What to do next?

So I haven't posted in a while...I'm a British citizen and my wife is American. We got our spouse visa approved December 2016, and since then we've switched off and enjoyed the time we've had together. The question I have is what next? I've had a look through the gov. websites and as per, they've only confused me more. How long does the initial visa last? What visa or extension do we apply for next? When can we start the application? Lastly, when can we apply for indefinite leave/dual citizenship?!

I know there's a lot and some of the questions may seem obvious, but any help would be appreciated so that we can prepare! 

Have a look at your BRP and see what your expiration date is.  You can apply as early as 28 days prior to the 30 month anniversary of your ENTRY into the UK and as late as the expiry date.  You will apply for FLR(M) which is Further Leave to Remain based on Marriage.

You'll spend another 2.5 years on that visa before you can apply for ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain).

After you have your ILR, you can then apply for citizenship.

The biggest thing to do right now is save money (these visas are eye wateringly expensive) and to save all your post.  Make sure you have turned off paperless statements and get everything sent to you.

Welcome back to the forum .

Your wife’s BRP card will state what date the spousal visa expires. It’ll be valid for 33 months so if it was issued in December 2016, it’ll probably expire around August 2019.

The next visa will be FLR(M), which is valid for another 2.5 years and then she can apply for ILR after 5 years in the UK. Once she has ILR she can qualify for UK citizenship.

So, for the next visa, she can apply for it up to 28 days before she reaches 30 months in the UK... so it will depend what date she actually arrived in the UK as to when she can apply.

Assuming she arrived in December 2016, she will reach 30 months in June 2019 and so can apply for FLR(M) 28 days before that.

The FLR(M) has the same requirements as the spousal visa (financial, accommodation and relationship), but instead of proving communication and visits to each other, you provide evidence that you have been living together at the same address in the UK for the last 2 years leading up to the application (I.e. May 2017 to May 2019).

You do this by providing 6 official documents in each name from at least 3 different sources spread evenly over the 2 years (every 4 months). They can either be jointly addressed or separate or a combination of both. You can use things like utility bills, tenancy agreements, bank statements, letters from the NHS/DVLA/HMRC etc.

So if you haven’t already, you should get her name on as much mail as you can, switch to paper statements (don’t go paperless) and also save EVERYTHING.

For more detail, see the FLR(M) form:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-extend-stay-in-the-uk-as-a-partner-or-dependent-child-form-flrm


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This is why I love this forum - so informative, thanks so much!

Not a bad idea to pop in here every few months just to check if there have been any changes. We’re not expecting anything major soon but they do tweak things every now and again. 

The biggest thing to do right now is save money (these visas are eye wateringly expensive) and to save all your post.  Make sure you have turned off paperless statements and get everything sent to you.

So get a paper trail of the spouse's activity?

One thing I've realized is that my former number one means of correspondence with my wife (Facebook messenger) is now barely used .  I text her all the time now. So I should be saving that as well for the FLR?

I tried to get my wife added to our energy and water bill, and was told that they can only be in one person's name. And as she cannot get a monthly phone account since she hasn't lived in the country for 3+ years, I had to add her number onto mine. Is there a check list for FLR requirements on proof of relationship, or is it similar to the Spouse visa?

So get a paper trail of the spouse's activity?

One thing I've realized is that my former number one means of correspondence with my wife (Facebook messenger) is now barely used .  I text her all the time now. So I should be saving that as well for the FLR?

I tried to get my wife added to our energy and water bill, and was told that they can only be in one person's name. And as she cannot get a monthly phone account since she hasn't lived in the country for 3+ years, I had to add her number onto mine. Is there a check list for FLR requirements on proof of relationship, or is it similar to the Spouse visa?

It’s on the form itself. You need 6 items of mail in joint names or 12 individually addressed, to the same address.

Get her added to the council tax, enrol with a gp, open a bank account. Have US credit and bank statements changed to your U.K. address. Put one utility in your name and one in another.

So get a paper trail of the spouse's activity?

One thing I've realized is that my former number one means of correspondence with my wife (Facebook messenger) is now barely used .  I text her all the time now. So I should be saving that as well for the FLR?

I tried to get my wife added to our energy and water bill, and was told that they can only be in one person's name. And as she cannot get a monthly phone account since she hasn't lived in the country for 3+ years, I had to add her number onto mine. Is there a check list for FLR requirements on proof of relationship, or is it similar to the Spouse visa?

You don't need to provide proof of communication between you and your wife for the FLR(M) if you're living together.  (If you're not living together, you have to show good reason why not, and also show how you stay in contact.)  Assuming you're married and living together, you need to collect the 6 to 12 pieces of official correspondence the others have described to prove you two live together.  The items must span the two years preceding your application date, so if you're applying around July of 2019, you need things starting from July of 2017 from at least 3 different official sources (utilities, council, GP, banks, etc.), addressed in both of your names, to the same address.  They should be dated approximately 4 months apart, and for each 4-month block, either 1 piece of mail with both your names on, or two different pieces with each name on each one sent to the same address.

You don't need your chat history or phone records, or anything like that.  They will assume you are in regular contact because you live together.

Hi Everyone,

Now starting to prepare the paperwork for the visa application, firstly does anyone know of any changes to the information provided above?
Secondly, we recently moved house to a rented property in both our names, I assume this will be good evidence of living together, do we have to inform anyone of our address change in relation to the visa before we use it as evidence? e.g. to update the BRP card etc? if so any details on the process?

As always, any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi there,

Apart from getting the mail updated, I think you'll have to report the address change:

https://www.gov.uk/change-circumstances-visa-brp

Can someone else confirm this? (We only did it for a name change so we needed the full TOC)

Hey everyone, I am preparing all the documentation to send off for the next application this week - now filling out the form and its asking whether my USC partner is a director of a UK company... as it happens, she started a company last week and is a director and shareholder of the UK limited company. My question is what documentation is needed? The company is a week old and is dormant (no remuneration) so the only documentation I can think to submit is the certificate of incorporation off the companies house register, will I need anything else?