Preparing for ILR

Hi all,

The end of the visa process is almost near!! I am hoping to get your help with my ILR form as my husband and I got such great advice from this forum for both my Spouse Visa and FLR. Luckily the SETM form is so similar to FLRM it's been mostly a breeze to fill out, but I do have some random questions.

1. Timing of application

I entered the UK on 31 May 2013, so my 60 month qualifying date would be 31 May 2018. The expiry date of my FLR is 01 June 2018. The rules I read in Appendix FM and the SETM guidance stated that an applicant should not apply more than 28 days prior to the qualifying period. This would mean I can apply from 03 May 2018. However, the letter I received for FLR approval indicated that, "you must apply before the end of your authorised stay in the UK, but not more than 28 days before completing that period". If the letter is correct, this would mean the earliest I can apply is on the day of my qualifying period 31 May 2018. Any idea which is correct?

2. Financial Requirement
This is the first year we are going to be applying with cash savings (category D) rather than category A so it's a bit new to me. I believe the qualifying amount is £32,500 for this application.

On page 29 of SETM form there is no box to tick for category D. Do I leave this sheet blank, and just fill out the relevant information in sheet 31? Also, on page 31 how specific do we need to be about the source of income? We basically have a current account where we dumped our life savings and have gradually added our salaries to it over the last year.

3. Random application questions
On page 19 it asks for the place of issue of the BRP. Mine just says UK, but it was issued to me after an in person appointment in Sheffield. Should I put Sheffied UK or just UK? Not sure if it really matters.

Any advice on any of the above points would be greatly appreciated! I haven't started getting our paperwork together yet for the required documents but I think those are pretty straightforward as it's basically the same drill as the last visa.  -Pam

Hi all,

The end of the visa process is almost near!! I am hoping to get your help with my ILR form as my husband and I got such great advice from this forum for both my Spouse Visa and FLR. Luckily the SETM form is so similar to FLRM it's been mostly a breeze to fill out, but I do have some random questions.

1. Timing of application

I entered the UK on 31 May 2013, so my 60 month qualifying date would be 31 May 2018. The expiry date of my FLR is 01 June 2018. The rules I read in Appendix FM and the SETM guidance stated that an applicant should not apply more than 28 days prior to the qualifying period. This would mean I can apply from 03 May 2018. However, the letter I received for FLR approval indicated that, "you must apply before the end of your authorised stay in the UK, but not more than 28 days before completing that period". If the letter is correct, this would mean the earliest I can apply is on the day of my qualifying period 31 May 2018. Any idea which is correct?

2. Financial Requirement
This is the first year we are going to be applying with cash savings (category D) rather than category A so it's a bit new to me. I believe the qualifying amount is £32,500 for this application.

On page 29 of SETM form there is no box to tick for category D. Do I leave this sheet blank, and just fill out the relevant information in sheet 31? Also, on page 31 how specific do we need to be about the source of income? We basically have a current account where we dumped our life savings and have gradually added our salaries to it over the last year.

3. Random application questions
On page 19 it asks for the place of issue of the BRP. Mine just says UK, but it was issued to me after an in person appointment in Sheffield. Should I put Sheffied UK or just UK? Not sure if it really matters.

Any advice on any of the above points would be greatly appreciated! I haven't started getting our paperwork together yet for the required documents but I think those are pretty straightforward as it's basically the same drill as the last visa.  -Pam

1-You can apply from 28 days before the anniversary of the date you entered the country if you came in on a spouse visa. So from 28 days before May 31st.

2-For ILR it's £34,600.  ( £16,000 + £18,600 ). Yep, just fill in the specific page. Be as detailed as you want to be with the declaration.

3-Either would be fine.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/636618/Appendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_Final.pdf

1-You can apply from 28 days before the anniversary of the date you entered the country if you came in on a spouse visa. So from 28 days before May 31st.

2-For ILR it's £34,600.  ( £16,000 + £18,600 ). Yep, just fill in the specific page. Be as detailed as you want to be with the declaration.

3-Either would be fine.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/636618/Appendix_FM_1_7_Financial_Requirement_Final.pdf

Thanks larabee


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Sorry have another question! We received a cash gift from my parents that is less than £3k. We have over twice the amount required for the financial requirement in our account for over the 6 month period. This money doesn’t ‘make or break’ our requirement so I’m wondering if I need to worry about getting a letter from my parents confining the money is a gift? Any advice?

Also, I’m thinking of having my husband write a short letter detailing the source of income in his account that we will be using. It’s in his name but we deposit both salaries here, and my life savings is also in the same account. We did this for ease of use in terms of applying for ILR. Now that the date is getting closer I’m starting to get nervous that our year old account with all this money may look a bit strange! Is a letter over the top or should we do this? Just trying to understand the level of detail I should go into. Any help would be great

It's a good idea to include the source of the income (savings over the last few years is perfectly reasonable).

I'd probably err on the side of caution and ask your parents to write a letter stating the money was a gift.  As you say, you don't need it.  But easy enough to ensure there are no questions. 

It's a good idea to include the source of the income (savings over the last few years is perfectly reasonable).

I'd probably err on the side of caution and ask your parents to write a letter stating the money was a gift.  As you say, you don't need it.  But easy enough to ensure there are no questions. 

Thank you for this! I think we will write a letter then. Should we itemise anything do you think? Like x amount from my life savings, x amount from gifts, and state our current salaried wages that contribute to the account?

I’m hesitant to ask my parents for a letter as we are short on time for it and their health is not great. To be honest I’m not sure if they would be able to mail it in time as they would need to get to they post office to do so (mobility issues make this difficult). Perhaps a scan copy would be ok since it’s not really needed?

Thank you for this! I think we will write a letter then. Should we itemise anything do you think? Like x amount from my life savings, x amount from gifts, and state our current salaried wages that contribute to the account?

I’m hesitant to ask my parents for a letter as we are short on time for it and their health is not great. To be honest I’m not sure if they would be able to mail it in time as they would need to get to they post office to do so (mobility issues make this difficult). Perhaps a scan copy would be ok since it’s not really needed?

I wouldn't bother itemizing.  I'd just say it's long-term savings from both of you.  Keep it simple.

Do whatever makes you feel comfortable about the gift from your parents.  You could call it out in your letter (we are using our long-term savings that both of us contribute to.  We received a gift in the amount of £3k from xxxx's parents which is not being used to meet the requirement).

Can you even tell on the bank statements that the money came from your parents?  If not, you are probably over thinking it!   

I wouldn't bother itemizing.  I'd just say it's long-term savings from both of you.  Keep it simple.

Do whatever makes you feel comfortable about the gift from your parents.  You could call it out in your letter (we are using our long-term savings that both of us contribute to.  We received a gift in the amount of £3k from xxxx's parents which is not being used to meet the requirement).

Can you even tell on the bank statements that the money came from your parents?  If not, you are probably over thinking it!   

I can guarantee that I am overthinking it! Lol. I will have a look at our bank statements when I get home. Surely sitting at work fretting about this isn’t helping anything. Very much appreciate your quick replies and guidance KF 😊

Hi again! I have found out that the cash gift from my parents doesn't appear as a transfer in our account, so for ease of use I'm not going to include any specifics on it.

I have typed out a letter for my husband to sign to provide an explanation of our cash savings. I don't know if some of this is over the top, or if I'm missing anything, so an extra set of eyes would be most helpful!

Basically this account just looks like a ton of transfers from my husbands current account to this other current account in his name. I just wanted to make it clear for the application why it looks this way and where the money is coming from. Any feedback? Thanks x

I am writing as the account holder of bank account number XXXX at XXXX. The contents of this account are being used to meet the financial requirement of the  SET(M) application for my spouse, XXXX.

The account was opened XXXX by myself as the overseer of our finances. The purpose of the account is to enable my spouse and I to pool our savings into a single account for myself to manage. I make frequent deposits of our employment wages to this account by way of transfer from a separate current account I hold.

The account currently contains XXXX, with XXXX being the lowest amount reached in the past six months.

The source of the funds include the following: life savings contributed by my spouse (including previous employment wages), life savings contributed by myself (including previous employment wages), salaried wages contributed my spouse (annual salary of XXXX), and salaried wages contributed by myself (annual salary of XXXX).

Hi again! I have found out that the cash gift from my parents doesn't appear as a transfer in our account, so for ease of use I'm not going to include any specifics on it.

I have typed out a letter for my husband to sign to provide an explanation of our cash savings. I don't know if some of this is over the top, or if I'm missing anything, so an extra set of eyes would be most helpful!

Basically this account just looks like a ton of transfers from my husbands current account to this other current account in his name. I just wanted to make it clear for the application why it looks this way and where the money is coming from. Any feedback? Thanks x

I am writing as the account holder of bank account number XXXX at XXXX. The contents of this account are being used to meet the financial requirement of the  SET(M) application for my spouse, XXXX.

The account was opened XXXX by myself as the overseer of our finances. The purpose of the account is to enable my spouse and I to pool our savings into a single account for myself to manage. I make frequent deposits of our employment wages to this account by way of transfer from a separate current account I hold.

The account currently contains XXXX, with XXXX being the lowest amount reached in the past six months.

The source of the funds include the following: life savings contributed by my spouse (including previous employment wages), life savings contributed by myself (including previous employment wages), salaried wages contributed my spouse (annual salary of XXXX), and salaried wages contributed by myself (annual salary of XXXX).

Sorry to pester but just wondering if anybody can glance at the above letter and let me know if it looks ok for category e? Never applied under this category before so just want to make sure I cover all bases. Thanks 😊

You don't even need to write a letter at all. If the savings have come from your salary and you have built them up over the years, then all you need to do is write that on the application form and be done with it.

The only time a letter of explanation is needed is if you are explaining a large deposit, such as a large gift of savings, proceeds from a property sale or money from an inheritance.

So, in section 8.3E, for the following question, you can just write:

(iii) Source of funds (e.g. regular savings from salary). You must declare any money which has been given to you by a third party.
Regular savings from salary