ILR(M) time! Wow 🤷🏻‍♂️

I actually can't believe how fast time goes. I guess it's true - time flies when you're having fun.

So we've been working at gathering our paperwork up (who knew it could be so hard to find bills and correspondence spaced out correctly?) and making sure we have everything we're going to need. I've been filling out the application online and we are waiting on a couple of things (IE, letter from my employer as well as letter from our landlady). I just want to make sure of a couple things before we do something wrong.

So my FLR(M) was granted November 30th of 2020. Here are the items we have that are in both our names....

Bank statement from December 2020
Council tax bill from March 2021
Water bill from July 2021
Bank statement from November 2021
Council tax bill from March 2022
Gas/Electric bill from August 2022
Water bill from January 2023

Are those spaced out enough? And is it enough of a diversity?

We are using my employment income to meet the financial requirement, and I get paid on the 15th of each month. Would I be able to complete the application on, say, March 11th, and have February's payslip be my last one? My employer letter will be dated sometime this week so Home Office would know I'm still employed. Just wondering about the timing aspect...

We have our 6 months of bank statements, covering a period of August 22, 2022 until February 20, 2023. Would that be sufficient if I submitted the application on the same hypothetical date of March 11th?

And a question about the process. So I know once all my ducks are in a row and I'm actually fully ready to apply, I will need to go on around 1 or 2am to try and secure a priority slot. Once there's one available and I pay, when are the documents scanned/uploaded? I thought they were scanned and uploaded before you pay on the FLR(M) application but I might be misremembering.

And what exactly happens after that?

Sorry if this was a long-winded. Hopefully I gave all the information needed, and I really appreciate any answers/guidance.

Thank you!

So my FLR(M) was granted November 30th of 2020. Here are the items we have that are in both our names....

Bank statement from December 2020
Council tax bill from March 2021
Water bill from July 2021
Bank statement from November 2021
Council tax bill from March 2022
Gas/Electric bill from August 2022
Water bill from January 2023

Are those spaced out enough? And is it enough of a diversity?

The diversity is fine as you have 4 sources, and a minimum of 3 sources are required. However, since it's March now, you're going to need a more recent document than January 2023. The latest document should be dated either the same month as you apply, or the previous month if you haven't had time to receive anything for the current month yet.

Also, the documents should be evenly-spaced and ideally cover a full 2.5 years (even if your FLR(M) was granted less than 2.5 years ago), so that's 1 document in each name dated every 5 months.

So, you'll want to use documents from either the following months:
August 2020
January 2021
June 2021
November 2021
April 2022
September 2022
February 2023

Or if you have something you can use for March 2023, you'll want the following months:
September 2020
February 2021
July 2021
December 2021
May 2022
October 2022
March 2023

We are using my employment income to meet the financial requirement, and I get paid on the 15th of each month. Would I be able to complete the application on, say, March 11th, and have February's payslip be my last one? My employer letter will be dated sometime this week so Home Office would know I'm still employed. Just wondering about the timing aspect...

We have our 6 months of bank statements, covering a period of August 22, 2022 until February 20, 2023. Would that be sufficient if I submitted the application on the same hypothetical date of March 11th?

The most recent payslip, bank statement (showing the payslip), and the employer letter must all be dated no more than 28 days before the date you apply online. So, if your February payslip is dated 15th February, you have until 15th March to submit the online application. If you apply after 15th March, you will need to use the March payslip and bank statement instead.

Also, your payslips and bank statements must explicitly cover every single day of the 6 months, and they must cover all the same dates as each other.

So, if your latest payslip is dated 15th February, both your payslips and bank statements MUST cover all the way back to 15th August. If your bank statements only cover 22th August to 20th February, they will not meet the requirements and the visa can be refused.

Which means you will need:
Payslips
15 Aug
15 Sep
15 Oct
15 Nov
15 Dec
15 Jan
15 Feb

Bank statements (assuming they are issued on the 21 or 22nd of the month?)
22 Jul - 21 Aug
22 Aug - 21 Sep
22 Sep - 21 Oct
22 Oct - 21 Nov
22 Nov - 21 Dec
22 Dec - 21 Jan
22 Jan - 20 Feb
(or whatever dates they are issued, as long as the first one covers 15th August)

And a question about the process. So I know once all my ducks are in a row and I'm actually fully ready to apply, I will need to go on around 1 or 2am to try and secure a priority slot. Once there's one available and I pay, when are the documents scanned/uploaded? I thought they were scanned and uploaded before you pay on the FLR(M) application but I might be misremembering.

The documents are scanned and uploaded on the UKVCAS website after you have applied online and paid for the visa, but before the biometrics appointment.

So, the process is:
- gather all documents
- fill out online application
- when completely ready, submit online application
- if priority processing is offered, add it, and pay for the visa and priority
- if priority is not available at the time you submit, leave the application, log out, and try again the next day (priority slots are limited and usually released at midnight each night).
- once you have paid, wait for email with UKVCAS registration code
- register with UKVCAS
- book biometrics appointment
- scan/upload documents before biometrics appointment (or take them to the appointment if you have paid for document scanning)
- attend appointment
- wait for email with decision
- receive BRP in the post

So, the process is:
- gather all documents
- fill out online application
- when completely ready, submit online application
- if priority processing is offered, add it, and pay for the visa and priority
- if priority is not available at the time you submit, leave the application, log out, and try again the next day (priority slots are limited and usually released at midnight each night).
- once you have paid, wait for email with UKVCAS registration code
- register with UKVCAS
- book biometrics appointment
- scan/upload documents before biometrics appointment (or take them to the appointment if you have paid for document scanning)
- attend appointment
- wait for email with decision
- receive BRP in the post

Got all the other information regarding the sources and dates, so thank you very much for that.

In regards to the paying for them to scan the documents, how much do they charge for that? I loathe the scanning process and would love to pay for someone else to do it provided the cost isn't exorbitant. And as for the biometrics, where can I find a list of locations? We are near Newcastle and would prefer to go up to Edinburgh if it's an option.

Thanks again! You're a star.

In regards to the paying for them to scan the documents, how much do they charge for that? I loathe the scanning process and would love to pay for someone else to do it provided the cost isn't exorbitant. And as for the biometrics, where can I find a list of locations? We are near Newcastle and would prefer to go up to Edinburgh if it's an option.

Document Scanning is £54
Document Checking is £48

All the information about appointments, locations, and services is on the UKVCAS website :

Appointment types: https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/appointment-info
Locations: https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/locations
Extra Services: https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/additional-services
FAQs: https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/faq