to get FLR.

The 400 quid will be down to the individual person I think. For me it was worth it because it cleared a couple of months of worry doing it this way, I know other people would rather save the money, people need to decide for themselves.

Regarding requirements, I think it will depend what is not up to scratch. If it's the financial requirement I reckon you are struggling and they are going to say no and have to leave the country by the end of your visa. If it's documentation not up to scratch it sounded like they would give you a chance to sort it and come back, that's what they told me at the reception. They were really good and told what I would need next time.

[mrskint]

Just out of iinterest,what English Test did you submit with your application mrskint?

Got my wife to sit a new trinity college exam after reading on here the Bulats one she had done before was not valid any more.

[durhamboy]

Glad to hear that you got a good service but I have to ask - is it really worth £400 extra for peace of mind?

What happens if someone does not meet the requirements for FLR e.g. income requirement or having an English cert from a struck off test provider? What does the Home Office do in those situations? I have asked the question before and no one seems to know. Do they deport the person? Put them in an immigration detention centre? Make them pay another FLR fee?

It would be interesting to hear from someone who failed to get FLR.

The 400 quid will be down to the individual person I think. For me it was worth it because it cleared a couple of months of worry doing it this way, I know other people would rather save the money, people need to decide for themselves.

Regarding requirements, I think it will depend what is not up to scratch. If it's the financial requirement I reckon you are struggling and they are going to say no and have to leave the country by the end of your visa. If it's documentation not up to scratch it sounded like they would give you a chance to sort it and come back, that's what they told me at the reception. They were really good and told what I would need next time.

Yes I agree that it is up to the individual person whether or not to pay for the premium service. I personally don't like such services because I think they tend to result in the reduction in quality of service of the non-premium service. Sometimes to such an extent that the premium service becomes the norm. But as you say it is a personal choice.

Regarding the failure to meet FLR requirements what your saying is, along with what I have seen from other people's posts, just supposition. So let's say someone doesn't meet the financial requirements but the applicant has given birth to a child during their +2 years in the UK - do they send them back then? Same with English test. Personally I think that the only reason anyone would be sent back would be if the marriage/relationship had irretrievably broken down. But now that's just supposition from me.

There is so much that we don't know about Home office policy about FLR. In this forum we get all sorts of visa situations but no one, as far as I know, has posted about an FLR failure and the consequences of it. I guess we may see this early next year when the first FLR applications for those under the new rules start hitting the fan.

Btw, am I right in thinking that there is still an automatic right of appeal for FLR refusals?

[mrskint]

I don't know enough about it to comment mate. All I know is the form and all the supporting documents to help you say numerous times that you can expect your application to be refused if you don't meet the financial requirement.

[7by7]

As you say, durhamboy, the first FLR applications* under the new rules, and so which require the income requirement to be met, wont be until January 2015 at the earliest.

Requests directed to UKVI and the Home Office to clarify this point have resulted in meaningless waffle.

*Except, of course, FLR applications made by those who entered as fiances; but if their sponsor met the financial requirement for the fiance visa, it is unlikely that they would no longer do so at the time of the FLR application after the marriage had taken place; which, as you know, must be within 6 months of the fiancé visa being issued.

[durhamboy]

Yes, 7by7, I was also thinking that there maybe some fiancée FLR applications in the pipeline. Something may come to light if they have a "struck off" English certificate but we have yet to hear from anyone. My personal view is that the Home Office either do not know what they are doing or making it up as they go along.

May I ask, in your opinion, what do you think the Home Office will do if someone fails to get FLR for :-

1. Income requirement not met.

2. English certificate not valid.

Is there an automatic right of appeal?

Thanks.

[7by7]

There is a right of appeal for LTR refusals, at the moment!

But any successful appeal would depend on UKVI getting the decision wrong; which if the applicant does not have an acceptable English qualification or if applicant and sponsor do not meet the financial requirement then the refusal would, legally, be correct.

Having said that, I suspect that any such refusals would be appealed up to the highest court possible; the ECJ.

There are plenty of lawyers prepared to take such on as a test case, and, as with the visa applications currently on hold awaiting the final result of various court cases, I suspect that LTR applications in such cases would also be put on hold.

This would, though, leave the applicants in a kind of limbo; unable to leave the UK in case they could not get back in!

However, I am not a lawyer; the above is just my personal thoughts; for a proper legal opinion you'd need to consult an immigration lawyer.

[bobrussell]

I suspect failure to meet ILR on financial grounds alone will probably lead to FLR for as long as it takes! My wife has a friend who keeps applying for FLR because she prefers not to take the Life in the UK and English tests. A bit bonkers!

I suspect there will be a few specific test cases in court but goodness knows what the results will be!

[durhamboy]

Actually Bob we were talking about failure to meet FLR on financial grounds (and others) not ILR.

I take your point about people keeping renewing FLR so that they do not have to do LITUK.

[7by7]

I agree, Bob; £600 plus every two years, or 30 months if under the new rules, for FLR as opposed to a couple of hundred max for an English course to get her through the tests is bonkers!

In addition, no one knows what the future will bring; both major parties have floated the idea of limiting the number of times someone can apply for FLR in the past.

[durhamboy]

No it is not bonkers. As we discussed at length in other topics, some Thais find the LITUK test very difficult and are unable to pass. Therefore they have to keep renewing FLR.

[keithsimmonds]

I suspect failure to meet ILR on financial grounds alone will probably lead to FLR for as long as it takes! My wife has a friend who keeps applying for FLR because she prefers not to take the Life in the UK and English tests. A bit bonkers!

I suspect there will be a few specific test cases in court but goodness knows what the results will be!

Put me in the Bionkers camp then, cos i ain,t putting my wife through that again. 3 Failures and all the studying and stress and tears.........and for what?

[MaprangHolmes]

No it is not bonkers. As we discussed at length in other topics, some Thais find the LITUK test very difficult and are unable to pass. Therefore they have to keep renewing FLR.

I think that is being a bit generalistic some people may have problems passing the LITUK test but if a person does there home work, reads the book, then they should not really have a problem passing this test. It's the same as any exam really if you do not study then your wont pass.

[keithsimmonds]

No it is not bonkers. As we discussed at length in other topics, some Thais find the LITUK test very difficult and are unable to pass. Therefore they have to keep renewing FLR.

I think that is being a bit generalistic some people may have problems passing the LITUK test but if a person does there home work, reads the book, then they should not really have a problem passing this test. It's the same as any exam really if you do not study then your wont pass.

So every kid in school passes all his or her exams ......then on to college and Uni.....no failures. every person can achieve the same standard can they?

Fyi my wife did study hard every .ing night after coming home from work,we had the 2012 2013 2014 study guide book plus the Q & A book and she passed countless on line tests but when i came to the actual test she just couldn,t get more than 13 questions correct.

I.ll leave it there cos you are making me angry

[MaprangHolmes]

No it is not bonkers. As we discussed at length in other topics, some Thais find the LITUK test very difficult and are unable to pass. Therefore they have to keep renewing FLR.

I think that is being a bit generalistic some people may have problems passing the LITUK test but if a person does there home work, reads the book, then they should not really have a problem passing this test. It's the same as any exam really if you do not study then your wont pass.

So every kid in school passes all his or her exams ......then on to college and Uni.....no failures. every person can achieve the same standard can they?

Fyi my wife did study hard every .ing night after coming home from work,we had the 2012 2013 2014 study guide book plus the Q & A book and she passed countless on line tests but when i came to the actual test she just couldn,t get more than 13 questions correct.

I.ll leave it there cos you are making me angry

My wife didn't pass first time but after failing the test on her first attempt, she reread the book, translated most of the book from English to Thai and took the test again and got 23 out of 24 correct. Where on her first attempt she only got 12 correct so studying the book does work.

[durhamboy]

Mr. MaprangHolmes - why don't you just pause and think that maybe your wife is a bit better at passing exams than keithsimmond's wife? Please read the posts properly - we are not saying that every Thai cannot pass LITUK just some Thais. To explain that a little more there may be a number of factors for this :-

1. Their educational standard.

2. Their ability to read Roman script.

3. How old they are - younger people are generally better and quicker at learning.

4. How good they are at guessing as the answers are multiple choice.

5. Pure luck in what questions come up.

And last, but by no means least, how much time they have to study e.g. many people are working and/or looking after children. People regard that as more important than knowing the year Richard II was killed (example question)!

[MaprangHolmes]

Mr. MaprangHolmes - why don't you just pause and think that maybe your wife is a bit better at passing exams than keithsimmond's wife? Please read the posts properly - we are not saying that every Thai cannot pass LITUK just some Thais. To explain that a little more there may be a number of factors for this :-

1. Their educational standard.

2. Their ability to read Roman script.

3. How old they are - younger people are generally better and quicker at learning.

4. How good they are at guessing as the answers are multiple choice.

5. Pure luck in what questions come up.

And last, but by no means least, how much time they have to study e.g. many people are working and/or looking after children. People regard that as more important than knowing the year Richard II was killed (example question)!

At some point the person is going to have to pass it to carry on staying in the UK, unless you want to carry on applying for FLR which at some point may also be restricted.

[7by7]

It is true that some people find study easier than others and that the older one gets, the harder it is to learn new skills.

However, anyone who relies on guessing and being lucky in what questions come up has as much chance of passing any exam as they do of winning the lottery!

Study properly and you wont have to guess and you will be able to pass whichever questions are in your test.

I have to ask those who are saying that studying for the LitUK test and the test itself is too hard for their partners; can your partner drive; do they hold a full GB or NI driving licence?

IMHO, studying for the LitUK test, and the test itself, is no harder than studying for the driving theory test; if you can manage one, you can manage the other. It could be argued that the driving theory test is harder; the question bank is a lot bigger and there's a lot more to learn for that than for the LitUK test!

At the end of the day, unless exempt, this test is a requirement for ILR; bitching about it on internet forums wont change that.

Neither will making excuses because one's partner is finding it hard work.

Tenacity; keep on keeping on, try and try again; all platitudes, but all valid in this case.

Unless you want to keep forking out an ever increasing sum for FLR every two years (or 30 months if your partner comes under the new rules) and hope that the government never puts a limit on how many times someone can apply for FLR or changes the rules in some other way.

Edited September 18, 2014 by 7by7

[maxtwo]

I'am i right I thinking if you go the ten year rout you don't need the test?

[7by7]

I assume you mean the 10-year Private Life settlement route.

For this the knowledge of life and language in the UK requirement is the same as those on the family settlement route; i.e. LitUK test and B1 or the equivalent in English speaking and listening.

[keithsimmonds]

It is true that some people find study easier than others and that the older one gets, the harder it is to learn new skills.

However, anyone who relies on guessing and being lucky in what questions come up has as much chance of passing any exam as they do of winning the lottery!

Study properly and you wont have to guess and you will be able to pass whichever questions are in your test.

I have to ask those who are saying that studying for the LitUK test and the test itself is too hard for their partners; can your partner drive; do they hold a full GB or NI driving licence?

IMHO, studying for the LitUK test, and the test itself, is no harder than studying for the driving theory test; if you can manage one, you can manage the other. It could be argued that the driving theory test is harder; the question bank is a lot bigger and there's a lot more to learn for that than for the LitUK test!

At the end of the day, unless exempt, this test is a requirement for ILR; bitching about it on internet forums wont change that.

Neither will making excuses because one's partner is finding it hard work.

Tenacity; keep on keeping on, try and try again; all platitudes, but all valid in this case.

Unless you want to keep forking out an ever increasing sum for FLR every two years (or 30 months if your partner comes under the new rules) and hope that the government never puts a limit on how many times someone can apply for FLR or changes the rules in some other way.

I am not bitching or moaning about the Lituk Test,just stating the fact,s as they are in my wife,s case, i don,t know how she has managed to hold down a job for the last 2 half years without all the invaluble knowledge of every day life she has learnt from studying for that test.

If it,s £601 every two years or a £1001 so be it,and if the home Office decide to put a limit on the amount of time one can apply for FLR,then that,s life.

[durhamboy]

It is true that some people find study easier than others and that the older one gets, the harder it is to learn new skills.

However, anyone who relies on guessing and being lucky in what questions come up has as much chance of passing any exam as they do of winning the lottery!

Study properly and you wont have to guess and you will be able to pass whichever questions are in your test.

I have to ask those who are saying that studying for the LitUK test and the test itself is too hard for their partners; can your partner drive; do they hold a full GB or NI driving licence?

IMHO, studying for the LitUK test, and the test itself, is no harder than studying for the driving theory test; if you can manage one, you can manage the other. It could be argued that the driving theory test is harder; the question bank is a lot bigger and there's a lot more to learn for that than for the LitUK test!

At the end of the day, unless exempt, this test is a requirement for ILR; bitching about it on internet forums wont change that.

Neither will making excuses because one's partner is finding it hard work.

Tenacity; keep on keeping on, try and try again; all platitudes, but all valid in this case.

Unless you want to keep forking out an ever increasing sum for FLR every two years (or 30 months if your partner comes under the new rules) and hope that the government never puts a limit on how many times someone can apply for FLR or changes the rules in some other way.

Once again 7by7 you are pontificating about something that you have no practical experience of as your wife never had to take the LITUK test.

I think comparing it to a driving test is not helpful. There may be more questions in the driving test but the field of knowledge is very narrow compared to the wide-ranging topics in the LITUK test. Also many Thai people coming here have driven in Thailand and therefore have practical experience of driving whereas they probably have a lot less experience of UK life and its history.

You say that anyone who relies on guessing or being lucky with the questions is akin to winning the lottery. It is a multiple choice answer system where you need to get 18 correct out of 24. So if you don't know the answer then you guess and have a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right. So you got 17 out of 17 and don't know the other 7 and therefore guess the 7 answers. That means you would have a good chance of passing so your analogy with the lottery is a bit ridiculous.

If we want to keep bitching about it in these forums then we will continue to do so. If you don't like it then don't read our posts. This is the one place where we can let off a bit of steam about a system that many of us regard as unfair on ourselves and our partners.

Some of our wives are trying to do the right thing and are studying as hard as they can but please do not talk to us and them as if you are some kind of expert on the matter and "reassure" us that if they tenacious etc. then eventually they will pass.

Btw, apologies to the OP as I feel that we have hijacked this thread.

[MaprangHolmes]

It is true that some people find study easier than others and that the older one gets, the harder it is to learn new skills.

However, anyone who relies on guessing and being lucky in what questions come up has as much chance of passing any exam as they do of winning the lottery!

Study properly and you wont have to guess and you will be able to pass whichever questions are in your test.

I have to ask those who are saying that studying for the LitUK test and the test itself is too hard for their partners; can your partner drive; do they hold a full GB or NI driving licence?

IMHO, studying for the LitUK test, and the test itself, is no harder than studying for the driving theory test; if you can manage one, you can manage the other. It could be argued that the driving theory test is harder; the question bank is a lot bigger and there's a lot more to learn for that than for the LitUK test!

At the end of the day, unless exempt, this test is a requirement for ILR; bitching about it on internet forums wont change that.

Neither will making excuses because one's partner is finding it hard work.

Tenacity; keep on keeping on, try and try again; all platitudes, but all valid in this case.

Unless you want to keep forking out an ever increasing sum for FLR every two years (or 30 months if your partner comes under the new rules) and hope that the government never puts a limit on how many times someone can apply for FLR or changes the rules in some other way.

Once again 7by7 you are pontificating about something that you have no practical experience of as your wife never had to take the LITUK test.

I think comparing it to a driving test is not helpful. There may be more questions in the driving test but the field of knowledge is very narrow compared to the wide-ranging topics in the LITUK test. Also many Thai people coming here have driven in Thailand and therefore have practical experience of driving whereas they probably have a lot less experience of UK life and its history.

You say that anyone who relies on guessing or being lucky with the questions is akin to winning the lottery. It is a multiple choice answer system where you need to get 18 correct out of 24. So if you don't know the answer then you guess and have a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right. So you got 17 out of 17 and don't know the other 7 and therefore guess the 7 answers. That means you would have a good chance of passing so your analogy with the lottery is a bit ridiculous.

If we want to keep bitching about it in these forums then we will continue to do so. If you don't like it then don't read our posts. This is the one place where we can let off a bit of steam about a system that many of us regard as unfair on ourselves and our partners.

Some of our wives are trying to do the right thing and are studying as hard as they can but please do not talk to us and them as if you are some kind of expert on the matter and "reassure" us that if they tenacious etc. then eventually they will pass.

Btw, apologies to the OP as I feel that we have hijacked this thread.

Complaining about the test is not going to solve anything, I agree with you in as much as I do not really see the point of the test, I would prefer that they make the speaking and listening much harder. However the test does show that the person has a certain level of understanding of English and as it is part of the requirements for ILR and Citizenship you can do not really have much of a choice than to pass the test or leave the country.

[7by7]

Once again 7by7 you are pontificating about something that you have no practical experience of as your wife never had to take the LITUK test.

It is true that my wife did obtain her ILR and then her British citizenship before the introduction of the KOLL requirement.

However, when she first arrived in the UK she did go to school, she did improve her spoken English, she did learn to read and write English, from scratch, to a higher standard than is necessary for KOLL.

A wise move, as several of her Thai friends who have been in the UK longer than her cannot find jobs, except low paid such as cleaners or in Thai restaurants, as they did not do as she did.

I think comparing it to a driving test is not helpful. There may be more questions in the driving test but the field of knowledge is very narrow compared to the wide-ranging topics in the LITUK test. Also many Thai people coming here have driven in Thailand and therefore have practical experience of driving whereas they probably have a lot less experience of UK life and its history.

You obviously know very little about the driving theory test, probably because you learned to drive before it's introduction. When it was being introduced I passed a sample paper around friends and family; all of whom had been driving for many years; none of them passed! It requires study to pass; even if one is an experienced driver.

There is a lot of differences between driving in Thailand and driving in the UK. Not just in driving style, but the actual road traffic laws as well. One obvious example being turning left on red.

You say that anyone who relies on guessing or being lucky with the questions is akin to winning the lottery. It is a multiple choice answer system where you need to get 18 correct out of 24. So if you don't know the answer then you guess and have a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right. So you got 17 out of 17 and don't know the other 7 and therefore guess the 7 answers. That means you would have a good chance of passing so your analogy with the lottery is a bit ridiculous.

If passing it by guessing is so easy; I have to wonder why your wife hasn't yet done so.

Btw, apologies to the OP as I feel that we have hijacked this thread.

Agreed.

[durhamboy]

7by7 - a couple of points :-

1. You say your friends and family couldn't pass the driving test theory. Try giving them the LITUK test and I'll have a sporting bet with you that they will do even worse. In any event I think you are making my point for me. Both tests are very hard to pass the difference is that people can see the logic of a hard driving test because people's safety is at stake.

2. You say "If passing it by guessing is so easy; I have to wonder why your wife hasn't yet done so." Now either you are incredibly stupid or just being disingenuous. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say it is the latter. You know as well as I do that I did NOT say the test could be easily passed just by guessing. I said it can be a factor in passing the test. I listed 6 factors - 1 of which is guessing. I then went on to illustrate how guessing CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PASSING AND FAILING.

This last point is yet another example of your modus operandi in this forum i.e. when your logic cannot win an argument you twist what the other person has said to infer meaning that was never intended and therefore attempt to make cheap points for yourself. Frankly you do yourself a disservice by acting like that.

[durhamboy]

It is true that some people find study easier than others and that the older one gets, the harder it is to learn new skills.

However, anyone who relies on guessing and being lucky in what questions come up has as much chance of passing any exam as they do of winning the lottery!

Study properly and you wont have to guess and you will be able to pass whichever questions are in your test.

I have to ask those who are saying that studying for the LitUK test and the test itself is too hard for their partners; can your partner drive; do they hold a full GB or NI driving licence?

IMHO, studying for the LitUK test, and the test itself, is no harder than studying for the driving theory test; if you can manage one, you can manage the other. It could be argued that the driving theory test is harder; the question bank is a lot bigger and there's a lot more to learn for that than for the LitUK test!

At the end of the day, unless exempt, this test is a requirement for ILR; bitching about it on internet forums wont change that.

Neither will making excuses because one's partner is finding it hard work.

Tenacity; keep on keeping on, try and try again; all platitudes, but all valid in this case.

Unless you want to keep forking out an ever increasing sum for FLR every two years (or 30 months if your partner comes under the new rules) and hope that the government never puts a limit on how many times someone can apply for FLR or changes the rules in some other way.

Once again 7by7 you are pontificating about something that you have no practical experience of as your wife never had to take the LITUK test.

I think comparing it to a driving test is not helpful. There may be more questions in the driving test but the field of knowledge is very narrow compared to the wide-ranging topics in the LITUK test. Also many Thai people coming here have driven in Thailand and therefore have practical experience of driving whereas they probably have a lot less experience of UK life and its history.

You say that anyone who relies on guessing or being lucky with the questions is akin to winning the lottery. It is a multiple choice answer system where you need to get 18 correct out of 24. So if you don't know the answer then you guess and have a 1 in 4 chance of getting it right. So you got 17 out of 17 and don't know the other 7 and therefore guess the 7 answers. That means you would have a good chance of passing so your analogy with the lottery is a bit ridiculous.

If we want to keep bitching about it in these forums then we will continue to do so. If you don't like it then don't read our posts. This is the one place where we can let off a bit of steam about a system that many of us regard as unfair on ourselves and our partners.

Some of our wives are trying to do the right thing and are studying as hard as they can but please do not talk to us and them as if you are some kind of expert on the matter and "reassure" us that if they tenacious etc. then eventually they will pass.

Btw, apologies to the OP as I feel that we have hijacked this thread.

Complaining about the test is not going to solve anything, I agree with you in as much as I do not really see the point of the test, I would prefer that they make the speaking and listening much harder. However the test does show that the person has a certain level of understanding of English and as it is part of the requirements for ILR and Citizenship you can do not really have much of a choice than to pass the test or leave the country.

Why should anyone's foreign wife have to leave the country because they cannot pass a test that most Brits can't pass? Your attitude smacks of the far right National Front politics of the 1970s.