FLR(M) active parental relationship

Hi all,

I'm filling out my FLR application (the online version) and two of the questions were a bit vague to me:

One of the last questions about my dependent minors was if I had any additional information that proved I had a "active parental relationship." I wrote a couple sentences about how DH and I pick them up and drop them off at school, who cooks dinner, that I was home with my kids when they were sick from school. Any advice on this section? It doesn't ask for photos or mail, so I'm not really sure how to prove that DH and I are parents to our children.

The second vague question was if it would be a hardship to leave the UK. The honest answer is sure it would be very disruptive, but nothing insurmountable. We're not escaping persecution, and we have a country to return to where we could (presumably) get new jobs and housing. But we'd really prefer to stay here. Any suggestions on what kind of information they are looking for here? I wrote about how my young kids identify as English more than American at this point. But, that hardly seems like a reason to let us stay.

Thanks again to this community. Such a source of wisdom when I first applied to come to the UK!

If you are using the online form, I would stop, and use the paper form instead... the questions are much less ambiguous than on the online form. In fact, neither of those questions are on the paper form.

Instead the paper form doesn’t ask anything about active parental relationships in the children section and the second question is:
 10.14 Please state what ties you have with:
• The country where you were born.
• Any other country whose nationality you hold.
• Any country where you have lived for more than five years.You should tell us about any family, friends, or other connections with that country.


Also, we can’t help answer the questions on the online form because we can’t see them... for example, I’ve never even seen the two questions you are asking about, so I have no idea how they should be answered.


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The only place on the paper form where it mentions ‘active parental relationship’ is in Section 8B: Other Information... which I think most people leave blank anyway.


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Thank you. I didn't see the advice to use the paper instead of online version until I was 90% done!

In case you're curious the questions are:
In the section titled Additional Child Information:
"Provide details of the role you take in <dependent's name>'s upbringing, including details of your parental responsibility or access arrangements."

It asks for the names of all extended family members in the UK, then all family and friends in the country we would return to if we left the UK.

The final question in the dependent application is:

"Would you like to provide any other information about <dependent's name>?"
With the guidance: "For example, include any information you wish to be considered about the welfare or best interests of the child. You must demonstrate you have a genuine, subsisting and active parental relationship."

Thank you. I didn't see the advice to use the paper instead of online version until I was 90% done!

Even so, I still would not recommend using the online form - the whole application process using the online form seems to be more hassle than it's worth.

The process has a number of issues:
- different and confusing questions
- it can be buggy/have errors
- online forms are processed in Sheffield while paper forms are processed in Durham
- if you are applying in person, you have to submit the online form before you can book the appointment... BUT if you use the paper form, you can book the appointment up to 42 days in advance and then you can continue to fill out and edit your application form until the day of your appointment
- if you are applying by post, using the online form you have to pay when you submit it and then mail the form and your documents within 15 working days (someone last year had problems when UKVI claimed they didn't receive the documents)... BUT if you use the paper form, you just submit everything at the same time when you're ready (application and documents) and then payment will be taken after your documents arrive in Durham.

In case you're curious the questions are:
In the section titled Additional Child Information:
"Provide details of the role you take in <dependent's name>'s upbringing, including details of your parental responsibility or access arrangements."

It asks for the names of all extended family members in the UK, then all family and friends in the country we would return to if we left the UK.

The final question in the dependent application is:

"Would you like to provide any other information about <dependent's name>?"
With the guidance: "For example, include any information you wish to be considered about the welfare or best interests of the child. You must demonstrate you have a genuine, subsisting and active parental relationship."

Thanks .

Can I just echo what ksand has said about using the paper form rather than the online form.
It may seem like a lot of work to re-write your answers but that's nothing compared to the stress that our member went through a few months ago when the process didn't go as it should have. 

You have convinced me to re-write the answers, thank you! But, do people print it out and fill it in by hand? I only have the free version of Adobe, if I upgrade, can I fill it out on my computer?

I also found a different question on the written form.
"5.5 What is the end date of your current or most recent visa or leave to enter or remain?"

As I have the 30 vignette in my passport, and a bio-metric card, I assume my visa expires 2 years and 6 months from my date of entry. For example, if I entered January 1 2015, it would expire July 1, 2017 (or June 30, 2017). Is this the date they are looking for?

I printed it and filled it out by hand.

Your BRP will have an expiration date printed on it. That's what they are looking for.

I printed it and filled it out by hand.

Your BRP will have an expiration date printed on it. That's what they are looking for.

Thanks larrabee! My permit expires in June 2018, though I entered the country, and my bio card was issued, in September 2015. That is longer than 2.5 years, so which date do I use?

Thanks larrabee! My permit expires in June 2018, though I entered the country, and my bio card was issued, in September 2015. That is longer than 2.5 years, so which date do I use?

You put the expiry date on the BRP - which is in June 2018, because that is when your visa ends. You have until that date to apply for FLR(M).

Your BRP is valid for 33 months - 2 years and 9 months - however as you only need to live in the UK for 30 months before you apply for FLR(M), you may end up applying a few months before the expiry of your visa.

If you entered in Sept 2015, you reach 30 months in March 2018 and you can apply 28 days before that... even though your visa doesn’t expire until June.


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If you entered in Sept 2015, you reach 30 months in March 2018 and you can apply 28 days before that... even though your visa doesn’t expire until June.

Ah, thank you! But, could I postpone applying until June if I needed to? We're juggling renewing a US passport with the visa renewal (with priority to the visa as we still have some time on the passport).

Ah, thank you! But, could I postpone applying until June if I needed to? We're juggling renewing a US passport with the visa renewal (with priority to the visa as we still have some time on the passport).

You could do BUT the visa fees will rise in April and it could potentially cost hundreds of pounds more to apply in June instead of February or March.

If you can, I would get the application in before the fees increase (we don’t know how high they will go but they can jump by a few hundred).

Both FLR(M) and ILR have been approved to rise to £3,250 each by April 2019... at the moment FLR(M) is £993 and ILR is £2,297. I imagine ILR will reach £3,250 by then but not sure how much FLR(M) will increase as it’s a lot cheaper at the moment.


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Both FLR(M) and ILR have been approved to rise to £3,250 each by April 2019

That is outrageous. I'll stick to my original plan to apply ASAP.

I also have another question about the kids and will start a new thread, as it applied to at least one other person when I first posted about it in 2015.