FLR or ILR....which one?

Hi....I was wondering, given our situation, what my DH should apply for when his spousal visa nears its end.

Our story so far.....Married in US Nov 2004. Got spousal visa in NY (in person) Feb 14th 2005. DH came to UK in March for 1 month then returned to US. Came back to the UK on Jun 1st 2005 returned to US Aug 6th. Will be returning to UK to stay permantly at the end of the year.
Both times my DH returned to the US it was related to his medical condition

Obviously he hasn't been living here for the full 2 years, so im not sure which visa we will have to apply for...ILR or FLR?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Stay safe

Jules

 

so in march 2007 your spouse will be applying for ILR based on 2 years of marriage.  right?

i have looked through the relevent application and it appears that you do not need to list all the comings and going of your husband (unlike other ILR applications).  However, it does have a section where you must show that the non-UK spouse must show permanant and continueing settlement.  this is done through mail/bills/etc.  You must show 10 docunments from each year (20 in total).  These can be a combindation of addressed to both, you, him, etc... Lola has written a very good post detailing what exactly she brought with her for her ILR application. 

As i illuded to above, there are limitations on how long you can be out of the country with a work permit based ILR.  but I cannot find anything that limits the amount of time a USC with a marrige based FLR can be out.  hope some of this helps.

As long as your spouse can show that you were in a subsisting relationship for the two years and that you continue to be in a relationship, there should be no problem.  The fact that he has not spent the two years continuously in the UK could be a problem, although there are specific allowances made for people who have to return home frequesntly for work or illness.  When you make the application, include letters from doctors explaining why the absences fro the UK were unavoidable, and you should be okay.

Victoria

Go onto the UK immigration services website and you can download the application called Set (M) which is the paper work you need to file after you 23rd month on your initial two year visa. You have to be able to show that over the two year period you've been a resident in the UK. The time line must show bills, bank statements, payroll stubs etc in your name showing you lived here during the two years of the initial 2 year visa. You'll have a real problem if you can't prove this, but they will contact you if there are problems.

Go onto the UK immigration services website and you can download the application called Set (M) which is the paper work you need to file after you 23rd month on your initial two year visa. You have to be able to show that over the two year period you've been a resident in the UK. The time line must show bills, bank statements, payroll stubs etc in your name showing you lived here during the two years of the initial 2 year visa. You'll have a real problem if you can't prove this, but they will contact you if there are problems.

Just to clarify--you have to show that you both lived at the same address.

Thanks for the advice guys...i was wondering....
To date i have nothing with my DH name on except all the letters from the Dr's and the hospital. If i start getting some things like utility bills in both our names now (to add to things like his new bank acct, provisional drivers license and NIN stuff when he actually gets back in Dec) do you think that will be enough or will they want to see proof spanning the WHOLE of the 1st 12 months 
My husbands condition is severe brain damage from an accident and so he wasn't capable of dealing with paper work etc at that point in time, although he has improved a lot since then (we have plenty of medical evidence to show this)

Any thoughts....?

I think that it is going to be tricky if the letters fromt he doctor and the hospital are the only forms of evidence to say that you were living together for the first 12 months.  Is there nothing else at all?  Was he registered for council tax?  Is there any record of him with the Inland Revenue?  Try to rack your brains to think of anything else.

The thing to remember is that the Home Office are not completely draconian and heartless.  There are obviously seriously mitigating circumstances here.  Enclose a letter of explanation as to why there is not as much documentation as is required, and I think that there is a good chance that they will accept the application, albeit outside of the standard rules.

Good luck.

Victoria

I have started to get some utility bills etc changed to both our names. When he gets here next month we will be able to get more 'stuff' in his name too. This means i will have the 10 bits that we need, it's just that most of it will only be dated for the 2nd half of the 1st year...hopefully this will be enough along with a letter explaining the mitigating circumstances as to why the first 6 months is a lil' lean on the paperwork front.

Thanks for all the advice

Stay safe
Jules