FLR(M) renewal help...documents required for director of a limited company

Hi there, I'm new here, and I'm hoping someone here can help me...I'm getting ready to apply to renew my FLR(M); current leave expires on 24 June and I have a PEO appointment on 29 May.

The problem I've encountered is regarding the financial requirements, as my husband is the 'director of a specified limited company', and therefore has to provide a whole slew of documents to UKVI. All of which he has and is fine, except for one thing: HMRC doesn't require him to use an accountant to submit his CT600 or his VAT return, so he didn't. He's already prepared and submitted these forms for this tax year, but we don't have an accountant to sign off on them.

UKVI requires an accountant to sign off on these accounts, but I'm not sure what I can do, given that they've already been prepared and submitted. Does anyone have any experience with this, and is there anything we can do? Can an account review and...resubmit them? My understanding is this letter is non-negotiable, so there has to be SOME way we can sort this out.

Any help (or suggestions of who I could reach out to for help) would be greatly appreciated, as I'm starting to panic.

Many thanks in advance--

I'm not sure what you can do if they've already been submitted...  The requirement is for an account to sign off of them and that's non-negotiable.  You could try calling though they are known to give incorrect information.  I've not seen someone else have this issue before.   

Have you thought about your timeline?  It looks like you are applying right at 28 days prior to your visa expiry date.  If the UKVI issues your next FLR(M) for exactly 30 months, you will literally only have a single day to qualify to apply for ILR (which can be applied for 28 days prior to your 5 year anniversary in the UK).  I would personally suggest you push your in-person appointment back 2 or 3 weeks.

That's not to say that they won't use your 5 year anniversary as your expiry date, but as the second FLR(M) is so new, we aren't 100% sure...

Yeah it seems like we are in a weird situation with these accounts.

I hadn't realized that about my timeline: I'm assuming the fact that I've been here for over five years already on other visas doesn't matter?

Unfortunately not.  When you switched to the spouse/partner track it reset your clock for ILR to 5 years from the time that was granted.

Of course it does.

Hmm, probably worth pushing it back then for that reason alone. Though I spoke to a lawyer today who noted that my only option, due to the fact that the accounts are done, is to just go in with everything as-is and hope it works out. If it's rejected, then I've got till my leave expires on 24 June to sort it out, so pushing the appointment back compromises that as well. Though surely if there's a way to sort it out I'd rather do that now...ugh. This is just so absurd.

Maybe I'll push it back 10 days and give myself a cushion for ILR and still leave something of a cushion in case of refusal.

I just want to bash my head against a wall right now.

Hi schauspielerin.  I know this is an old post but was wondering if you can provide an update.  I am in the same boat as you.  We have submitted our limited company CT600 returns the past 2 years without using a third party accountant.  I am a US Certified Public Accountant and was comfortable handling all financial filings for our limited company which only my husband and I are directors/owners.  Were you successful in getting your FLR(M) renewed without having a third party accountant signing off?  Thank you.

Hi there,

Unfortunately, we wound up just hiring the accountant, as we decided ultimately there was no way round it. FORTUNATELY, I received my second grant of leave, and was able to apply for ILR in December of 2017. I naturalised as a British citizen in March 2018.

Things have changed since 2015 though, so ymmv with regards to an accountant. Best of luck to you!

Hi there,

Unfortunately, we wound up just hiring the accountant, as we decided ultimately there was no way round it. FORTUNATELY, I received my second grant of leave, and was able to apply for ILR in December of 2017. I naturalised as a British citizen in March 2018.

Things have changed since 2015 though, so ymmv with regards to an accountant. Best of luck to you!

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.  Congratulations on being a naturalized Brit!

If you are required to have audited accounts you MUST have a third party accountant.  If you are not required to have audited accounts, you can certainly do them yourself.

If you are required to have audited accounts you MUST have a third party accountant.  If you are not required to have audited accounts, you can certainly do them yourself.

Our financials were not required to be audited.  Can I be the accountant signing off on the documents as required by Category F?

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.  Congratulations on being a naturalized Brit!

Of course! And best of luck to you in your next steps.