Final checklist FLR

Hi, pending someone's blessings on here, I hope to apply by tomorrow 19th November 2020 for my wife's FLR.

Application documents
- Wife passport (scanned every single page from start to end)
- Consent forms (part of the online application form)
- Sponsor declaration (I believe this is part of the online form)

Travel history/proof of Identity
- Scan of Wife's BRP (front and back)
- Scan of every page of my passport (its empty because its a new passport issued about a month ago)

Finances
- Payslips covering April to October (27th April to 27th October latest, monthly)
- Bank statements covering April to October (7th April to 7th November latest, monthly)
- Letter from employer dated 9th November confirming:

• Job status - permanent
• Job title
• Employment start date
• Base salary
• National insurance number
• All the pay increases and dates i've had over the employment so far
• A statement saying "all the payslips are provided through an online portal and not individually stamped.

- Signed letter of employment (it was an online contract)
- P60 April 2019/2020

Residence in the UK
Accomodation
- Tenancy agreement (recently completed, dated 14th November). Its a 42 page double-sided doc, so I have scanned the sides that have both of our signatures, duration of tenancy and other people that stay with us (my family).
- Council Tax (recently changed to mine and my wife's name) dated 11th November

Cohabitation - Opted for 3-month spacing instead of 4 months as that works better for us - is this OK?

October 2020: (Wife and me) Joint bank statement
July 2020: (Wife) NHS letter. (Me) Bank statement
April 2020: (Wife) Gas bill. (Me) Bank statement
January 2020:(Wife) Gas bill. (Me) Bank statement
October 2020: (Wife) Gas bill. (Me) City Council letter
July 2019: (Wife) Gas bill. (Me) DVLA car tax reminder
April 2019: (Wife) Gas bill. (Me) Admiral car insurance no-claims bonus letter
January 2019: (Wife) Gas bill. (Me) Bank statement

Slightly outside the pattern:
October 2018: Wife: Gas bill, September 2018: (Me) Confirmation letter of resignation from old job

Other
- Marriage certificate

Are your family on any of the utilities?  I'm not sure if you need them to complete the "third party" declaration.  You'll want someone better versed in that to chime in here.

Otherwise, assuming no prior divorces etc., this looks good to me...?  I probably would've stuck to the 6 items of post for each of you, even if the spacing wasn't perfect, but submitting a couple more as you've done to get even spacing shouldn't hurt.  It just means you have more to upload, which is probably going to be annoying for you.

Just on the water bill but we haven't used their evidence, so hopefully it should be okay without needing a third part sign-off from them

My parents were on the council tax, but I moved that recently to mine and my wife's name, and we have the new bill so we'll be using that.

If you haven't submitted your application yet, can you explain the payslips?  Are they electronic copies that you printed at home yourself?  I only just realized that might be what you mean by "online portal".

If so, I think your employer needs to verify each one, specifically, in the employment letter.  You need the employer to list each payslip's pay amount and date, and it needs to correspond with the amounts and dates in your bank statements and on the printed copies, or explain why the dates/amounts don't match up (such as "payment late due to a bank holiday" or something).

ksand24's reply here may be applicable to you:
https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=98792.msg1305953#msg1305953

Thanks for spotting that, I haven't finished the application form yet!

I have online bank statements, but they are not stamped by the bank - how do I get them to stamp online statements?

I recall for the initial visa they did not stamp them either and instead provided a letter reluctantly. I'm not sure if its something they will do this time. Is it risky to provide online copies of my bank statements (7 months worth for the wages) without the stamps?

I just called the bank and they said they'd write me the same letter they did in 2018, just confirming that the account belongs to me.

I'll go in and collect it tomorrow, then hopefully fill out the application form!

I just called the bank and they said they'd write me the same letter they did in 2018, just confirming that the account belongs to me.

I'll go in and collect it tomorrow, then hopefully fill out the application form!

I had assumed, since this is for FLR(M), and not your initial visa, that you had turned off "paperless" and had physical bank statements posted from the bank.  I'm afraid online ones need to be stamped by the bank on every page, and it's really hard to get them to do this at some branches!  It might be easier to just request all of the bank statements to be posted to you, depending on how long that will take and if you can still submit your application before your other documents become too old to use.  Because they will have been printed by the bank, they wouldn't need to be stamped or authenticated in any way.

That's probably my biggest error - not turning paperless off.

I think by the time they mail them again will be too late, since my latest evidence is my October 27th payslip and they'll probably take another 4-6 days to post them out.

For the first visa, I got them to write a letter to say "we are pleased to confirm your bank details are XX" because they wouldn't stamp the statements.

I've requested they do the same again, so i'll go to the branch tomorrow and collect it. I also got them to write that they no longer stamp the bank statements. I'm hoping this should suffice, fingers crossed.

The other option is to delay this process by another 3 months, so the Jan documents come in and I can apply in Feb. My bank statement for Jan would come in on the 7th Feb and her BRP expires on the 15th. I think that would be cutting it too close and doesn't leave any room for error. I suppose my action plan right now is my best bet. Hopefully they should be OK with it as they were OK with it the first time around?

That's probably my biggest error - not turning paperless off.

Do it now. 

That's probably my biggest error - not turning paperless off.

I think by the time they mail them again will be too late, since my latest evidence is my October 27th payslip and they'll probably take another 4-6 days to post them out.

For the first visa, I got them to write a letter to say "we are pleased to confirm your bank details are XX" because they wouldn't stamp the statements.

I've requested they do the same again, so i'll go to the branch tomorrow and collect it. I also got them to write that they no longer stamp the bank statements. I'm hoping this should suffice, fingers crossed.

The other option is to delay this process by another 3 months, so the Jan documents come in and I can apply in Feb. My bank statement for Jan would come in on the 7th Feb and her BRP expires on the 15th. I think that would be cutting it too close and doesn't leave any room for error. I suppose my action plan right now is my best bet. Hopefully they should be OK with it as they were OK with it the first time around?

This is how the guidance reads, so if the letter is worded correctly, it will be fine.

(1) on official bank stationery; or
(2) electronic bank statements which are either accompanied by a letter from the bank on its headed stationery confirming that the documents are authentic or which bear the official stamp of the issuing bank on every page.

But if you are going into the branch anyway, you could have them print the statements there, providing it is clear that they have been printed in branch. Mine say 'printed in branch' on them, if that's the case.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-fm-se-family-members-specified-evidence