Lack of Correspondence - Postal FLR(M) Application

Great to hear! When it comes to ILR, however, and presuming the question "Have you ever outstayed your visa?" (or something along those lines) is on the application - what do you say?

You say NO, because you have not overstayed your visa.

UKVI specificallly states that as long as you have an application lodged and pending, you continue to maintain legal status in the UK (under the rules of the current visa) even if your visa expires while it is processing. You just have to get the application in BEFORE it expires.

The only situations where you would become an overstayer are if:

a) You didn't get your application in before your visa expired
or
b) your visa application was refused (and your previous visa had expired) and you didn't leave the country within the allowed time given after the refusal

A few years ago, FLR(M) applications were taking up to a year to be processed due to massive backlogs, and since a lot people can't apply for FLR(M) until 28 days before their previous visa expires, pretty much everyone who applied for FLR(M) that year ended up having their previous visa expire before their new FLR(M) was processed.

You say NO, because you have not overstayed your visa.

UKVI specificallly states that as long as you have an application lodged and pending, you continue to maintain legal status in the UK (under the rules of the current visa) even if your visa expires while it is processing. You just have to get the application in BEFORE it expires.

The only situations where you would become an overstayer are if:

a) You didn't get your application in before your visa expired
or
b) your visa application was refused (and your previous visa had expired) and you didn't leave the country within the allowed time given after the refusal

A few years ago, FLR(M) applications were taking up to a year to be processed due to massive backlogs, and since a lot people can't apply for FLR(M) until 28 days before their previous visa expires, pretty much everyone who applied for FLR(M) that year ended up having their previous visa expire before their new FLR(M) was processed.

I thought so, thanks for the thorough response. It's common sense to me that as long as the application is in but UKVI never fail to surprise me!

From the FLR(M) Guidance notes:

14. Your status while your application is being considered
If you and any dependants apply before the end of your permitted stay in the UK, your/their existing immigration status, including any permission to work, will continue until your/their application(s) is/are decided.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/579279/FLR_M__guidance_notes_21-12-16.pdf

Sorry to hijack but just a curious question of mine.

Say you applied for FLR(M) 1.5 months before your visa expiry and they don't process it in time. Say it takes 2 months. Is the applicant illegally living in the country between that period?

To give it it's formal name, as the visa expired before the decision was made, they would be covered by something called 3c (of the Immigration Act 1971) - they would not be an overstayer.

I'm having a similar issue and curious if I should be concerned. 

I mailed my FLR(M) application off just before Christmas (22 Dec) and received a letter a few days later (maybe 28 Dec) indicating I needed to do my biometrics stuff at the post office.

I haven't received any confirmation email from the Sheffield office that they received my documents.  I'm assuming the biometrics letter was auto-generated b/c I had submitted an online application for renewal, though I don't know.

Should I be worried?

Everyone gives biometrics, it doesn't mean anything other than your application was received.

Did you include mail from the last two years?  6 joint items from 3 sources spread evenly over the past two years (or 12 individual items, or combo of the two)?  If so, nothing to be concerned about.   

I haven't received any confirmation email from the Sheffield office that they received my documents.  I'm assuming the biometrics letter was auto-generated b/c I had submitted an online application for renewal, though I don't know.

The biometrics letter is your confirmation - it is sent after they have received your application. They don't usually communicate by email, though they seem to have started doing so in the last few months.

The way it works is:

- you mail the application to them
- they send you a letter acknowledging your application and inviting you to give biometrics at a post office
- you get the biometrics done... and they are transmitted electronically to UKVI
- when your biometrics have been received, they will start processing the application
- when the application has been processed and a decision has been made, they will send you a letter, and you will receive your passport and documents back.