Oh S**T what happens now?

[GarryUK]

I'll keep it fairly short...

 

Due to lots of reasons mainly around getting the necessary supporting documents and waiting until I'd completed 6 months in my job, we've left the FLR visa application until now. We're completing the application online and I've litterally just hit save and continue later. Technically we could have applied in January, but having been out of work 6 months prior to starting my current job I didn't want to encounter problems meeting the financial requirement. I've paid the £500.00 NHS surcharge (not happy that we still have to even though she works and contributes NI) and came to pay the visa application fee. Having seen that applications should be sent 15 days before (I assume visa expiry), which would have been Friday gone, I decided to stump up the extra £500.00 for the Premium Service which would also give me the opportunity to take along additional documentation in case anything was not acceptable but something else we have was. However, choosing the Premium Service Centre in Solihull which is the nearest to us we can't get an appointment until 19th April at the earliest, but her visa expires on the 2nd April. In fact none of the centres can offer an appointment before her visa expires.

 

What do I do? Select Standard Service and post everything Special Delivery tomorrow to arrive 21st March, possibly late in their eyes but at least before the visa expires, or go with the Premium Service but not get an appointment before her visa expires anyway and be out of pocket an extra £500.00? I know from previous threads that my wife can remain in the UK whilst awaiting a decision, but can she continue to work between visa expiry on 2nd April and decision date?

 

Seriously need advice from the big hitters, admins and/or visa agents on this. While I appreciate all contributors, new posters and/or those without experience of this situation will only speculate as to the outcome depending on the route I choose.

 

Garry and wife.

Edited March 19, 2017 by GarryUK

[rasg]

6 hours ago, GarryUK said:

What do I do? Select Standard Service and post everything Special Delivery tomorrow to arrive 21st March, possibly late in their eyes but at least before the visa expires, or go with the Premium Service but not get an appointment before her visa expires anyway and be out of pocket an extra £500.00? I know from previous threads that my wife can remain in the UK whilst awaiting a decision, but can she continue to work between visa expiry on 2nd April and decision date?

 

Seriously need advice from the big hitters, admins and/or visa agents on this. While I appreciate all contributors, new posters and/or those without experience of this situation will only speculate as to the outcome depending on the route I choose.

You can apply for FLR and submit it up until the day your wife's settlement visa expires. My wife's settlement visa ran out on the 8th September last year and we couriered the FLR application on the 6th. No problems even though my wife technically didn’t have a visa for seven weeks. I queried it at the time and it is fine.

 

I doubt that there is a problem with your wife's job as long as she's not applying for a new one. Somebody wiser than me will no doubt help you on that one.

Edited March 19, 2017 by rasg

[7by7]

On ‎19‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 4:06 PM, GarryUK said:

Having seen that applications should be sent 15 days before (I assume visa expiry),

Seen where? I can't find it anywhere.

 

Everything I can find says the same as in the guidance; that you must apply before your current visa/LTR expires.

 

Maybe it's part of the online process and online applications must, for some reason, be submitted 15 days earlier? I can't access that to check without opening an account.

 

From what you say it seems her current visa/LTR expires on 2nd April; so as long as they receive her application by then all should be fine and her current visa/LTR will be automatically extended until her FLR application is decided. So she can legally continue to work.

 

Up to you whether she applies online, by post or at a PEO (if you can get an appointment in time). But if the online process does say that online applications must be received 15 days before her current visa/LTR expires; then do it by post or at a PEO.

 

 

 

 

[rasg]

Never in a million years would I pay the extra £500 a Premium Centre charges unless there were huge reasons to do so. The visa etc is expensive enough as it is without adding another £500. The only possible I can think of would be if we needed our passports fast for a family emergency. A holiday would have to wait.

[GarryUK]

On 3/20/2017 at 5:10 PM, rasg said:

Never in a million years would I pay the extra £500 a Premium Centre charges unless there were huge reasons to do so. The visa etc is expensive enough as it is without adding another £500. The only possible I can think of would be if we needed our passports fast for a family emergency. A holiday would have to wait.

The thinking behind using the Premium service was with the assumption that we'd be able to get a visa within 10 days and so get it all done and dusted before the expiry date. Once I realised that the nearest appointment was a month away, more than 2 weeks after visa expiry, I too was of the thinking that why should I pay all that money if I can't get it done right away.

 

In the end I posted it Special Delivery on Monday so it's with them now. As for it not getting there 15 days before (running out I guess) otherwise it could be refused, all we can do now is wait and see what happens and hope they don't get petty. If I get a letter asking the wife to go and submit her biometrics at the Post Office I'll read that as a positive sign....

 

7by7 I'll give you the requested review of our experience with the online application soon.

[rasg]

2 hours ago, GarryUK said:

In the end I posted it Special Delivery on Monday so it's with them now. As for it not getting there 15 days before (running out I guess) otherwise it could be refused, all we can do now is wait and see what happens and hope they don't get petty. If I get a letter asking the wife to go and submit her biometrics at the Post Office I'll read that as a positive sign....

Unless they have changed the rules since last September it was fine when I submitted two days before my wife's settlement visa ran out.

 

On the back of the biometrics letter is the address it comes from. The initial assessment unit. A far as I can work out they do a check on all of the info you supply them, assess that the visa is likely to go through and invite your wife to go to a PO for biometrics. In our case they also asked me to fill in a box of the FLR form that I had missed. Shame it's the only indication you get that all is well but better than UKVI in Bangkok...

 

It took over two weeks to get an acknowledgement that they had received it.