Hi all!
I thought I would share my FLR(M) experience since I have always found it useful reading other's posts! My situation might be a bit specific, but then again...maybe not!
Some background/timeline:
- Sep 2014 - First arrived to the UK on a student visa
- 2016 - switched to a Tier 2 work visa
- 07 Sep 2018 - switched to a FLRM visa (expired on 07 Mar 2021)
- 06 Mar 2021 - applied to renew the FLR
- 13 Apr 2021 - Biometrics in Cardiff
- 02 Jul 2021 - Email requesting copy of sponor's passport
- 09 Jul 2021 - Submitted passport copy
- 12 Jul 2021 - Email stating the visa was granted...BRP card to follow
I was quite nervous about this renewal process as my financial and living situation was quite different from the first time I applied. The first time around I had a UK-based job (earning enough to cover the requirements) and we always had lease and utility bills to provide the necessary relationship evidence. This time around however...
- Finances changed: I was working remotely for a US company and hadn't yet needed to file UK taxes and my partner was also self-employed but lost his employment due to Covid
- Living situation changed: my partner was previously touring with a show and it brought him around the world. I wasn't able to join him on all of the tour and I ended up moving in with a friend for a few months to save money so that I could join him. We then moved back to his dad's house during the first lockdown and stayed there until 13 Mar 2021 (a week after I submitted my application). So we didn't have a joint lease/utility bills for 1 year and 9 months
To address the financial requirement we were very fortunate that 6 months prior to the application we were able to gather enough savings (between our own savings account, some stocks, and some generous gifts from family) to use this to meet the financial requirements.
To address the living situation, well, I just threw as much evidence as I could in.
Instead of listing all the evidence, I included I thought I'd just share my rather lengthy cover letter (as it addresses quite a lot of the supporting evidence I did include)!
