FLM(R) - have I got the timings right?!

Hi all,

We are in the process of completing my (Australian born) husband and children’s FLR(M) application and was wondering if I could ask some questions? BRP expiry is coming up soon and slightly panicking.

For context, I am a British citizen but was not born in the UK.  My two children should be eligible for citizenship on 1 January 2021 as they will have been in the UK continuously for 3 years and have a parent who is a British Citizen by descent (me).  Unfortunately we still have to go through the FLR(M) first, and my husband has to do it anyway. 

Just wondering if someone could kindly see if I have I gotten this vaguely right?

Entered UK: 1 January 2018
BRP expires: 14 September 2020
We are using my (sponsor) income to meet the MIR.
I have included the following:
Letter from my employer stating employment details and confirming the authenticity of my online payslips dated from 24 February 2020 to 24 August 2020.
Bank statements show the exact amounts coming in on the stated days.
As proof that my husband and I live together we have included the following documents:
August 2018
Joint: school invoice

December 2018
Me: letter from Royal Mail
Him: physical payslip from his employer

April 2019
Me: Npower utility bill
Him: Sky mobile bill

August 2019
Joint: HSBC bank statement

December 2019
Me: HSBC bank letter
Him: BT internet bill

April 2020
Me: Halifax mortgage letter
Him: HSBC bank statement

August 2020
Joint: HSBC bank statement

Does this look sufficient?  We do have things like council tax bills but they aren’t dated in the correct month.

A final question, when do we actually upload this information? It is as soon as we hit submit on the application and pay our fee, or is it done at biometrics?  I’m hoping that they will be able to reuse our fingerprints and therefore won’t have a biometric appt, so I presume we just upload when asked to?

Many thanks for all your help.  It’s really reassuring to know that there are other people who have survived this process!

Just wondering if someone could kindly see if I have I gotten this vaguely right?

Entered UK: 1 January 2018
BRP expires: 14 September 2020

If you entered the UK on 1st January 2018, you actually qualified to apply for FLR(M) on 3rd June 2020 (28 days before reaching 30 months in the UK)... 14th September 2020 is the absolute latest date that you can submit the online application.

We are using my (sponsor) income to meet the MIR.
I have included the following:
Letter from my employer stating employment details and confirming the authenticity of my online payslips dated from 24 February 2020 to 24 August 2020.
Bank statements show the exact amounts coming in on the stated days.

Just make sure that the payslips and bank statements both cover every single day from February 24th to August 24th 2020.

It's also advisable to include the following documents as they can ask to see them:
- original job contract
- latest P60 (from April 2020)

As proof that my husband and I live together we have included the following documents:
August 2018
Joint: school invoice

December 2018
Me: letter from Royal Mail
Him: physical payslip from his employer

April 2019
Me: Npower utility bill
Him: Sky mobile bill

August 2019
Joint: HSBC bank statement

December 2019
Me: HSBC bank letter
Him: BT internet bill

April 2020
Me: Halifax mortgage letter
Him: HSBC bank statement

August 2020
Joint: HSBC bank statement

Does this look sufficient?  We do have things like council tax bills but they aren’t dated in the correct month.

Those look good to me. They are all evenly-spaced and you have 8 different sources, which is more than the required minimum 3 sources, so that's all good .

Other documents you will need to upload are:
- your husband's Australian passport
- your kids' passports
- your UK passport
- your husband and kids' BRP cards
- your kids' birth certificates
- letters dated in the last 3 months confirming your kids' address
- your marriage certificate
- any divorce decrees if either of you have been married before
- any previous passports your husband or kids have held since moving to the UK (i.e. if they have renewed them since Jan 2018)
For your accommodation evidence you will need:
- your Land Registry document
- your latest mortgage statement
- your latest council tax bill

A final question, when do we actually upload this information? It is as soon as we hit submit on the application and pay our fee, or is it done at biometrics?  I’m hoping that they will be able to reuse our fingerprints and therefore won’t have a biometric appt, so I presume we just upload when asked to?

Once you have submitted the online applications and paid for the visas, you will receive a UKVCAS registration code by email... you then use these to register an account with UVKCAS.

The documents can be uploaded in one of 3 ways:
- uploaded straight to the UKVCAS website at any time after registering
- paying for UKVCAS to scan the documents at the appointment (£50 per application), if you will be attending a biometrics appointment
- uploading the documents to the new app if you will be foregoing biometrics - you would do this once you have been contacted by UKVI informing you whether you can use the app or not, and if you have chosen to submit using the app.

So, the main thing, once you have submitted the online applications and registered with UKVCAS will be to wait for an email from UKVI telling you whether or not your biometrics have to be redone or if they will be able to reuse them.

It could be quite a wait, because people who submitted in April are only just being invited to submit using the app now.

Hi all,

We are in the process of completing my (Australian born) husband and children’s FLR(M) application and was wondering if I could ask some questions? BRP expiry is coming up soon and slightly panicking.

For context, I am a British citizen but was not born in the UK.  My two children should be eligible for citizenship on 1 January 2021 as they will have been in the UK continuously for 3 years and have a parent who is a British Citizen by descent (me).  Unfortunately we still have to go through the FLR(M) first, and my husband has to do it anyway. 

Just wondering if someone could kindly see if I have I gotten this vaguely right?

Entered UK: 1 January 2018
BRP expires: 14 September 2020
We are using my (sponsor) income to meet the MIR.
I have included the following:
Letter from my employer stating employment details and confirming the authenticity of my online payslips dated from 24 February 2020 to 24 August 2020.
Bank statements show the exact amounts coming in on the stated days.
As proof that my husband and I live together we have included the following documents:
August 2018
Joint: school invoice

December 2018
Me: letter from Royal Mail
Him: physical payslip from his employer

April 2019
Me: Npower utility bill
Him: Sky mobile bill

August 2019
Joint: HSBC bank statement

December 2019
Me: HSBC bank letter
Him: BT internet bill

April 2020
Me: Halifax mortgage letter
Him: HSBC bank statement

August 2020
Joint: HSBC bank statement

Does this look sufficient?  We do have things like council tax bills but they aren’t dated in the correct month.

A final question, when do we actually upload this information? It is as soon as we hit submit on the application and pay our fee, or is it done at biometrics?  I’m hoping that they will be able to reuse our fingerprints and therefore won’t have a biometric appt, so I presume we just upload when asked to?

Many thanks for all your help.  It’s really reassuring to know that there are other people who have survived this process!

You could have applied any time after 2 years and 5 months in the UK. You need to apply before the BRP expires.

You have a few things missing from your list.

You need pay slips, your marriage and any divorce certificates and all of your accommodation evidence.

Land registry and a recent mortgage statement if you own. Tenancy agreement if you rent. And a recent council tax bill.

Thank you for those replies.  I realise we are cutting it fine, but we have had a number of very big decisions to make that have held this process up. 

Thank you for checking through.  I should have been clear that the documents I stated were just the ones that I was concerned about the timing.  I have most of the other documents in hand.  That said, there were more things on there missing than I had thought.  I hadn't found anywhere that asked for letters that confirmed the kids addresses - I'm guessing bank statements would suffice?  I can go to the bank to get those.  I also hadn't realised that I needed the land registry details.  I have written a letter stating that my husband can live in the house (mortgage is in my name) and have included the mortgage statement.  The council tax bill is in both our names.

Here's hoping that we can use the app and avoid those biometric appointment costs - they do seem to be very expensive!

Thanks again, much appreciated.

Thank you for those replies.  I realise we are cutting it fine, but we have had a number of very big decisions to make that have held this process up. 

Thank you for checking through.  I should have been clear that the documents I stated were just the ones that I was concerned about the timing.  I have most of the other documents in hand.  That said, there were more things on there missing than I had thought.  I hadn't found anywhere that asked for letters that confirmed the kids addresses - I'm guessing bank statements would suffice?  I can go to the bank to get those.  I also hadn't realised that I needed the land registry details.  I have written a letter stating that my husband can live in the house (mortgage is in my name) and have included the mortgage statement.  The council tax bill is in both our names.

Here's hoping that we can use the app and avoid those biometric appointment costs - they do seem to be very expensive!

Thanks again, much appreciated.

You don't need to provide a letter of permission for him to live with you. The purpose of the visa is to allow you to live together.

The most recent bank statement, pay slip and employer letter must be dated within the 28 days before the date of the online application.

I have written a letter stating that my husband can live in the house (mortgage is in my name) and have included the mortgage statement.  The council tax bill is in both our names.

The most important document is the proof that you are the registered owner of the property = Land Registry document

Then you include the following documents as evidence of your monthly housing costs =
- mortgage statement
- council tax bill

As larrabee said above, you do not need to write a letter, because the fact that you are the homeowner and that the requirement of the visa is that you must live together, it's implied that he already has your permission to live there.

The letter was prompted by the online application system when we answered 'do not rent or own' for accommodation for my husband.  It said that the mortgage holder needed to write a letter stating that he had permission to live in the property. 

The letter was prompted by the online application system when we answered 'do not rent or own' for accommodation for my husband.  It said that the mortgage holder needed to write a letter stating that he had permission to live in the property.

Ah, that's because you selected the wrong answer on the application form. They mean, 'you as a couple', not your husband specifically... and you do own the property you live in. So, you should have selected: 'I Own'.

The 3 different accommodation scenarios are:

You own = you and/or your husband own the property you live in

You rent = you rent the property from a landlord

You neither rent nor own = you are living with friends or family members who own their own home and therefore need to give you permission to live in their property with them

And the evidence provided for each scenario:

You Own:
- your Land Registry document showing either your name, your husband's name or both names
- your latest mortgage statement
- your latest council tax bill

You Rent:
- your tenancy agreement with both your names on it
or
- your tenancy agreement with only the sponsor's name on it plus a letter from the landlord giving the applicant(s) permission to live there too
and
- your latest council tax bill

You neither Rent nor Own:
- the homeowner's Land Registry document (who is not the sponsor or the applicant)
-  letter from the homeowner giving both sponsor and applicant(s) permission to live in the property along with the homeowner and stating that the home will not be overcrowded with your family living there too
- the homeowner's latest mortgage statement
- the homeowner's latest council tax bill

Yup, you= you plural.

Ah, ok thank you.  That is helpful, but also worrying as it was not clear that they were referring to either the sponsor or the applicant, rather than just the applicant.  It's concerning how easy it is to get tripped up by small ambiguities like that.  Thanks again for your help!

Ah, ok thank you.  That is helpful, but also worrying as it was not clear that they were referring to either the sponsor or the applicant, rather than just the applicant.  It's concerning how easy it is to get tripped up by small ambiguities like that.  Thanks again for your help!

Yes, it's not good - the online application is rather vague and confusing.

Also, the document list it produces is not always correct (sometimes it doesn't list everything that you need), so it's a good idea if you post a list here of all the documents you are including, and then we can make sure you're not missing anything.

Thanks for this.  Hopefully all the documents are here.  The only one I am physically missing is my August payslip (just needs to be printed and I don't have a printer until next week).  I'm hoping that these don't actually have to be submitted until after my application anyway so it won't matter that I don't have a physical copy of that payslip in hand?

Documents we have:

Income Requirement

•   Letter from employer confirming length of employment, rate of pay, authenticity of 7 payslips dated 24/02/20 to 24/08/20, P60 and original contract.
•   Payslips for the above period (except August 2020 – to be printed)
•   P 60 (to April 2020)
•   Original employment contract.
•   Bank statements x 7 for the above period with corresponding entries.

Proof of Accommodation

•   Mortgage statement
•   Council Tax 2020
•   Land Registry Document

Evidence of Relationship

August 2018
o   Invoice for School Fees (Joint)

December 2018
o   Payslip (Applicant)
o   Royal Mail Correspondence (Sponsor)

April 2019
o   Sky Mobile Bill (Applicant)
o   NPower Utility Bill (Sponsor)

August 2019
o   HSBC Joint Account Statement (Joint)

December 2019
o   HSBC Statement of Fees (Sponsor)
o   BT Internet Bill (Applicant)

April 2020
o   Halifax Correspondence (Sponsor)
o   HSBC Statement (Applicant)

August 2020
o   HSBC Joint Account Statement (Joint)

Evidence of Children’s Address
•   Child 1 (Bank Statement)
•   Child 2 (Bank Statement)

Other Documents
•   Applicant’s Australian Passport
•   Child 1’s Australian Passport
•   Child 2’s Australian Passport
•   Sponsor’s UK Passport


•   Applicant’s BRP Card
•   Child 1’s BRP Card
•   Child 2’s BRP card


•   Child 1’s Birth Certificate
•   Child 2’s Birth Certificate


•   Applicant and Sponsor’s Marriage Certificate
•   Divorce Certificate (Sponsor’s previous marriage)

ETA: forgot the verification documents they make you print out and sign at the end:
 Consent for the Home Office to verify application information (Sponsor)
 Consent for the Home Office to verify application information  (Applicant)

Further to the above list, can I also ask if we need to provide passport photos still?  I can't find anywhere on the documents that says we do, but I seem to remember them being important at one stage.  Thanks for all your help.

Further to the above list, can I also ask if we need to provide passport photos still?  I can't find anywhere on the documents that says we do, but I seem to remember them being important at one stage.  Thanks for all your help.

You do not.

You do not.

Thanks larrabee.  Can I please ask if there is anything on the documents list that I'm missing or shouldn't  be there?  I've gone back and corrected the draft application to show that I own my home now.