Living with family - will it be a problem for ILR?

Back when we were applying for the spousal visa we stated that we were going to live with my inlaws temporarily until we were financially stable enough to rent - well coming up on two years later and that still hasn't happened Beyond me going crazy living this way - will it be a problem for my ILR? I'm mostly worried about not having enough evidence of us living here together as we have no utility bills. We only have a few things with both our names on them...I may make sure I have a letter from our GP saying we're registered there under the same address and we've visited the surgery together etc.

Also, on the financial side - if I get my inlaws to provide bank statements etc proving that they can afford to let us stay here for the moment etc will that be ok? It makes it more difficult that I'm unemployed at the moment but hoping I'll have a job by the time I have to apply for the IRL.

I'm just worried 

Where you live doesn't matter.  What matters is the documents.  What have you collected? Hve you read the sticky post on ILR after 2 years as a spouse?

Vicky

does Juls need to prove that her & her hubby can live without 3rd-party support?  or is that only applicable to fiancees applications?

Hi Victoria

I've skimmed that post but I'll read it again... I have a huge stack of things that I've saved as evidence...among them are

All our joint checking account statements, Pete's single account statements, both of our wages slips and tax forms like P-60s etc, for me I have letters from Customs, letters addressed to both of us from the local council after we applied for council housing, some bank letters addressed to both of us, Pete's credit card statements, letters addressed to Pete from his work's union, a letter from a dog charity addressed to Pete and a Slimming World letter addressed to me. I also have travel insurance documents that show both our names were insured from our holiday and a hotel booking for both of us for our holiday. Oh and letter that had my NI number, medical card, and DVLA letters for my two driving tests, theory test etc.

 I may have a few other bits but I'll have to organize it soon to really see what I have.

does Juls need to prove that her & her hubby can live without 3rd-party support?  or is that only applicable to fiancees applications?

That's the main thing I'm worried about...if so then we'd probably be better off getting an extension and applying for ILR in two years when we're more financial stable.

Does your husband work?  Have you done a budget?  You can't rely on third party support for an FLR application either.

Vicky

it may be helpful fo you to write out each month (24 in total), and have three columns (i'd do it on excel but i'm a neat freak):

Month               Joint                     Me                       Partner
Aug 06              
Sep 06              Bank Statement
.
.
June 08                                        Slimming World
July 08                                                                    Union Letter

Go through your stack of papers, and write down what you have for each month as above.  Are there any significent gaps?  

Does your husband work?  Have you done a budget?  You can't rely on third party support for an FLR application either.

Vicky

Yeah my husband does work, and we have a little bit in savings. I haven't done a budget as of yet because right now I don't have an income but I'll get working on it.

I've posted a couple of budget templates here, if you need a place to start:

http://www.englishrosedesign.com/uky/simplebudget.xls

http://www.englishrosedesign.com/uky/detailedbudgetA.xls

Hope this helps!

meg- those budget templates are great!

Thanks!  They're part of a larger project for the visa & cit forum that I've been working on lately.

Thanks for the templates...I'm just hoping I get a job before then...if not I don't know what to do 

even if you don't have a job- things are not all doom & gloom.

you need to prove (via your budget) that your husband's salary is enough to pay for all your joint living expenses.  also- that you are paying your share at your inlaws- they can't be giving you free rent, etc. 

We give my inlaws £60 a week, and I pay for any additional food we need/want, I'm on their car insurance and pay for that each month as well as driving lessons etc. I'll definitely draw up a proper budget though.

Thanks all!

Also, my husband was on job seekers back in January 2007 but only for a month and then I got my job and he was taken on again at his. Will that be an issue? He hasn't been on it since and he did claim only for himself as we knew we couldn't claim anything for me...

Going on a previous post...we've been offered an overdraft of £550 on our current joint account...do you think it would be wise to accept this (our current overdraft is £50 which we never use). But would that be ok to prove that we have those funds if we were to need them if I don't have a job by the time we apply for the ILR?