Is there an ideal date to apply for the FLR(M) to make sure I cover all the 60 months needed for ILR? Is ILR the same as SET(M)?
I left it until closer to the expiration and was glad I did, it gave us a huge date range to be able to apply for ILR, we had from early March until some time in August. Of course we applied at the earliest opportunity but if anything else had been going on at the time, there was that extra room to manoeuvre.
I waited 'til a week before my first FLR(M) expired because the fiancee-FLR(M)-FLR(M)-ILR route doesn't have as much buffer built in as the spousal-FLR(M)-ILR route has.
My first FLR(M) was granted 5 June, 2013 (which, like the date of entry on the spouse visa, starts the 5 years count). That visa expired 5 December 2015, and I posted my application for the second FLR(M) just one week before, on 27 November 2015. My approval came relatively quickly, on 8 January 2016, so my second FLR(M) was set to expire on 8 July, 2018. This gave me an ILR application window of 28 days before 5 June 2018 (8 May 2018) and the expiry date of my second FLR(M) of 8 July 2018, or two months.
Starting from a spousal visa, depending on your date of entry, you should have up to 3 months more buffer already built in to your window if you go for FLR(M) toward the end of your spouse visa's validity.
