FLR(M) - My Document Checklist - Advice Welcome!

I am a British citizen. My American wife’s initial leave to remain in the UK as my spouse was awarded in January 2017 (she transferred from Tier 4) and it expires on 28 July 2019.

We’re going to apply from within the UK for an extension (FLR(M)) next week and we’ll book a UKCVAS appointment as soon as possible after. We'll be paying for a 24 hour decision to give us piece of mind of having some time to apply again/do something if the application is rejected for a reason that can be addressed.

We're yet to complete the online application (it’s basically all filled out we just need to do last bits and complete it on 1st July), pay Immigration Health Surcharge and to print off and sign relevant declarations.

Any advice you guys can provide on our evidence as it stands would be welcome!

Our assembled evidence currently looks like the following:

Travel Documents and Photos
- Applicant's valid passport (valid from Sep. 2013 - Sep. 2023) when scanning should we scan all pages of the passport or just the "photo page"?
- Applicants valid BRP (valid until 28 July 2019)
- 2 X passport photos of applicant

- Sponsor's valid passport (valid from Jul 2010 - Jul 2020) when scanning should we scan all pages of the passport or just the "photo page"?
- 1 X passport photo of sponsor

Proof of our relationship
- Original marriage certificate (issued in USA)

Correspondence
- Aug 2017 bank statement in applicant’s name
- Aug 2017 credit card statement in sponsor’s name
- Nov 2017 electricity bill in joint names
- Mar 2018 water bill in joint names
- Jul 2018 credit card statement in sponsor’s name
- Sep 2018 bank statement in applicant’s name
- Jan 2019 letter from HMRC to sponsor
- Feb 2019 letter from HMRC to applicant
- Mar 2019 water bill in joint names
I split the last 2 years into six 4 month blocks and made sure that each block either had one item of correspondence to us jointly or that we both had an item of correspondence to us individually in the block. Now I’m looking at it thinking that we could do with another piece of correspondence for the period between March and now. We could submit a joint bank statement we received in June. What do you think? Necessary?

Accommodation
- A letter dated June signed and stamped by our Letting Agent explaining our assured short-hold tenancy is now a periodic tenancy and confirming the cost of rent (addressed to UKVI caseworker care of the applicant)
- Our original assured short-hold tenancy (joint tenancy)
- A letter dated June 2017 confirming details of our last rent renegotiation (addressed to sponsor)
- Our March 2019 Council Tax bill (addressed to us jointly)
- Photos of our flat Necessary?

Finances
We’re working off my income alone. I’m in permanent full time employment and whilst my job role hasn’t changed since 2017 my pay went up in April due to a union negotiated pay award and I received a pay increment. I’m applying under category A and quoting my lower salary from last financial year. Others seem to do this so I’m hoping this is ok….
- A letter from my employer (FAO UKVI Caseworker) confirming details of my employment and giving both my salary now and my salary from last year.
- 6 stamped payslips for sponsor’s income (Jan-June)
- 6 bank statements, each showing the income from the payslips, addressed to us jointly

Supplementary Stuff
- We’re thinking about adding a short cover letter and appending a few photos of us from the last two years (8 photos on 4 sides of A4). Advisable?
- If you see a previous post I made, you can see that I was concerned about a lack of stamps in my wife’s passport showing her re-entering the UK from a few trips. Advice from a few forums was not to worry. I do have electronic boarding passes and tickets covering the “missing stamps”. I was thinking of including these with a note. Advisable?


That’s it!

Correspondence
1- Aug 2017 bank statement in applicant’s name
1- Aug 2017 credit card statement in sponsor’s name

2- Nov 2017 electricity bill in joint names

3- Mar 2018 water bill in joint names

4- Jul 2018 credit card statement in sponsor’s name
4- Sep 2018 bank statement in applicant’s name

5- Jan 2019 letter from HMRC to sponsor
5- Feb 2019 letter from HMRC to applicant

6- Mar 2019 water bill in joint names

I split the last 2 years into six 4 month blocks and made sure that each block either had one item of correspondence to us jointly or that we both had an item of correspondence to us individually in the block. Now I’m looking at it thinking that we could do with another piece of correspondence for the period between March and now. We could submit a joint bank statement we received in June. What do you think? Necessary?

When you have separate items, they need to be dated as close to each other as possible, usually in the same month.  The items really should be as evenly spaced as possible, too.  You can only give what you have, of course.  But I'm worried about the gap for the applicant from March 2018 to September 2018.  Six months is too long.  And your gap from July 2018 to January 2019 is too long, as well.

You do not need photos of the flat.  If the applicant's name is on the lease, you just need the lease.  If the applicant's name is not on the lease, you need the lease and a letter from the owner saying the applicant is permitted to stay there.  That's about it.

Do your payslips show the dates of your pay range?  For example, do they explicitly state, "1 January to 31 January" or something along those lines, or do they only show the ending date of the pay period?  If they don't show the full pay period, you'll need a 7th payslip to span six FULL months or UKVI will start counting from the only date they see, at the end of the first pay period.

Make sure you have six FULL months of bank statements, too, (not a day less!) and that they show all the wages being deposited.

Do not include photos.  Your correspondence evidence showing you were living together, along with your marriage certificate, are all you should include for your proof of relationship.

Thanks for responding.

When you have separate items, they need to be dated as close to each other as possible, usually in the same month.  The items really should be as evenly spaced as possible, too.  You can only give what you have, of course.  But I'm worried about the gap for the applicant from March 2018 to September 2018.  Six months is too long.  And your gap from July 2018 to January 2019 is too long, as well.

I can address by changing evidence to the following (additional/changed items in blue):

Correspondence
1- Aug 2017 bank statement in applicant’s name
1- Aug 2017 credit card statement in sponsor’s name
2- Nov 2017 electricity bill in joint names
3- Mar 2018 water bill in joint names
4- Jun 2018 bank statement in joint names
5- Jul 2018 Sep 2018 credit card statement in sponsor’s name
5- Sep 2018 bank statement in applicant’s name
6- Jan 2019 letter from HMRC to sponsor
6- Feb 2019 letter from HMRC to applicant
7- Mar 2019 water bill in joint names
8- Jun 2019 bank statement in joint names

This would mean submitting extra items but would give a more thorough record of correspondence over the 2 years. I'm assuming this would be ok...

You do not need photos of the flat.  If the applicant's name is on the lease, you just need the lease.  If the applicant's name is not on the lease, you need the lease and a letter from the owner saying the applicant is permitted to stay there.  That's about it.

We've got joint tenancy (which lapsed from Assured Shorthold to Periodic tenancy) and a letter from the agent (who is referenced in the tenancy agreement) confirming that we both "can therefore continue to live at the property as tenants and the tenancy will continue as a monthly periodic tenancy indefinitely until notice is given by either the landlord or the tenants that they wish to end the agreement." I'll drop photos of the flat.

Do your payslips show the dates of your pay range?  For example, do they explicitly state, "1 January to 31 January" or something along those lines, or do they only show the ending date of the pay period?  If they don't show the full pay period, you'll need a 7th payslip to span six FULL months or UKVI will start counting from the only date they see, at the end of the first pay period.

They do not explicitly show the full date range so I will include 7 payslips for safety.

Make sure you have six FULL months of bank statements, too, (not a day less!) and that they show all the wages being deposited.

Good that you flagged, I have five full months and the latest statement is an interim statement (partial month) showing my most recent pay date. I will therefore also include another bank statement (showing the payment from the additional payslip). These statements would then show all payments from the payslips.

Do not include photos.  Your correspondence evidence showing you were living together, along with your marriage certificate, are all you should include for your proof of relationship.

Noted!

Thanks for responding.

I can address by changing evidence to the following (additional/changed items in blue):

Correspondence
1- Aug 2017 bank statement in applicant’s name
1- Aug 2017 credit card statement in sponsor’s name
2- Nov 2017 electricity bill in joint names
3- Mar 2018 water bill in joint names
4- Jun 2018 bank statement in joint names
5- Jul 2018 Sep 2018 credit card statement in sponsor’s name
5- Sep 2018 bank statement in applicant’s name
6- Jan 2019 letter from HMRC to sponsor
6- Feb 2019 letter from HMRC to applicant
7- Mar 2019 water bill in joint names
8- Jun 2019 bank statement in joint names

This would mean submitting extra items but would give a more thorough record of correspondence over the 2 years. I'm assuming this would be ok...

I honestly don't know how they feel about extra stuff.  If at all possible, you should aim for one item (or set of items) every 4 months, evenly spaced over the two years.  The problem with that is you don't always get correspondence that suits this timeline.  So you do what you can.  Even with all of our accounts set to physical bills, I only got an electricity statement every quarter (and only in my name, after we moved house, for some reason!), my bank statements were sporadic, my husband didn't change his address at work for nearly two years, so his payslips all arrived at the house with redirect stickers on them... our correspondence was chaos!  But we managed to find enough items in the end, spaced as evenly as we could muster.

Oh.  But you can take out 7, the March water bill.  If you have things from both of you in Jan/Feb, there's no need of anything in March.  The sponsor's gap from Jan to June is acceptable.

We've got joint tenancy (which lapsed from Assured Shorthold to Periodic tenancy) and a letter from the agent (who is referenced in the tenancy agreement) confirming that we both "can therefore continue to live at the property as tenants and the tenancy will continue as a monthly periodic tenancy indefinitely until notice is given by either the landlord or the tenants that they wish to end the agreement." I'll drop photos of the flat.

They do not explicitly show the full date range so I will include 7 payslips for safety.

Good that you flagged, I have five full months and the latest statement is an interim statement (partial month) showing my most recent pay date. I will therefore also include another bank statement (showing the payment from the additional payslip). These statements would then show all payments from the payslips.

Noted!

That all sounds like you're on top of it now.  I think I missed out some of your initial questions.  I don't know what the requirements are for passports, as I always just sent in the whole things.  I would assume they want to see stamped pages, at the least.

It's fine to put in a couple of extra documents in the correspondence evidence. We did. Depending on which months you use, it can seem like you're not covering the full time if you don't. 

Sorry to jump on someone else's post, but the answer may be relevant. Are the 2 x passport photos for applicant and 1 x passport photo for the sponsor required? I must have missed that while making our application, and they don't appear in the Document Checklist.

Sorry to jump on someone else's post, but the answer may be relevant. Are the 2 x passport photos for applicant and 1 x passport photo for the sponsor required? I must have missed that while making our application, and they don't appear in the Document Checklist.

No, I don’t believe they are required anymore.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks all, this is all very helpful.

The last thing I'm concerned about (as a chronic stress-head) is:

- If you see a previous post I made, you can see that I was concerned about a lack of stamps in my wife’s passport showing her re-entering the UK from a few trips. Advice from a few forums was not to worry. I do have electronic boarding passes and tickets covering the “missing stamps”. I was thinking of including these with a note. Advisable?

Feedback I've had on the previous post I made on this was not to worry about it. Posters suggested that UKVI/Home Office would have records they could check. When we initially applied for further leave to remain the caseworker didn't raise any concerns over missing stamps. If I do supply the additional boarding passes etc. my worry is I might just be needlessly drawing attention to the issue and be doing more harm than good... I don't have the physical boarding passes/tickets anyway; they're all electronic and I know that UKVI can turn their noses up at electronic documents...

What would you do?