My son and I got our visas in July 2017 and moved here 19 July. In our BRP it says it expires April 2020, so I thought that we’d need to renew March 2020. My husband made a valid point: that’s over 2.5 years. Do we need to apply for FLR in January then?
Another question I have pertains to FLR. I was under the impression that the ‘life in the UK’ test was to be taken in order to receive your citizenship, but I’ve heard that it’s mandatory to take it to get ILR.
The initial Spouse visa (and dependent visas) are issued for 33 months. You must apply for FLR(M) before this initial visa expires, but you
can apply from 28 days before you reach 2.5 years in the UK. So, you entered on 19 July, 2017... 2.5 year from then is 19 January, 2020, and 28 days before that is 22 December, 2019. So the earliest you could apply for FLR(M) is 22 December, 2019. The latest you can apply is before your BRPs expire in April 2020.
As Larrabee said, you must take and pass the Life in the UK test prior to applying to ILR. You can take it at any time, and only have to pass it once and then hold on to that pass letter. You'll use the letter for ILR and for citizenship (and they'll keep it after citizenship).
