FLR - M - applying early.

Long time lurker but first time poster.

My wife entered the UK on a spousal visa on the 21 Jul 2016, which gives us a 30 month date of 22 Jan 2019.

Now I know the wording advises that FLR-M should not be done any earlier than 28 days prior in order to meet the 60 month ILR requirement, however if we were to apply now we would miss the NHS supplement price hike.  If we were to do the regular online application the processing period is usually 6-8 weeks, so would that not take us comfortably into the the right territory for our 60 month ILR requirement next time around?

Or would the FLR visa be valid from date of application rather than date of issue?

Many thanks,

Al

When you apply online, the date that you pay, is the date of application- regardless of when the decision is made or when documents are received. You cannot submit an online application until exactly 28 days before the qualifying period ends.

I figured that was the date of application, I was questioning whether the FLR Visa runs from the date of application or from the date it is issued.

However if the online system actually prevents you from submitting the application until 28 days before anyways, its all a moot point.  I'm guessing the guidance notes referencing that they encourage you not to apply until 28 days before were for when most people were submitting the form by post.

Thanks 

Al

The FLR(M) is supposed to start from the expiry date of your previous visa, but it may not... so I would not risk attempting to apply early, just in case they make it valid from when they issue it.

If the latter does happen, you could find yourself in a situation where your FLR(M) expires several months before you qualify to apply for ILR... which would mean spending another £2,000+ on a second FLR(M) and IHS surcharge to bridge the gap before ILR.

Of course, if it is the case that the online application won’t let you apply earlier than 28 days, as you said, it’s a moot point anyway.


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You cannot submit an online application until exactly 28 days before the qualifying period ends.

So you're saying the online system prevents you from applying until you're within 28 days of your current visa expiring? Do you know this to be the case, or are you just speculating?

The FLR(M) is supposed to start from the expiry date of your previous visa, but it may not... so I would not risk attempting to apply early, just in case they make it valid from when they issue it.

If the latter does happen, you could find yourself in a situation where your FLR(M) expires several months before you qualify to apply for ILR... which would mean spending another £2,000+ on a second FLR(M) and IHS surcharge to bridge the gap before ILR.

Of course, if it is the case that the online application won’t let you apply earlier than 28 days, as you said, it’s a moot point anyway.


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Them making it valid from date of issue is would be unlikely to be a problem, given a 6-8 week waiting period for FLR (M) and the fact they are meant to add 28 days to that,  the problem would be if they issued it from then as date of application (for arguments sake today) +28 days would leave us about two weeks short of 60 months ILR when it came around...

It's only the upcoming IHS surcharge increase that has made me think about this, to be fair I figured the new IHS surcharge would have been in place long before we were due to do the FLR.  As it is I'm probably going to wait.  As you say it'd be a real kick in the teeth to fall short of applying for ILR by a couple of weeks and get hit by another FLR + IHS surcharge for the sake of trying to save £500 this time around.

Thanks everyone