FLR(M) - questions and checklist

Hi everyone

We're now in the process of completing the online form, and have a few queries about some of the questions.  Would really appreciate any tips or help with how we ought to answer these.

Thanks as ever for your help!


How long have you lived in the UK?

• We assume this is from the date on which we hit 'submit' - so we need to go back and amend this before we complete the application?

What family or friends do you have in the country where you were born and/or any other country whose nationality you hold?

• Seems like an odd question!  How should we limit this - to immediate family, or do we need to go further?

Please choose the reason you are applying for an extension, this includes if you are switching to a partner visa from another type.

• The applicant first arrived as a fiancee in January 2018 and then transferred to a spousal visa.  We assume this means this is an 'additional extension as partner', with the first being the extension from fiancee to spousal visa?
  

What type of ceremony was your wedding or civil partnership?

• We married in a registry office, so do we just put 'Registry office marriage'?
  

How much rent do you pay each month?

• Is this individually, or separately?

Do you have any other reasons for wanting to stay in the UK?

• What would this include?  For example should we include things such as a career and social life here?
  

How long have you lived in the UK?

• We assume this is from the date on which we hit 'submit' - so we need to go back and amend this before we complete the application?

Yes - just work out the number of years and months it's been since you arrived in the UK. If you know approximately when you plan to submit, you could always enter the length of time based on that.

What family or friends do you have in the country where you were born and/or any other country whose nationality you hold?

• Seems like an odd question!  How should we limit this - to immediate family, or do we need to go further?

List everyone you know in the US.

Start with immediate family, then go to extended family, then all your friends... as many as you can fit on the form.

They ask this to find out whether, if your visa is refused and you have to return to the US, you have anyone that can accommodate you and/or help you financially.

Please choose the reason you are applying for an extension, this includes if you are switching to a partner visa from another type.

• The applicant first arrived as a fiancee in January 2018 and then transferred to a spousal visa.  We assume this means this is an 'additional extension as partner', with the first being the extension from fiancee to spousal visa?
  

Actually, you entered on a fiance visa then transferred to your first FLR(M) extension visa (spousal visas are only issued outside the UK). So, now you are applying for your second extension visa... which i believe falls under the 'additional extension as a partner' box.

What type of ceremony was your wedding or civil partnership?

• We married in a registry office, so do we just put 'Registry office marriage'?
  

Yep.

Should be the same answer as you put for your last application (if you have your previous application saved anywhere you can check how you answered the questions).

How much rent do you pay each month?

• Is this individually, or separately?

It's your total joint rent for the property you live in.

Do you have any other reasons for wanting to stay in the UK?

• What would this include?  For example should we include things such as a career and social life here?
  

Basically, it depends on your personal situation - what are YOUR reasons for wanting to stay.

It could be anything from:
- your spouse and/or children live here
- your UK job and/or your spouse's career
- the healthcare/way of life in the UK
- the ability to travel in Europe
To
- you have no living family members in the US
- it's not safe for you to return to the US because of war/famine/terrorism
- you would end up homeless and alone if you had to return to the US
- your spouse is banned from entering the US so can never qualify for a visa to live there, which means living in the UK is your way to be together

Basically, the answers to the questions about:
- family/friends in the US
- social/cultural ties in the US
- reasons for staying in the UK
Will only be looked at if your application falls for refusal and they have to look into whether or not you would qualify to stay under  Article 8: Right to Family Life in the UK because your life would be in danger and/or your family would be torn apart if you had to leave the UK

Yes - just work out the number of years and months it's been since you arrived in the UK. If you know approximately when you plan to submit, you could always enter the length of time based on that.

List everyone you know in the US.

Start with immediate family, then go to extended family, then all your friends... as many as you can fit on the form.

They ask this to find out whether, if your visa is refused and you have to return to the US, you have anyone that can accommodate you and/or help you financially.

Actually, you entered on a fiance visa then transferred to your first FLR(M) extension visa (spousal visas are only issued outside the UK). So, now you are applying for your second extension visa... which i believe falls under the 'additional extension as a partner' box.

Yep.

Should be the same answer as you put for your last application (if you have your previous application saved anywhere you can check how you answered the questions).

It's your total joint rent for the property you live in.

Basically, it depends on your personal situation - what are YOUR reasons for wanting to stay.

It could be anything from:
- your spouse and/or children live here
- your UK job and/or your spouse's career
- the healthcare/way of life in the UK
- the ability to travel in Europe
To
- you have no living family members in the US
- it's not safe for you to return to the US because of war/famine/terrorism
- you would end up homeless and alone if you had to return to the US
- your spouse is banned from entering the US so can never qualify for a visa to live there, which means living in the UK is your way to be together

Basically, the answers to the questions about:
- family/friends in the US
- social/cultural ties in the US
- reasons for staying in the UK
Will only be looked at if your application falls for refusal and they have to look into whether or not you would qualify to stay under  Article 8: Right to Family Life in the UK because your life would be in danger and/or your family would be torn apart if you had to leave the UK

Thanks so much ksand24!  That's really helpful.

We will get to work on the long list of people she knows back in the States!

Hi everyone - just wanted to run our employer letter by you before we get this signed.

Please let us know if this does the job or needs anything else!

Thanks as ever


For the attention of the Visas and Immigration officer,

This is a brief note confirming that XX is a permanent employee at XX, fulfilling the role of XX. She has been continuously employed by XX since March 2018 and receives a salary of £XX per annum.

I can also confirm that the payslips and P60 submitted as part of XX's application are genuine and were produced by our finance department.

I hope this note is sufficient to the support of her application. Please do let me know if you have any queries.

Many thanks,
XX

Sorry, one other quick question which occurred to us.  If we apply in mid September and it takes a long time for the application to go through (due to the backlog), are we still able to leave the country for holidays/to visit family and come back. I.e. is this likely to cause issues with airport immigration? 

Sorry, one other quick question which occurred to us.  If we apply in mid September and it takes a long time for the application to go through (due to the backlog), are we still able to leave the country for holidays/to visit family and come back. I.e. is this likely to cause issues with airport immigration?

You won't be able to leave the country while the visa is processing.

Once your visa expires, your immigration status will be protected by 3C leave, which allows you to continue to live and work in the UK while your visa is processing.

However, 3C Leave only remains valid while you remain INSIDE the UK... which means that if you leave the UK at all before you get the new visa, your 3C Leave will be cancelled, you will no longer be a legal resident of the UK and you will no longer have a valid visa to get back into the country.

You won't be able to leave the country while the visa is processing.

Once your visa expires, your immigration status will be protected by 3C leave, which allows you to continue to live and work in the UK while your visa is processing.

However, 3C Leave only remains valid while you remain INSIDE the UK... which means that if you leave the UK at all before you get the new visa, your 3C Leave will be cancelled, you will no longer be a legal resident of the UK and you will no longer have a valid visa to get back into the country.

Thanks. That could cause us some problems. Do you know roughly how long it’s taking to  process applications currently?

Is there any way around this - e.g. to leave and then come back as a visitor while the application is pending?

Hi again

A couple of quick Qs on documents:

• My wife's bank statement are produced on a weekly basis - do we need to include every one of those over the 6 month period, or just those in which she was paid by her employer?
  Does every page of the bank statements need to be stamped by the bank? Our intention is to print PDFs of online statements and take them to the bank
  Her payslips and P60 are electronic - are we okay to upload those as PDFs? The letter from her employer will state that they are original and authentic

Thanks again 

Hi again

A couple of quick Qs on documents:

• My wife's bank statement are produced on a weekly basis - do we need to include every one of those over the 6 month period, or just those in which she was paid by her employer?
  Does every page of the bank statements need to be stamped by the bank? Our intention is to print PDFs of online statements and take them to the bank
  Her payslips and P60 are electronic - are we okay to upload those as PDFs? The letter from her employer will state that they are original and authentic

Thanks again 

You will need every page of every statement for at least 6 full months, you are likely to need more than the 6 months worth to make sure the degree of overlap with the payslips is correct.
If they are not paper statements sent to you by the bank, every page needs to be stamped or an authenticating cover letter provided.
As long as the employer authenticates them in a letter, that's ok. They should mention the specific dates and amount of each one.

You will need every page of every statement for at least 6 full months, you are likely to need more than the 6 months worth to make sure the degree of overlap with the payslips is correct.
If they are not paper statements sent to you by the bank, every page needs to be stamped or an authenticating cover letter provided.
As long as the employer authenticates them in a letter, that's ok. They should mention the specific dates and amount of each one.

Thanks as ever larrabee!

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but when do we upload these documents?  We've progressed to the 'declaration' stage but so far haven't had the option to upload anything.

Thanks as ever larrabee!

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but when do we upload these documents?  We've progressed to the 'declaration' stage but so far haven't had the option to upload anything.

That doesn't happen until after you have submitted but don't do that until you have everything ready to go!

That doesn't happen until after you have submitted but don't do that until you have everything ready to go!

Great, thanks!

Sorry, final question (for now!) - are we right in thinking the bank statements just need to cover the pay period?  My wife gets paid at the end of each month, so we just need to include the final week of August but not any in September?  We need to arrange to go into the bank to get all of the statements verified so just trying to time that right.

Great, thanks!

Sorry, final question (for now!) - are we right in thinking the bank statements just need to cover the pay period?  My wife gets paid at the end of each month, so we just need to include the final week of August but not any in September?  We need to arrange to go into the bank to get all of the statements verified so just trying to time that right.

That's fine, just make sure you apply within 28 days of the August date. And make sure you go back far enough from that date too.
It's not about calendar months, it's about covering a 6 month (or more if necessary)  snapshot in time.

You will need every page of every statement for at least 6 full months, you are likely to need more than the 6 months worth to make sure the degree of overlap with the payslips is correct.
If they are not paper statements sent to you by the bank, every page needs to be stamped or an authenticating cover letter provided.
As long as the employer authenticates them in a letter, that's ok. They should mention the specific dates and amount of each one.

Hi again

Just wondered if someone would mind taking a quick look at the employer letter we have drafted?  We will get this signed in the next couple of weeks and want to make sure it's right before asking my wife's boss to do it...

Thanks as ever!


For the attention of the Visas and Immigration officer,

This is a brief note confirming that XX is a permanent employee at XX, fulfilling the role of Marketing Assistant since May 2019. She has been continuously employed by XX since March 2018 and receives a salary of £23,000 per annum.

I can also confirm that the payslips and P60 submitted as part of XX's application are genuine and were produced by our finance department. XX employees are paid on the 25th of every month or the first working day before if the 25th falls on a non-working day. The payslip is produced on the final day of each month.

March 2020: Gross pay 1916.67, net pay 1519.98
April 2020: Gross pay 1916.67, net pay 1528.94
May 2020: Gross pay 1916.67, net pay 1528.94
June 2020: Gross pay 1916.67, net pay 1528.74
July 2020: Gross pay 1916.67, net pay 1528.94
August 2020: Gross pay 1916.67, net pay XXX

I hope this note is sufficient to the support of her application. Please do let me know if you have any queries.

Many thanks,


XXXX

I would change "This is a brief note" to "I am writing this letter"... because this is not a 'brief note' it's an official, formal letter, which is extremely important to the application.

Also, so you are missing the following:
- length of time earning current salary... because the letter needs to confirm she has been earning £23,000 for at least 6 months.

The payslip confirmations should also list the exact date each payslip was issued and each was deposited into her bank account. This really should be in table format so they can read all the information at a glance.

Oh, also, if the payslips are dated on the last day of each month, that means you are currently 1 month short of meeting the requirements, so you will need the February payslip and bank statement as well, as the 6 months you will need to cover are 29th February to 31st August, inclusive.

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ ____________

So, a slightly revised letter:

To Whomever It May Concern.

I am writing this letter to confirm that XX is a permanent employee at XX, fulfilling the role of Marketing Assistant since May 2019. She has been continuously employed by XX since March 2018 and has been receiving a salary of £23,000 per annum since [DATE].

I can also confirm that the payslips and P60 submitted as part of XX's application are genuine and were produced by our finance department. XX employees are paid on the 25th of every month or the first working day before if the 25th falls on a non-working day. The payslip is produced on the final day of each month.

Pay Period               Payslip date            Gross pay       Net Pay            Date deposited into bank account
February 2020        29/02/2020             £XXXX.XX      £XXXX.XX        25/02/2020
March 2020            31/03/2020             £1916.67        £1519.98         25/03/2020
April 2020               30/04/2020             £1916.67        £1528.94         24/04/2020
May 2020                31/05/2020             £1916.67        £1528.94         25/05/2020
June 2020               30/06/2020             £1916.67        £1528.74         25/06/2020
July 2020                31/07/2020             £1916.67        £1528.94         24/07/2020
August 2020           31/08/2020             £1916.67        £ XXXX.XX      25/08/2020

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information

Yours Faithfully,
Their name