ILR then FLR(M)?

Hi, Everyone...

Apologies for two posts today, but it seems like once you ask one question it opens the door to many others. 

I am a US citizen in the UK on a student visa.  I entered the UK in Aug 2011 and my current visa expires Jan 2014.  If I marry my UK boyfriend, are these the steps I need to take?

Register to get married
Get married
Update my SS card with US Embassy (if change to married name)
Update passport with US Embassy (if change to married name)
Apply for ILR (apply Aug 2013 since that will be my 2-year mark?)
Apply for FLR(M)

Am I missing anything or have anything wrong? Despite reading about this on and off for years, I'm just discovering that ILR needs to happen before FLR(M)... assuming I even have that correct.

Thanks!

No, you've got it the wrong way round.  ILR (indefinite leave to remain) comes after FLR (further leave to remain).  Right now you've got leave to enter/remain as a student, and you want to switch to further leave to remain as a spouse.  Once you get married, you can apply for FLR(M) at any time, provided you meet all the requirements.  You'll be granted leave for 2.5 years, after which you have to apply for another 2.5 year FLR(M), and then after 5 years you can apply for ILR. 

You've got it almost right, but you've got the steps a bit mixed up.

FLR(M) comes before ILR... you have to spend 5 years on FLR(M) before you can qualify for ILR.

FLR(M) is a temporary visa that allows you to live in the UK because you are married to a UK citizen.

ILR is permanent residence in the UK after you have lived on the temporary visa for 5 years.

The time on your student visa does not count towards ILR, so the 5-year count starts from when your FLR(M) is granted. The stuff you are reading about 2 years is out of date and only applies to people who got married and applied for FLR(M) before July 9th 2012.

So your steps will be:

- Register to get married
- Get married
- Update my SS card with US Embassy (if change to married name)
- Update passport with US Embassy (if change to married name)
- Apply for FLR(M) which is valid for 30 months (2.5 years)
- Just before your FLR(M) expires, apply for another FLR(M) which is valid for 30 months (2.5 years)
- Apply for ILR after 5 years on FLR(M)

Thank you both SO much!  I got tripped up with the ILR stuff because on this page http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/partners-families/citizens-settled/spouse-cp/can-you-apply/ [nofollow] it has the bulletpoint that says "you do not qualify for settlement yet."  So I started looking up "settlement" and got off-track.

Since that shifts the timeline quite a bit, I have a question on FLR(M).  When is the latest I can apply for that?  I've been told I need at least six months left on my current visa but then this page http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/partners-families/citizens-settled/spouse-cp/applying-in-uk/ [nofollow] says "We encourage you to apply 28 days before the expiry date, but you can choose to apply earlier than this."  Does that mean I could apply in, say, October/November 2013, and still be okay to stay in the UK? 

Yes, you can apply for FLR(M) any time before your current visa expires. 

This is fantastic news!  Needing to be married with an updated name all before June 2013 was putting quite a bit of pressure on things!

I'm wondering if I read that I needed to have at least six months left on my visa by someone who was applying from outside the UK?

Thank you both SO much!  I got tripped up with the ILR stuff because on this page http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/partners-families/citizens-settled/spouse-cp/can-you-apply/ it has the bulletpoint that says "you do not qualify for settlement yet."  So I started looking up "settlement" and got off-track.

The sentence in that link about settlement is confusing - I wonder if it's worded correctly.

Basically I looks like it's saying that if your partner is not a native UK citizen, but has qualified for ILR or UK citizenship after being on a Tier 1, 2, or 5 visa, AND you do not qualify for ILR yet yourself, you can't apply as the partner of a UK citizen - instead you must apply as a dependent of a Tier 1, 2 or 5 visa holder.

However, assuming your partner is a UK citizen from birth, this does not apply to you, so you can just ignore that part .

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that wording is misleading and confusing.

He's English by birth and is going to be very happy to hear about this update.

Thank you again for the comments.  I wish I would have asked my questions sooner instead of quietly lurking while having anxiety over all of this.