UK FLR Application, 5yr spouse route

[GarryUK]

The time has come to start the FLR visa application. The wife has been in the UK for 31 months with her visa due to expire 2nd April. We've been hanging on as I was out of work for a while but will have 6 payslips from my current job at the end of February so it saves a lot of complication.

 

It's not long ago that I posted about her English certificate. We believed she now needs A2 but only has A1, and we decided she should try to pass B1 so she wouldn't need another when we get to ILR. Of course she knew best, so with virtually no preparation she took it and failed. As it happens though, as her visa expires before May she can still use her A1, so that was £165.00 down the drain. If only that had been clearer in the first place.

We're now completing the application online and got to this question: "Country you lived in. Type the name of a country; use the arrow keys to navigate and 'enter' to select one. Please enter the country you have lived in. You will be able to enter additional countries after you click save and continue. Include all countries no matter how long you lived there". What's not clear is whether we have to state the obvious, i.e. Thailand since birth because she's a Thai national (I've gone with this option but saved for later at this point), or whether they only mean other than your country of birth, what other countries have you lived in. Any body sure of the interpretation?

 

And what happens if we submit the application at the start of March once I have my payslips if we don'y hear back by April 2nd? Must she leave the UK and wait for the outcome? Or overstay? I believe the In Person same day service costs something like £500 extra which is way to much to pay if I can possibly avoid it.

 

Thanks again as always, Garry.

Edited February 13, 2017 by GarryUK
Made title more clear about content.

[rasg]

2 hours ago, GarryUK said:

We're now completing the application online and got to this question: "Country you lived in. Type the name of a country; use the arrow keys to navigate and 'enter' to select one. Please enter the country you have lived in. You will be able to enter additional countries after you click save and continue. Include all countries no matter how long you lived there". What's not clear is whether we have to state the obvious, i.e. Thailand since birth because she's a Thai national (I've gone with this option but saved for later at this point), or whether they only mean other than your country of birth, what other countries have you lived in. Any body sure of the interpretation?

 

And what happens if we submit the application at the start of March once I have my payslips if we don't hear back by April 2nd? Must she leave the UK and wait for the outcome? Or overstay? I believe the In Person same day service costs something like £500 extra which is way to much to pay if I can possibly avoid it.

She doesn’t have to leave as long as you have the application in before the existing visa runs out. I couriered mine two days before my wife's ran out without an issue.

 

Which form are you completing? Is it the FLR M Version 04/2016? I had to print mine out as a PDF and complete it manually unless things have changed since September. 76 pages long.

 

 

Edited February 13, 2017 by rasg

[7by7]

15 hours ago, rasg said:

Which form are you completing? Is it the FLR M Version 04/2016? I had to print mine out as a PDF and complete it manually unless things have changed since September. 76 pages long.

 You can now apply online, by post or in person.

 

If using the paper form, the latest version is 12/2016. The paper form is long, 81 pages now, because it has to cover every situation; many of which wont apply to an individual applicant so those sections can be left blank.

 

I have no experience of the online form; but assume that, like others, the questions asked will depend on the previous answers.

 

17 hours ago, GarryUK said:

We're now completing the application online and got to this question: "Country you lived in. Type the name of a country; use the arrow keys to navigate and 'enter' to select one. Please enter the country you have lived in. You will be able to enter additional countries after you click save and continue. Include all countries no matter how long you lived there". What's not clear is whether we have to state the obvious, i.e. Thailand since birth because she's a Thai national (I've gone with this option but saved for later at this point), or whether they only mean other than your country of birth, what other countries have you lived in. Any body sure of the interpretation?

I would put every country the applicant has previously lived in; including the one they were born in and, if different, the one of their nationality.

 

17 hours ago, GarryUK said:

And what happens if we submit the application at the start of March once I have my payslips if we don'y hear back by April 2nd? Must she leave the UK and wait for the outcome? Or overstay?

Provided the application is received before her current visa or leave to remain expires, that visa or leave to remain will be automatically extended until the decision on this application is reached.

[rasg]

 You can now apply online, by post or in person.

 

If using the paper form, the latest version is 12/2016. The paper form is long, 81 pages now, because it has to cover every situation; many of which wont apply to an individual applicant so those sections can be left blank.

 

The speed things change and another five pages to complete...

[7by7]

38 minutes ago, rasg said:

another five pages to complete...

 Not really.

 

Many of the pages are explanations of how to complete that section of the form; others just require a box to be ticked and others will not apply to the applicant.

 

For example, the section on dependant children. If there are none then, as the form says

Quote

If you have answered no to questions 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 please proceed to section 5

 

Section 7, the financial requirement, is another which contains many pages which can be ignored; depending on how the requirement is being met.

 

Other sections are the same.

 

Of course, the form, and guidance notes, should be read carefully to ensure all the relevant parts are completed correctly; but IMHO it's not that big a deal.

 

As said, I have no experience of the online form; but my experience of completing the online visit visa form compared to the old paper one leads me to believe that the online FLR form also automatically skips parts which, based on the answers given, are irrelevant to the applicant.

[GarryUK]

Thanks 7by7, always a fountain of knowledge and advice.

 

Just got this question which I think is a bit silly: "What family or friends do you have in the country where you were born and/or any other country whose nationality you hold? Please provide details of these family and friends, for example, their names, relationship to you and where they live". Once again left wondering just how much detail we need to go in to? I've listed her father, mother, brother and niece who all live at her home, but I've only listed the town and Thailand, not given a full address. She has many relatives (both parents are from big families) but wasn't really close to any, and she has a few friends, one being her cousin. Do we really need to list these? We've nothing to hide but why list extended family you rarely/never see?

 

I've completed the first section now, but numerous answers allow 5000 character replies, for example "Where did you first meet your current partner?". I've had to be honest so put "Pattaya, Thailand where I was working in Family Mart" but with so much space do we need to go into any more detail? I really wouldn't know what else to put. Another example was "What type of ceremony was your wedding or civil partnership?" where again my answer was simply "Simple ceremony at Ampur (equivalent to Registry Office in UK)".

[GarryUK]

Anyone point me in the direction of detailed guidance notes for the online application? I found these for the printed form, but they don't say anything about how detailed specific answers need to be: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/592950/FLR_M__guidance_notes_12-16.pdf

 

Anyone else applied using the online form? Will I have to print it out and the end and send it to the address in Durham given in the above mentioned guidance notes along with my supporting documentation?

[7by7]

16 hours ago, GarryUK said:

Just got this question which I think is a bit silly: "What family or friends do you have in the country where you were born and/or any other country whose nationality you hold? Please provide details of these family and friends, for example, their names, relationship to you and where they live". Once again left wondering just how much detail we need to go in to? I've listed her father, mother, brother and niece who all live at her home, but I've only listed the town and Thailand, not given a full address. She has many relatives (both parents are from big families) but wasn't really close to any, and she has a few friends, one being her cousin. Do we really need to list these? We've nothing to hide but why list extended family you rarely/never see?

I'm not sure about the purpose of this question; and can only assume it's so these people are on record should they ever apply to come to the UK on the basis of their relationship with the applicant; so only list close family and anyone else you think may fit this. I wouldn't go into too much detail.

 

16 hours ago, GarryUK said:

I've completed the first section now, but numerous answers allow 5000 character replies, for example "Where did you first meet your current partner?". I've had to be honest so put "Pattaya, Thailand where I was working in Family Mart" but with so much space do we need to go into any more detail? I really wouldn't know what else to put. Another example was "What type of ceremony was your wedding or civil partnership?" where again my answer was simply "Simple ceremony at Ampur (equivalent to Registry Office in UK)".

5000 characters does seem a lot; but some applicant's may want or need to go into more detail than others. Simply put the facts.

 

16 hours ago, GarryUK said:

Anyone point me in the direction of detailed guidance notes for the online application? I found these for the printed form, but they don't say anything about how detailed specific answers need to be: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/592950/FLR_M__guidance_notes_12-16.pdf

I don't know if there is any separate guidance for the online form; but as it is essentially the same as the paper form I'd use that one. It is just guidance, how much detail you go into for each answer is up to you; but I'd keep it as brief as possible.

 

16 hours ago, GarryUK said:

Anyone else applied using the online form? Will I have to print it out and the end and send it to the address in Durham given in the above mentioned guidance notes along with my supporting documentation?

 From the general guidance it seems that as you progress through the form it will tell you what to do.

 

The only thing I can find is in 5. Documents you must provide

Quote

For the full list of the documents you need to provide, either:

• read the application form if you’re applying by post
• the online service will tell you what you need

 I imagine that, as with the online visa forms, once you've submitted the online form and paid the fee, and IHS surcharge, that you will have to print out a hard copy for your wife to sign and then send or submit in person with the supporting documents.

 

All this does seem as though using the online service has little or no advantage. But I expect that the online form will skip the parts that are irrelevant to the applicant, based upon their previous answers, so you wont have to wade through the whole 81 pages of the paper form.

 

You are the first person I have come across who has used the online form for FLR; so I'd be grateful if you could report back with your experience and confirm whether my assumption above is correct or not.