'Wrong' date on entry vignette

Hello again,

We were very happy to pick up my wife's settlement visa yesterday, but (always seems to be a but) they've given us the 'wrong' date on the vignette. We had put intended date of travel as May 1st, and they've dated it from today. It's going to be very logistically awkward (not to mention an extra cost) for us to travel within the next month, why is why we put May in the first place.

Does anyone have any experience of applying to transfer their vignette for a different date? I know it can be done (and would be cheaper than travelling to the UK) but I'm not keen to send my wife's passport away both because she has to travel for work again before wrapping up things here in the US, and the fact that we have no control over when the passport will be returned (which could give us visa trouble here in the US in a worst case scenario).

One alternative would be for my wife and I to travel to the UK for a couple of days to enter and pick up the BRP and then return to the US to close things up, but would we be allowed to enter the UK without our children? We can have my parents look after them while we are gone, as they are due to be visiting us here in the US, but on the visa application form we stated that they would be travelling with us to the UK. They are UK citizens so have no BRP to collect or anything like that. Would the clearance officer at the airport have the details of our children and expect them to be with us?

Very grateful as always for any insights.

Sorry they didn't honor your travel date.  That really gets my back up.

You can apply for a transfer of vignette, but you'll need to wait until AFTER the vignette has expired, send an application, pay more money (a few hundred pounds), and wait several more weeks.

Personally, I would bite the bullet and travel to the UK together to collect the BRP.  It *should* be at the post office but you may want to call to verify before booking.  There are occasional times when the BRP isn't there yet, meaning your trip could be delayed on the return.

It will be fine that the kids aren't with you.  IF (and I doubt it would happen) you were asked at the border, it's very easy to simply tell the truth.  They didn't honor your travel date, so you are making a quick trip to collect the BRP, and return to the USA to tie up loose ends and will make the final trip with the kids in a few weeks.

Thanks for the quick reply. An extra trip to the UK it is then.

That's not cool that they didn't use the date you put.

If you do go for a quick trip, be sure you (the UKC) go with her. If you're not already in the UK or not travelling with her, it could cause more problems.

It sounds like you're planning to go together, but I just wanted to mention it in case you tried to change your plan so she went solo.

Also, don't travel through Ireland or she won't get the entry stamp she needs to prove when she arrived in the UK.

Both good points, thank you. I'd seen on another thread about needing to go with her - fortunately I have time to do that, but its frustrating that after paying so much for the visa in the first place we are then hit with another not insignificant cost through no fault of our own, and we have no real/practical recourse to change things.

We are very fortunate that we can manage it, but I'm sure there are others for whom things would be much more difficult (from all perspectives).

Obviously it's too late for your application but for others reading this, if your intended date of travel is particularly important, it's worth emphasising it also in your letter and including a proposed itinerary too, to really drive it home. Otherwise, it's a bit hit or miss, as you've found sadly.

I'm a big fan of highlighting and bold typing the date in the cover letter!

Thinking about this a bit more, a couple of questions have occurred to me looking ahead to the fun of going for further leave to remain in a couple of years:

We'll go over to get the BRP in early April and then will be back in the US for six weeks or so to close everything off as we had planned. For FLR, would we need to show anything for this period to say that we'd been living in the UK - i.e. joint bills or anything like that? We won't be properly 'settled' in the UK until the end of May.

Also, my wife already had planned a few weeks out of the UK later in the year. Is there a limit on how many days she can be out of the country in each year from her original entry date? I've read various numbers (eg 270 day total limit, but no more than 180 days (or is it no more than 90 days) in any one-year period), but not sure which is correct. Can anyone confirm?

Finally, probably a very stupid question, but once my wife has her BRP she can basically come and go as she pleases from the UK, correct? Ie she doesn't need me as a chaperone all the time?!

Thanks again.

We'll go over to get the BRP in early April and then will be back in the US for six weeks or so to close everything off as we had planned. For FLR, would we need to show anything for this period to say that we'd been living in the UK - i.e. joint bills or anything like that? We won't be properly 'settled' in the UK until the end of May.

That's fine - for FLR(M) you just have to show evidence of living together for the last 2 years before applying. You'll be able to apply for FLR(M) in August/September 2020, so you just have to show bills etc. in both names from August 2018 onwards.

Also, my wife already had planned a few weeks out of the UK later in the year. Is there a limit on how many days she can be out of the country in each year from her original entry date? I've read various numbers (eg 270 day total limit, but no more than 180 days (or is it no more than 90 days) in any one-year period), but not sure which is correct. Can anyone confirm?

There is no limit - the only thing that matters is that you have lived TOGETHER for the entire length of the visa, either in the UK or outside the UK, but the UK must have remained your main home.

The 270 days only applies to UK citizenship applications and it's only in the final 3 years before applying. So if you are applying for citizenship in March 2023, the limit would be:
- no more than 270 days outside the UK between March 2020 and March 2023
- no more than 90 of those 270 days can have been in the final 12 months before applying (March 2022 to March 2023)

Finally, probably a very stupid question, but once my wife has her BRP she can basically come and go as she pleases from the UK, correct? Ie she doesn't need me as a chaperone all the time?!

Yep. It's just that first entry where you have to either be travelling with her or already be in the UK when she arrives.

Ok, perfect thanks. There's a chance my wife goes to spend time with her family in Colombia directly from the US rather than coming back to the UK first when we close things up in the US in May, but it doesn't look as though that will make a difference to the FLR application in the long run, as she'll be definitely in the UK from July.