Need a little help with fist FLR(m)

Hi all

New to the forum here and looking for a little guidance. I'm wondering if you can help at all. I'll set the scene...

My wife is on a Tier 4 visa which expires on 02/02/2017
I am a British citizen
We have been married since May 2010 but lived outside of the UK for the first 2 years of marriage
We have resided in the UK together for the full 4 years of the Tier 4
We have a premium appointment for FLR(m) booked for this Wednesday 25/01/2017

I have a list of documents here that I'm worried is incomplete and would love it if someone could point me in the right direction

APPLICATION
Applicant Passport, Student Visa, and previous passport.
Sponsor Passport.
Applicant photo X2, name on back.
Sponsor Photo X1, name on back.
Completed application FLR(m) 12/2016 version.
Fee payment confirmation print.
Appointment confirmation print.
IHS fee payment confirmation email.

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT
Last 6 payslips, stamped and signed (most recent is for payment on 25/01/17)
Letter from employer confirming authenticity of payslips.
Last 5 posted original bank statements.
Partial statement/transaction list printed in branch showing most recent payment. Natwest have agreed to stamp and I can collect on 25/01/17 before our appointment.
Letter from employer stating position, type of employment, start date, current salary and the details of any changes to that salary in the time I have been employed.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Trinity A1 GESE English test certificate.

ACCOMODATION
Original tenancy agreement from Dec 2012

CORRESPONDENCE SINCE MOVING TO CURRENT ADDRESS
Sponsor - Letter from Natwest - Dec 2016
Applicant - Natwest bank statement - Nov 2016
Sponsor - Letter from Natwest - Sep 2016
Joint - Electric bill - Jul 2016
Joint - Water bill - Feb 2016
Applicant - Natwest bank statement - Nov 2015
Sponsor - Natwest bank statement - Oct 2015
Joint - Electric bill - May 2015
Joint - Water bill - Feb 2015
Joint - Electric Bill - July 2014
Joint - Electric Bill - Jan 2014
Joint - Electric Bill - Oct 2013
Joint - Electric Bill - July 2013
Joint - Water bill - Mar 2013
Joint - Water bill - Dec 2012
Joint - Council Tax Bill - Dec 2012

RELATIONSHIP
Original marriage certificate in Spanish dated 24/05/2010
ATC Accredited certified translation dated 05/02/2014
12 photographs of us at various times over the last 7 years

COVER LETTER TO EXPLAIN...
Question 2.2 has been answered NO because we applied for FRL(m) in 2014 but withdrew the application due to needing to travel urgently. No decision was made as application was withdrawn.

My main concern right now is with evidence of accommodation.

1 - I have only the original 6 month tenancy agreement, none others were issued as it became a rolling 1 month contract once it expired

2 - I simply don't know for what period I should be providing evidence of cohabitation as the wording on the form is unclear. So I've tried to cover the whole time we've been in the UK. Problem is it looks like overkill and I worry it will cause confusion.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated, thanks for reading!

Welcome to the forum .

CORRESPONDENCE SINCE MOVING TO CURRENT ADDRESS
Sponsor - Letter from Natwest - Dec 2016
Applicant - Natwest bank statement - Nov 2016
Sponsor - Letter from Natwest - Sep 2016
Joint - Electric bill - Jul 2016
Joint - Water bill - Feb 2016
Applicant - Natwest bank statement - Nov 2015
Sponsor - Natwest bank statement - Oct 2015
Joint - Electric bill - May 2015
Joint - Water bill - Feb 2015
Joint - Electric Bill - July 2014
Joint - Electric Bill - Jan 2014
Joint - Electric Bill - Oct 2013
Joint - Electric Bill - July 2013
Joint - Water bill - Mar 2013
Joint - Water bill - Dec 2012
Joint - Council Tax Bill - Dec 2012

Okay, you have WAY too much here - you only need 6 documents in each name, covering Jan 2015 to Jan 2017.

So, I would just use:
1. Joint - Water bill - Feb 2015
2. Joint - Electric bill - May 2015
3. Applicant - Natwest bank statement - Nov 2015
3. Sponsor - Natwest bank statement - Oct 2015
4. Joint - Water bill - Feb 2016
5. Joint - Electric bill - Jul 2016
6. Sponsor - Letter from Natwest - Sep 2016

And you can always add another from Dec 2016/Jan 2017, though that makes 7 in total.

RELATIONSHIP
12 photographs of us at various times over the last 7 years

You only need 1 photo, so take out all the others..

COVER LETTER TO EXPLAIN...
Question 2.2 has been answered NO because we applied for FRL(m) in 2014 but withdrew the application due to needing to travel urgently. No decision was made as application was withdrawn.

That seems okay - you could always write a note next to 2.2 explaining that the application was withdrawn.

My main concern right now is with evidence of accommodation.

1 - I have only the original 6 month tenancy agreement, none others were issued as it became a rolling 1 month contract once it expired

2 - I simply don't know for what period I should be providing evidence of cohabitation as the wording on the form is unclear. So I've tried to cover the whole time we've been in the UK. Problem is it looks like overkill and I worry it will cause confusion.

Just include the original tenancy agreement - your correspondence letters will show you still live there.

The co-habitation evidence is your 6 documents (correspondence letters) listed above, from the last 2 years. Don't include everything, because that's not what they ask for, and they won't look at it.

The form says:
Six items of correspondence addressed to you and your partner at the same address as evidence that you have been living together since your last grant of leave in this category, or from the date you first started living together up to a maximum of two years

Wow! Thanks so much for the quick and informative response!

This makes more sense now

I'll go with the below, but keep a few extras in my bag just in case they come out asking for more 

APPLICATION
Applicant Passport, Student Visa, and previous passport.
Sponsor Passport.
Applicant photo X2, name on back.
Sponsor Photo X1, name on back.
Completed application FLR(m) 12/2016 version.
Fee payment confirmation print.
Appointment confirmation print.
IHS fee payment confirmation email.

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT
Last 6 payslips, stamped and signed (most recent is for payment on 25/01/17)
Letter from employer confirming authenticity of payslips.
Last 5 posted original bank statements.
Partial statement/transaction list printed in branch showing most recent payment. Natwest have agreed to stamp and I can collect on 25/01/17 before our appointment.
Letter from employer stating position, type of employment, start date, current salary and the details of any changes to that salary in the time I have been employed.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Trinity A1 GESE English test certificate.

ACCOMODATION
Original tenancy agreement from Dec 2012

CORRESPONDENCE LAST 2 YEARS
Applicant - Natwest bank statement - Nov 2016
Sponsor - Letter from Natwest - Sep 2016
Joint - Electric bill - Jul 2016
Joint - Water bill - Feb 2016
Applicant - Natwest bank statement - Nov 2015
Sponsor - Natwest bank statement - Oct 2015
Joint - Electric bill - May 2015
Joint - Water bill - Feb 2015

RELATIONSHIP
Original marriage certificate in Spanish dated 24/05/2010
ATC Accredited certified translation dated 05/02/2014
1 photograph of us together

COVER LETTER TO EXPLAIN...
Question 2.2 has been answered NO because we applied for FRL(m) in 2014 but withdrew the application due to needing to travel urgently. No decision was made as application was withdrawn.

Hopefully that'll do the trick 

I understand I need to provide photocopies as well, would that include a copy of the passports and form, or is it just the supporting documents?

I also read somewhere that people have been asked to prove they are making progress with their studies when applying for FLR(m) from a Tier 4. Ever heard of this? Seems a bit odd to me!

For the in person appointments, they don't want any photos.  The photo is to prove you've met in person and as you'll both be there, there's no need.   

Fantastic, I'll just pop that photo in the bag of "just in case" stuff.

Another thing that's been playing on my mind a little is that my most recent payslip will be dated 25/01/2017. That's the same day as the appointment.

Obviously I won't have the bank statement for that one so the plan is to go to the bank on the morning of pay day/appointment day and have them print out a transaction list for me and stamp it.

The worry is that on the bottom of the transaction list there is wording stating "Items with today's date have still to be confirmed and are included for information purposes only"

Do you foresee any problems with this?

Also, just to be sure my payslips and corresponding statements will be dated as follows

25/08/2016 - Full posted bank statement from 16/08/16 to 15/09/16
25/09/2016 - Full posted bank statement from 16/09/16 to 15/10/16
25/10/2016 - Full posted bank statement from 16/10/16 to 15/11/16
25/11/2016 - Full posted bank statement from 16/11/16 to 15/12/16
25/12/2016 - Full posted bank statement from 16/12/16 to 15/01/17
25/01/2016 - Transaction list printed in branch and stamped from 16/01/17 to and including 25/01/17

Does it matter that there's only 5.5 months of bank statements?

Thanks again!

Yes, you definitely need a full six months of bank statements!  No grey area on that requirement.

What date was your December payslip issued?

If it was dated on or after December 28th, you can use that one and include the payslips and bank statements from July to December instead (and forget about the January one).

Alternatively, can you reschedule the appointment for a slightly later date so that the transactions from Jan 25th are confirmed on the statement?

You can reschedule the appointment without penalty as long as it's at least 48 hours before the appointment... so that would give you until tomorrow morning(?): https://www.gov.uk/ukvi-premium-service-centres/change-or-cancel-an-appointment

Yes, you definitely need a full six months of bank statements!  No grey area on that requirement.

This was one of my issues with the timing of everything

My payslips are issued on 19th of each month, payment enters my account on 25th, corresponding bank statement arrives in post around 16th -19th of the following month. I can literally never have both payslip and statement both within 28 days so I'll always be in the position of needing a partial bank statement to go along with the 5 previous.

I'm not sure if there's anything I can do about this!

EDIT: Just to clarify, all 6 monthly salaries will be visible on the 5.5 bank statements, there'll just be a couple of weeks of grocery shopping etc missing from the latest one as the period won't end until mid February.

What date was your December payslip issued?

If it was dated on or after December 28th, you can use that one and include the payslips and bank statements from July to December instead (and forget about the January one).

Alternatively, can you reschedule the appointment for a slightly later date so that the transactions from Jan 25th are confirmed on the statement?

You can reschedule the appointment without penalty as long as it's at least 48 hours before the appointment... so that would give you until tomorrow morning(?): https://www.gov.uk/ukvi-premium-service-centres/change-or-cancel-an-appointment [nofollow]

Unfortunately my December payslip was issued on 15/12/2016 with payment going into my account on 21/12/2016

Hmmm yes tomorrow morning would be the latest. Not sure what to do here as it seems that from KFdancer's post having only a partial statement will be a problem regardless of it the transactions are confirmed or not 

Unfortunately my December payslip was issued on 15/12/2016 with payment going into my account on 21/12/2016

Hmmm yes tomorrow morning would be the latest. Not sure what to do here as it seems that from KFdancer's post having only a partial statement will be a problem regardless of it the transactions are confirmed or not 

No, it's about having 6 FULL months of bank statements.

If you only have statements from 16th August to 25th January, that's not 6 full months, as 6 months would be July 25th to January 25th... so the visa could be refused.

So, you will need to include your July bank statement (and maybe the July payslip as well) as well so that you hae 6 full months (and a bit more), from 16th July to 25th January.

Ok, I might be able to manage that

I have the bank statement from the July to August period, and can include the July 25th Payslip too.

My letter confirming authenticity of payslips from work only lists the payslips from August to January, however I did get July's payslip just in case which has been stamped and signed by the same person in the payroll dept.

Does that sound like it'll work to you?

So glad I came on this forum!!!

Definitely not a problem having 6.5 months of bank statements.  You just want to be sure to have a full six months.

And they are reasonable.  We had an appointment on the 3rd or 4th of the month and the last payslip (original, official one) was for the 30th of the prior month (so 33/34 days).  We did have the electronic copy and bank statement with the deposit.  Sure enough we got home from the appointment and the most recent original had arrived.  I know this has been the way with others as well and it has been okay.  I would just be sure to have July's info as well (in case they ask for it).

That sets my mind at ease a little more. Thanks!

The concern now is that the letter of authenticity doesn't list that July 16 payslip, however I hope it would be OK since it's exactly the same as the others and has been stamped by the same person.

Also that wording "Items with today's date have still to be confirmed and are included for information purposes only" is bothersome. I know it's only because BACS transactions can be reversed up to a certain point in the day and it's never happened before with my company, however I don't know if they will overlook something like that.

As Ksand24 mentioned I still have time to reschedule the appointment so I can get the printout on a later day, but that'll involve taking a gamble that there is another slot before the Tier4 visa expires at the beginning of Feb.

I don't want to lose this appointment and be left with no other to attend.

I know!  It is so hard to balance everything and figure out the right day to apply.  You e got this though.  Just need to be confident.

I hope so!  Just at that stage now of questioning absolutely every damn detail and finding/inventing a problem with it. I've been driving my wife round the bend!

Regarding photocopies of documents we're providing, what should I actually have copied?

Everything including form and passports?