Help w/switching fiancé visa to a family/spousal visa

Hi all
My partner (US citizen) and I (UK citizen) have recently been granted the 6-month fiancé visa to allow him to come to the UK to get married. He has been back in the US since early March while I have been here in London. He is arriving in late November and ideally we are going to give notice and marry as quickly as possible after that (aiming for mid-January - lockdown restrictions permitting).

As we are planning to reside in the UK going forward, we have begun to look at what the process for converting the fiancé visa to a 2.5 year marriage visa entails. We used a lawyer for the first application as we genuinely had no idea where to start but this time, if possible, I’d like to manage the process ourselves. Neither of us have any convictions, name changes or previous marriages so my understanding is that it *should* be fairly straightforward?

What documents are required for this visa? I understand some of it is much the same (proof of my earnings and employment, proof of the address of where we’ll be living etc).

With regards to the living situation – we will initially be living with my parents (as will be the case for the duration of the fiancé visa) with a view to rent or buy soon after the 2.5 year visa is granted. My parents own the house and I had a survey done on it as part of the fiancé application to prove it an appropriate size etc.

When it came to actually submitting the application first time round the account was made in our lawyer’s name as they were acting on our behalf. Obviously we will need a new account for the 2nd application if we do it ourselves – is this something either of us can just set up through the gov website and does it matter which of our names the account is set up in?

Thanks so much for any help and insight you are able to provide

Craig

Welcome to the forum .

As we are planning to reside in the UK going forward, we have begun to look at what the process for converting the fiancé visa to a 2.5 year marriage visa entails. We used a lawyer for the first application as we genuinely had no idea where to start but this time, if possible, I’d like to manage the process ourselves. Neither of us have any convictions, name changes or previous marriages so my understanding is that it *should* be fairly straightforward?

Yes, if you were granted the fiance visa without issue, then the switch to FLR(M) after you are married should be straightforward.

The only reasons you would need to use a lawyer would be if your fiance had serious criminal convictions, multiple refused UK visas in the past, or they had previously worked or overstayed illegally in the UK.

What documents are required for this visa? I understand some of it is much the same (proof of my earnings and employment, proof of the address of where we’ll be living etc).

Yes, it's basically the same documents as the fiance visa, at least in terms of the financial requirement and your accommodation.

Then for the relationship requirement, instead of providing evidence of regular communication and plans to marry, this time you include:
- your marriage certificate
- send 6 items of official mail addressed to both of you at the same UK address, to show you have been living together since he arrived in the UK on the fiance visa. They can be jointly-addressed or separately addressed.
- if you live with family, then they also need to write a letter confirming that you have been living with them since he arrived on the fiance visa

As he will only have been in the UK for a couple of months or so when you apply for FLR(M), you may not be able to gather 6 official documents in his name or your joint names in that time, so if you don't have enough, you simply include as many as you have and then write a letter of explanation for why you don't have any more (i.e. simply: he has only recently arrived in the UK and you haven't had time yet).

So, the best thing to do is, as soon as he arrives in the UK, get his name on as many items of mail/bills as you can... such as council tax, water/electricity/gas bills etc. Also, once he has some mail in his name (ideally a council tax bill), he can register with a GP  and see if he can open a bank account (or be added to your account).

With regards to the living situation – we will initially be living with my parents (as will be the case for the duration of the fiancé visa) with a view to rent or buy soon after the 2.5 year visa is granted. My parents own the house and I had a survey done on it as part of the fiancé application to prove it an appropriate size etc.

You do not need a survey or property inspection for the accommodation requirement. If your lawyer told you to provide one, they were incorrect... unfortunately, lawyers usually earn commission on things like property inspection reports, so they tell applicants to get them done even though they are not required for the visa.

For the accommodation requirement you just need:
- your parents' Land Registry document
- their latest mortgage statement, if they have a mortgage
- a letter from them giving you and your fiance permission to live with them and stating the home will not be overcrowded

You may also need:
- their latest council tax bill

When it came to actually submitting the application first time round the account was made in our lawyer’s name as they were acting on our behalf. Obviously we will need a new account for the 2nd application if we do it ourselves – is this something either of us can just set up through the gov website and does it matter which of our names the account is set up in?

You want to do it in the applicant's name, as they are the one applying for the visa.

You just answer a few initial questions about the type of visa you are applying for, then you register an email address and password before continuing with the application form.

The online form is here:
https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/family-routes?_ga=2.226992413.148888694.1604265284-1024994036.1592941448

It's a completely different form for FLR(M) and a different application process, so the previous account name you used for the fiance visa is irrelevant.

Welcome to the forum .

Thank you

Then for the relationship requirement, instead of providing evidence of regular communication and plans to marry, this time you include:
- your marriage certificate
- send 6 items of official mail addressed to both of you at the same UK address, to show you have been living together since he arrived in the UK on the fiance visa. They can be jointly-addressed or separately addressed.
- if you live with family, then they also need to write a letter confirming that you have been living with them since he arrived on the fiance visa

As he will only have been in the UK for a couple of months or so when you apply for FLR(M), you may not be able to gather 6 official documents in his name or your joint names in that time, so if you don't have enough, you simply include as many as you have and then write a letter of explanation for why you don't have any more (i.e. simply: he has only recently arrived in the UK and you haven't had time yet).

So, the best thing to do is, as soon as he arrives in the UK, get his name on as many items of mail/bills as you can... such as council tax, water/electricity/gas bills etc. Also, once he has some mail in his name (ideally a council tax bill), he can register with a GP  and see if he can open a bank account (or be added to your account).

Yes, this is the part I figured might be a struggle - currently none of the household utilities are in my name. I'll have to speak with my parents regarding adding us both (or would it be just my partner if I can prove my address via other means - phone bill, driver's license, bank statements etc)?

Upon his arrival we will be opening a Monzo account for him and also a sim only contract so we could arrange for bills/statements of both (though the Monzo account would be digital and therefore not stamped by the bank - does this matter?). If a digital statement is not enough - will we be able to open an account with a regular bank and what would he need to provide to do so?

Starting in a December, UKVI is stepping into the 21st century and you won’t need stamped bank statements anymore!  Shocking, I know!

Hi. Just further follow-up on this - for the FLR(M) application I have seen the below posted as a list of all documents required for this process. I have added some thoughts (in red) so if someone would be able to help that would be great; the application is a ways off yet as we will be getting married in January (well, hopefully) but to stop myself stressing it would be good to have a full understanding of what we need.

The documents you will need are (based on the upload sections):

Applicant Documents
- Scan of every page of their passport
- Signed declarations and consent to checks forms (part of the online application)

Proof of Identity/Travel History
- Their BRP card - What is this?
- Scan of every page of your UK Passport

Finances
- 6 months of payslips prior to application... you will likely need to include 7 months to cover every single day of the 6 months
- 6 months of bank statements reflecting the wages prior to application... you will likely need to include 7 months to cover every single day of the 6 months
- Letter of employment dated no more than 28 days before the online application date
- Job Contract - Required? or just a good extra?
-P60

Residence in the UK

Accommodation
If you rent:
- tenancy agreement
- latest council tax bill for the property

If you own:
- Land Registry document
- latest mortgage statement
- latest council tax bill for the property

If you live with family or friends:
- Land Registry document
- latest mortgage statement
- latest council tax bill for the property
- letter from homeowner giving you permission to live in the property and confirming it is not overcrowded

Proof of cohabitation
- 6 official mailed documents in each of your names (you and your wife's names), either jointly addressed or individually addressed
- they must be spaced evenly over the last 2 years... one document in each name dated every 4 months
- they must be from at least 3 official sources (like tenancy agreement, bank statements, electricity bills, water bills, council tax statements, letters from the NHS, HMRC or DWP,  TV licence, etc.)
- they MUST have been mailed to you in the months they are dated.. you cannot use electronic/online bills or statements
- if you cannot provide 6 documents each, or they are not evenly-spaced, you must write a letter explaining why not
- if you have been living with family or friends for any of the 2 years, they must write a letter confirming this

Upon my partners arrival (23rd Nov) We will be living with my parents who own the property. My name is not currently on any utilities/council tax etc. and neither is his. I inquired about having one of our names add to the gas/electric bill but they said bills will only be sent to the main account holder, though online statements could have a secondary person added. Would this be eligible?

Would something like a sim-only phone contract statement be accepted? Or a downloaded statement from a Monzo bank account?

 I am concerned we'll find it difficult to have anything "official" in our names mailed to us in the time between his arrival and when we'd hope to apply (late Jan). What other options are there and what would be the minimum they would likely accept?

Other
- marriage certificate

Proof of Identity/Travel History
- Their BRP card - What is this?
- Scan of every page of your UK Passport

You won't have a BRP card yet, so just ignore that part.

 A fiance visa is issued as a 6-month sticker in the passport instead of a BRP card, so you just provide the passport and visa sticker.

The FLR(M) visa will be issued as a BRP card valid for 30 months, instead of a visa sticker in the passport.

Finances
- Job Contract - Required? or just a good extra?
-P60

Job contract and P60 are optional, but we recommend including them if you have them because UKVI can ask to see them.

Upon my partners arrival (23rd Nov) We will be living with my parents who own the property. My name is not currently on any utilities/council tax etc. and neither is his. I inquired about having one of our names add to the gas/electric bill but they said bills will only be sent to the main account holder, though online statements could have a secondary person added. Would this be eligible?

Online statements are not eligible, because they do not prove you were physically in your house on the day they were issued. By providing actual bills that were received in the post, you are proving you were both in the house at that time in order to physically receive the bills in person.

Otherwise, you could have an address on an online statement that you don't even live at. For example, I have a US bank account left over from when I lived there, and it's registered at my aunt's address in the US... but I wouldn't be able to use my online US bank statements to 'prove' that I live in the US, because I don't live in the US.

Would something like a sim-only phone contract statement be accepted? Or a downloaded statement from a Monzo bank account?

A downloaded statement is not acceptable, for the reason mentioned above.

A phone contract statement is fine as long as it was received in the post.

I am concerned we'll find it difficult to have anything "official" in our names mailed to us in the time between his arrival and when we'd hope to apply (late Jan). What other options are there and what would be the minimum they would likely accept? [/color]

As you're switching from a fiance visa, it's not expected that you will have many official documents yet... because you've only been here a few months.

So, you just need to provide as much as you can, and then write a letter of explanation for why you don't have enough documents.

Otherwise, you could have an address on an online statement that you don't even live at. For example, I have a US bank account left over from when I lived there, and it's registered at my aunt's address in the US... but I wouldn't be able to use my online US bank statements to 'prove' that I live in the US, because I don't live in the US.

Would statement from his US bank with the address changed to his new UK address work? If they are willing to send it of course.

A phone contract statement is fine as long as it was received in the post.

As you're switching from a fiance visa, it's not expected that you will have many official documents yet... because you've only been here a few months.

So, you just need to provide as much as you can, and then write a letter of explanation for why you don't have enough documents.

Ok, so we will work to get a phone bill sorted then. And bank statements - Monzo is the easiest to open an account with but won't do paper statements  so will have to find one willing to allow him to open an account with minimal proof of address that will send paper statements through the post - any ideas on which are the most lenient?


Thanks so much for the help on this

Would statement from his US bank with the address changed to his new UK address work? If they are willing to send it of course.

Yes, that would work.

Though when I tried that with my US bank, I had problems with the statements not being delivered, because the address window on the envelope was too small and didn’t show my full UK address, which meant that the statements just got lost in the US mail... hence the reason I ended up using my aunt’s US address for the account instead.

Ok, so we will work to get a phone bill sorted then. And bank statements - Monzo is the easiest to open an account with but won't do paper statements  so will have to find one willing to allow him to open an account with minimal proof of address that will send paper statements through the post - any ideas on which are the most lenient?

Not sure, unfortunately. You’ll likely have to shop around and see which banks will let you open an account easily.


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