FLR(M) - applying in January - questions

Hello all

So I’m starting my big thread for FLR (M)! I am currently on my spousal visa. Entered the UK on May 7 2018. BRP expires February 4 2021. I’m planning on applying around January 7 2021.

I’ve been collecting post since I came and am sitting down today to get the correspondence portion sorted.

Here’s the questions:

1.  If I’m applying in January 2021, is it December 2018-December 2020 I use or do I need to go back to May 2018?  I’ve read over other threads and I think I’m just confusing myself lol. The correspondence I believe is for 2 years only as they assume the first 6 months you may not have any post. That would be having correspondence evidence starting in October-November 2018. Which is it?

2. We have the Land Registry from when we purchased the house in 2017. Is that still ok to use or do we need to get a newer one?

3. Sources-my nemesis- I know not everything has to be joint but I want to use what we do have but can I use a source from the Joint category as a source for just Myself as well?  Example: Bank of Scotland. We have a joint checking account, I have my own account with them as well. Can I use the source twice? One month use it as a joint source and then a different month use it for my individual correspondence?

I think that’s it for now. Just starting on this so I’ll post more questions here. Thank you to anyone who can offer help 

So I’m starting my big thread for FLR (M)! I am currently on my spousal visa. Entered the UK on May 7 2018. BRP expires February 4 2021. I’m planning on applying around January 7 2021.

You've actually been eligible to apply since 10th October, so you can apply earlier than 7th Jan if you wish to.

1.  If I’m applying in January 2021, is it December 2018-December 2020 I use or do I need to go back to May 2018?  I’ve read over other threads and I think I’m just confusing myself lol. The correspondence I believe is for 2 years only as they assume the first 6 months you may not have any post. That would be having correspondence evidence starting in October-November 2018. Which is it?

You go back a maximum of 2 years. So, you cover December 2018 to December 2020 only.

You will need 1 document in each name from each of the following months:
December 2018
April 2019
August 2019
December 2019
April 2020
August 2020
December 2020

2. We have the Land Registry from when we purchased the house in 2017. Is that still ok to use or do we need to get a newer one

It's up to you. It should be fine to use the original one, but you can download a new one from the Land Registry website for £3 if you wish, which will have the current date on it.

3. Sources-my nemesis- I know not everything has to be joint but I want to use what we do have but can I use a source from the Joint category as a source for just Myself as well?  Example: Bank of Scotland. We have a joint checking account, I have my own account with them as well. Can I use the source twice? One month use it as a joint source and then a different month use it for my individual correspondence?

You can use the same source as many times as you need to, as long as you have at least 2 other sources as well.

For example, if all of your documents are individual, you could use 10 bank statements, 1 utility bill and 1 council tax bill. Or if they are all joint, you could use 4 bank statements, 1 council tax bill and 1 utility bill.

Or any other combination of documents as long as you have at least 3 sources total.

Thank you! Would a finance statement from our house insurance count as official correspondence?

Would you mind checking my correspondence?

December 2018
Chase credit card statement - me
SSE (electricity) - husband

April 2019
Joint council tax

August 2019
Joint Bank of Scotland statement

December 2019
Bank of Scotland statement - me
TSB statement - husband

April 2020
Joint Bank of Scotland statement

August 2020
Joint Bank of Scotland statement

December 2020
Either joint bank of Scotland statement
OR
Close Brothers (house insurance) statement - husband
Bank of Scotland statement - me

Thank you! Would a finance statement from our house insurance count as official correspondence?

Yep, that should be okay.

Would you mind checking my correspondence?

December 2018
Chase credit card statement - me
SSE (electricity) - husband

April 2019
Joint council tax

August 2019
Joint Bank of Scotland statement

December 2019
Bank of Scotland statement - me
TSB statement - husband

April 2020
Joint Bank of Scotland statement

August 2020
Joint Bank of Scotland statement

December 2020
Either joint bank of Scotland statement
OR
Close Brothers (house insurance) statement - husband
Bank of Scotland statement - me

All looks good to me.

You can choose which you use for December 2020... you already have 4 different sources anyway, so it doesn't matter if you use the joint bank statement or the individual documents.

Perfect! Next question. Financial:

If we apply January 7 2021 as is our current plan, would our date range be June 2020-December 2020 to show the full 6 months for bank statements?

My husband is paid weekly so I have all his payslips from June 5 2020 to his most current payslip December 18 2020. Our bank statements are dated the 20th of each month and show all of his pay deposited.

He was on furlough from March until July so the first 5 of his payslips are listed as furlough pay (80%).

Do we just mention the furlough on the employer’s letter so they consider his pay as if he was receiving 100% of his normal pay?

Also, with the P60 being electronic, does it just need to be mentioned in the employer’s letter that it is accurate?

If we apply January 7 2021 as is our current plan, would our date range be June 2020-December 2020 to show the full 6 months for bank statements?

My husband is paid weekly so I have all his payslips from June 5 2020 to his most current payslip December 18 2020. Our bank statements are dated the 20th of each month and show all of his pay deposited.

Okay, so you will need:

Payslips dated June 5th 2020 to Dec 18th 2020 (6 months and 2 weeks)

Bank statements dated May 20th 2020 to Dec 20th 2020 (to cover the dates of June 5th to Dec 18th).

He was on furlough from March until July so the first 5 of his payslips are listed as furlough pay (80%).

Do we just mention the furlough on the employer’s letter so they consider his pay as if he was receiving 100% of his normal pay?

Yes, the employer letter should confirm that he was furloughed and give his 100% salary and 80% furloughed salary.

Also, with the P60 being electronic, does it just need to be mentioned in the employer’s letter that it is accurate?

Yes, as it is electronic, the details of the P60 should be verified in the employer letter.

Our June 2020 bank statement shows from 19 June back to 21 May so it includes the June 5th payslip being deposited. Also, the pay is always deposited 2 days earlier than the payslip date. For example, the June 5th payslip shows a deposit date of June 3rd on the bank statement. Is that ok?

Okay, so you will need:

Payslips dated June 5th 2020 to Dec 18th 2020 (6 months and 2 weeks)

Bank statements dated May 20th 2020 to Dec 20th 2020 (to cover the dates of June 5th to Dec 18th).

Our June 2020 bank statement shows from 19 June back to 21 May so it includes the June 5th payslip being deposited. Also, the pay is always deposited 2 days earlier than the payslip date. For example, the June 5th payslip shows a deposit date of June 3rd on the bank statement. Is that ok?

That's okay, though the employer letter should confirm/explain this.

Ideally, for each payslip, they should include the following information:
- pay date
- gross pay
- net pay
- date deposited into bank account
- explanation for any discrepancies between payslip date/amount and the bank deposit date/amount (like 3rd vs 5th of the month)

Thank you @ksand24! I’ll gather more documents and come back with more questions soon. I want to make sure everything is correct before we go to apply.

Finalizing what we need to get for submission...

Employer letter (husband is sponsor)
Have I covered everything his employer letter needs to state?:

Non salaried
Currrent hourly rate plus hours worked each week (he is paid weekly)
Length of employment- 3 years and 10 months
Length of time earning current pay with confirmation of furlough at 80%, dates of furlough and what his pay was before and after furlough
Type of employment - permanent
Job title
Details of p60 verified
Confirmation that pay is deposited into bank 2 days prior to when payslip is dated (they use an accounting firm)

Have I gotten everything covered? I’m going to get his work to do the letter this week or first of next week so it’ll be dated before we apply. He had a pay raise in 2019 but has earned the same pay rate since then (except for the furlough). Does that need to be mentioned in the letter since it was more than 6 months ago?

Anyone have time to review for me? 

Finalizing what we need to get for submission...

Employer letter (husband is sponsor)
Have I covered everything his employer letter needs to state?:

Non salaried
Currrent hourly rate plus hours worked each week (he is paid weekly)
Length of employment- 3 years and 10 months
Length of time earning current pay with confirmation of furlough at 80%, dates of furlough and what his pay was before and after furlough
Type of employment - permanent
Job title
Details of p60 verified
Confirmation that pay is deposited into bank 2 days prior to when payslip is dated (they use an accounting firm)

Have I gotten everything covered?

Are the payslips issued electronically or by hard copy? If they are electronic, then each payslip needs to be verified in the letter as well.

Otherwise, I think that's everything.

I’m going to get his work to do the letter this week or first of next week so it’ll be dated before we apply. He had a pay raise in 2019 but has earned the same pay rate since then (except for the furlough). Does that need to be mentioned in the letter since it was more than 6 months ago?

Looks like you already have it mentioned in the letter:

Length of time earning current pay with confirmation of furlough at 80%, dates of furlough and what his pay was before and after furlough

Thank you @ksand24!

They are electronic and were for the previous visa but we had all verified with a summary statement saying "all payslips submitted have been verified by our accounting firm before issue".

They've been printed out for us for this visa but I can still get them to mention it again if we need to.

Finalized things for the employer letter to be done tomorrow but still want to see if the summary statement is ok or do we need to list every week’s payslip in the letter?

We’re submitting around 24 payslips.  If I do have to list them, can I put them in a table with 2 columns to reduce the size of the letter?