ILR Application Thread! Help!

Hi everyone,

My wife is was granted Further Leave to Remain in February 2018 and is due to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain by 13 August 2020.  We haven't begun the application yet as I'm a little confused now that things have moved to an electronic system as I understand it.  Are we able to commence the application now and submit this on or before 28 days before visa expiration or do we need to wait until 28 days before expiration to begin the application?

Either way, we thought it a good idea to begin gathering the required evidence.  I've listed what I think is a the right checklist below.  Hoping that someone could sense check this please and provide some advise.  The support you guys have provided in previous applications has been priceless and I once again thank you for that.

Applicants Documents
- Covering letter signed by applicant
- US passport
- 2 x passport pics with full name on back
- IHS surcharge receipt – I understand you need to log on and pay for this before applying?
- Evidence of Life in the U.K. test pass or supporting evidence why this hasn't been taken due to Coronavirus.

Sponsor Documents
- UK passport
- 1 x passport pic with full name on the back
- Sponsor support letter signed by sponsor

Financial requirement
- 6 x pay slips FROM SPONSER... must cover a full 6 months  (Feb-July)– and should be dated within 28 days of the application.
- letter from employer confirming the authenticity of the pay slips because these are printed online.
- 6 x bank statements... must cover a full 6 months – and should be dated within 28 days of the application.
- Letter from employer stating wage/length of employment etc
- P60
- original job contract

Accommodation requirement:
- Land Registry document
- latest mortgage statement
- Latest Council Tax Bill

Relationship evidence
- Our wedding certificate
- Evidence of previous divorce
- Evidence of mail. This is where I am a little confused.  Do these have to be from 3 separate organisations?  How far do these need to be spaced apart?  I've heard every 4 months and every 5 months and I'm not sure what it is.  We're looking at the following dates..   Is this correct  This is based on 5 months apart, but we can provide evidence every 4 months if required?

• February 2018
• June 2018
• October 2018
• February 2019
• June 2019
• October 2019
• February 2020
• June 2020

Do these letters have to be in both our names or can they be separately addressed?

*EDIT* I just thought of something.. If we're having to upload evidence electronically do these need to be scanned copies or can I download electronic payslips for instance?  Secondly, do these need to be verified with a date and signature by my employer?  The same could be said for the bank statements I guess.

Thank you for taking the time to read this if you've gotten this far.   Any support or advise is very much appreciated.

My wife is was granted Further Leave to Remain in February 2018 and is due to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain by 13 August 2020.  We haven't begun the application yet as I'm a little confused now that things have moved to an electronic system as I understand it.  Are we able to commence the application now and submit this on or before 28 days before visa expiration or do we need to wait until 28 days before expiration to begin the application?

You can start it early and keep saving it if you want.

In terms of when you can apply, what date did she enter the UK in 2015? The earliest she can apply for ILR  is 28 days before that date in 2020 and the latest date is the expiry date of her FLR(M)... so it may mean that you can apply any time from now, and not have to wait until August.

In terms of the documents you have listed, some of the requirements have changed.

You do NOT need any of the following:
Applicant
- Covering letter signed by applicant (not needed unless you have something complicated to explain)
- 2 x passport pics with full name on back  (no longer required)
Sponsor:
- 1 x passport pic with full name on the back (no longer required)
- Sponsor support letter signed by sponsor (never been needed for FLR(M) or ILR)

- Evidence of mail. This is where I am a little confused.  Do these have to be from 3 separate organisations?  How far do these need to be spaced apart?  I've heard every 4 months and every 5 months and I'm not sure what it is.  We're looking at the following dates..   Is this correct  This is based on 5 months apart, but we can provide evidence every 4 months if required?

You need:
- 6 documents in each name addressed to you both at the same address as each other, so this can be 6 joint documents, 12 individual documents, or a combination of both, giving 6 each in total
- they must be from at least 3 different official sources (i.e. bank statement, water bill, tenancy agreement, electricity bill)
- they must be evenly spaced over the last 2.5 years, so that's 1 document each every 5 MONTHS (for ILR)
- they must be original documents received in the mail, no electronic printouts

So, if you are applying in, say, June 2020, you would need to cover from December 2017 to June 2020, and you want one document in each name from each the following months:
December 2017
May 2018
October 2018
March 2019
August 2019
January 2020
Optional extra: June 2020

These are all the same requirements for the mail as you needed to provide when you applied for FLR(M), it's just that you need to cover the full 2.5 years now, and not 2 years... so they need to be spaced every 5 months, not 4 months.

No IHS for ILR. 

No IHS for ILR. 

Crap - why do I always forget that? I've deleted the mention of it from my reply.

AshFromTheUK - there is no IHS surcharge to pay for ILR, because ILR gives your wife access to UK benefits, including full access to the NHS without paying a surcharge.

Hi both

That is fantastic. Saves a bit of money I suppose not having to pay for the IHS.

Ksand , thank you for your ever useful advise. She entered into the U.K. originally on the 20th June 2015. So it would be exactly 60 months from that date?


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Hi both

That is fantastic. Saves a bit of money I suppose not having to pay for the IHS.

Ksand , thank you for your ever useful advise. She entered into the U.K. originally on the 20th June 2015. So it would be exactly 60 months from that date?


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Yes, if she entered the UK on 20th June 2015, then the earliest date she can submit the online application is 23rd May 2020... which was 4 days ago.

So, when she has all her documents ready, she can submit the online application at any time from today onwards, up to the expiry date of her visa.


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Thank you Ksand. We will start the application online and once we have everything in order we will be able to hit the button and send it.

If we have any queries we may need to pick your brain as we go along if you don’t mind!


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I just used the electronic system for my ILR in October last year. I didn't get my biometrics done until November, so it only took 45 days once everything was done for my ILR to be approved. Things, are of course, much different now.

The online form is easy, it does change certain things to reflect what answers you'e previously given. My friend had different/additional questions than I did on hers when she applied shortly after me.

They do a pretty good job of giving you a list of everything you need. In place of any sort of letter from your spouse, they have a form you have to print off and they tick a box and sign.

It's not any more stressful or difficult than FLR and you've already done that!

Lyonaria, thank you for the your comments! Glad to hear that it went well for you and it’s nice to hear something positive about the process.

I’m a bit of a worry body so I was wondering what happens if the ILR is rejected for any reason? I know that you can appeal the decision and a lot of websites just recommend applying again but how is this possible? Do they give you a time limit to reapply?

Has anyone had any experience with rejection?  I suppose the reason for my thinking this way is just in case the test cannot be passed before the visa expires for whatever reason.


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The Life in the UK test is causing massive amounts of stress.

My wife was due to take her test yestesday afternoon but wasn't feeling well.  We called up the test centre and they told us that it was fine if she didn't attend because she was unwell.  They said that they could process a refund but we would need to get a doctors note and then send this to a support email address with an explanation of what had happened.

Either way, due to the Visa expiring soon, we booked a 48 hour appointment for today.  However, now a couple of hours before she is due to take the test we have logged onto the Life in the UK website and can see that the appointment for yesterday is showing as 'rejected'.  Not sure what this means, but surely this would say something along the lines of 'not attended' or 'cancelled'?  I don't know.

I'm worried now that they are going to reject her entry to sit the test if she arrives today or if she does sit the test and passes, that when we come to submit the ILR application someone on the other end may query why it says 'rejected' the day before as it wouldn't have been 7 days since the last test.

I don't know what to do.

*Edit*

Just called them and the person on the phone said not to worry, because 'it doesn't mean anything' and the that 'the test can be taken every day until you pass and that the 7 days is recommended because you need to study if you fail'

That's NOT what the Government website says.  It says if you fail you have to wait 7 days before taking the test.  I tried explaining this to him and he didn't seem to understand.  I just don't know if 'rejection' is the same as 'fail'.

If you fail the test
You must wait 7 days before taking the test again, but you can take the test as many times as you need to. You need to book and pay again each time.

Good news!  My wife ended up passing her Life in the UK test.  It still says 'rejected' on her Life in the UK account, but the following day when she actually attended the appointment it says 'pass'.'

I'm trying to locate the actual page to begin the application. I think I've found it, is the visa the SET(M)?  It's a little confusing because I've always heard this referred to as ILR.

Good news!  My wife ended up passing her Life in the UK test.  It still says 'rejected' on her Life in the UK account, but the following day when she actually attended the appointment it says 'pass'.'

I'm trying to locate the actual page to begin the application. I think I've found it, is the visa the SET(M)?  It's a little confusing because I've always heard this referred to as ILR.

Congratulations!

Set(M) is the name of the form you use to apply for ILR.

Thank you!

Just wanted to make sure we were using the right one.


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Hi all

I am working from home at the moment due to Covid-19 and my place of work is currently closed (physically).

I have contacted my HR department and asked about how to go about obtaining the required employer documents with a wet signature.

It doesn’t seem like this is going to be possible at the moment so I was wondering what people suggest to overcome this? Has anyone experienced this during COVID-19?

Could this possibly be signed by someone else in the organisation such as a line manager who might agree to meet me in a park for instance?

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Easiest thing to do will probably be for them to issue a letter with an electronic signature and email it to you, with a note on the letter explaining that they cannot issue a wet signature letter because of Covid.

Alternatively, can someone print it, sign it, and then either post it to you, or scan it and email it to you?


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