Extending the Spouse Visa - Starting questions

As KFDancer said, ILR is completely different.

FLR(M) applications should be processed within 8 weeks (that's their service standard processing time), while the service standards processing time for ILR is 6 months.

Wow! Is it same forms and requirements as FLR(M)? Is there an in person appointment option for ILR as there is for FLR(M)?

Wow! Is it same forms and requirements as FLR(M)? Is there an in person appointment for ILR as there is for FLR(M)?

There is an in-person option for ILR - the same £500 premium service appointment (which will likely be more by then)... and of course, ILR costs more too. Currently, it's £1,875 but who knows how much more it will be in 2 years' time.

The ILR should have most of the same requirements - relationship, accommodation, financial requirement - but your wife will also need to pass the Life in the UK test before applying, and she cannot have any unspent criminal convictions.

However, as no one will qualify for ILR under the new 5-year rules until July 9 2017, they haven't released any new forms or guidance for it yet.

The current ILR form is for people applying under the old 2-year rules, and at the moment, we don't know if or how much it will change for the 5-year route. I'm hoping they release the new form soon.

Wow! Is it same forms and requirements as FLR(M)? Is there an in person appointment option for ILR as there is for FLR(M)?

The approved maximum cost for ILR in 2020 is £3,250.  So it'll probably cost in the neighbourhood of £3k in 2019 when your wife qualifies.  Who knows how much more the in person cost will be at that time.  Usually rises £100 each year.  So maybe £700-£800 for in person?

Christ! Don't get me wrong ~£1,500 is a lot of money but £3,250 is a shocking amount. If you take it to be £4,000 for in person by that time its over 20% of the current yearly financial requirement. It's a bit of disgrace to be honest. It could genuinely cripple some people.

I'm hoping they release the new form soon.

Me too! I'm dying to see it.

It could genuinely cripple some people.

I think that's the point. It is an additional deterrent.

I think that's the point. It is an additional deterrent.

I agree.  I believe they are trying to find the breaking point for fees so that people stop moving to the UK.  It's all about the money!

Next question 

10.14 ties

I've put friends and family.

Do I put that we own a house their that his mum lives in?

Also we have a credit card and he has his retirement fund there. Do I mention these?  It doesn't say any financial info so I assume not but just checking through bleary eyes.

Thanks

Next question 

10.14 ties

I've put friends and family.

Do I put that we own a house their that his mum lives in?

Also we have a credit card and he has his retirement fund there. Do I mention these?  It doesn't say any financial info so I assume not but just checking through bleary eyes.

They are looking to see whether, if your visa was refused, you would be able to live in the US instead - i.e. do you have a support network there, would you have somewhere to live if you had to return, etc.

So, actually, I would probably mention all of them, or at least the family, friends and house you own, as they are ties to the US that you could return to if necessary.

OK brilliant. Thank you!!!

The BRP (Biometrics Residence Permit) is your visa, you so you can't get it until after you have applied for it in May.

Instead of getting a visa sticker in your passport, this time when you apply there will be no sticker, your visa will be issued as a plastic BRP card.

The way it works is:

Apply in person (£500 extra)
- attend an in-person appointment to submit the visa application and documents
- your biometrics are taken at the appointment
- the visa decision will be made that day
- your BRP card (your visa) will be mailed to you within 10 working days

Apply by post
- mail your application and documents to UKVI
- about 2 weeks later you will receive a letter inviting you to get biometrics done at a local post office. You must take the letter with you, or you won't be allowed to get them done.
- when you have given biometrics, they will be sent electronically to UKVI, once they receive them, they will start processing your application
- when the decision has been made, the BRP and your documents will be mailed back to you

Your children already have US citizenship, simply because your husband is a US citizen, so what you will actually be doing is making an appointment to register their births abroad and to apply for their US passports.

Why not just make the appointments at the US Embassy for them now? That way, you can get it out of the way a few months before you need to worry about applying for the visa.

See: https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/birth/

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Thank you for the above clarification of the process. Why I can't find a flow chart or a simple set of statements on the government website like what you've done is bey9nd me.

Also.......where it asks for nationality for our daughters on the visa do we put American and British even if we haven't got around to registering their births at the consulate by then.

Yes

Thank you so much!

Next question.

Im checking back what was written on our first application and I noticed this question wasnt on there.

6.23 Type of ceremony

We got married in the mountains in Colorado. It was a self-solemnization marriage and perfectly legal there and when I tried to register the marriage in the UK they said they dont do that anymore but as long as we had followed the rules of the country we married in it was considered legal in the UK.

So anyway do I just put self-solemnization as type of ceremony.

Thanks!!!

I would put civil.  Usually people put civil or religious.