FLR M Application Questions

Hi everyone,

I'm in the very early process of beginning the FLR M application and was hoping to get some help.

I arrived in the country on 29 May 2018 and my BRP is valid until 17 Feb 2021. I plan on applying and submitting my documents in mid-to-late January.

1) Am I correct in thinking that the financial documents must be within 28 days of the date of application? If I apply on say 15 Jan, I am ok to use my December payslip dated 21 Dec? The corresponding bank statement should be arriving this coming week.

2) We plan to use my (the applicant's) employment this time around because I've been with the same employer for longer than six months and we just thought it easier to have to deal with one HR department rather than two in the case of my husband. Can someone please confirm that it is acceptable to rely on the applicant's salary alone? Also, what is the minimum monthly gross payment required?

3) I've been with the same employer since I arrived back in 2018 and was recently promoted on 1 September 2020. Am I correct in thinking that it is only the last 6 months of salary UK immigration are interested in? So if I apply in mid-Jan, I need payslips and bank statements from July 2020 - Dec 2020? Or do I need 7 months of payslips? (I vaguely remember reading this somewhere.)

4) Following on from the above, I have two contracts of employment (one dated 11/07/18 from my original role and a new one dated 13/09/19 to reflect the promotion...I got the job last year, but couldn't start for a year later as it's one of those graduate positions that commences annually.) On the newer contract, it says that my "employment with the company will commence on 1 September 2020" (but, again, this is in the new role) It goes on to specify that my "period of continuous employment with the company commenced on 17 July 2018" which reflects when I started working there. I  don't want UK immigration to get confused and think I'd only been working here for less than 6 months. Should I submit both contracts of employment with the application? Should I ask my employer to emphasise this in the employment letter?

5) I  receive electronic payslips that I then print. Do I need to get these signed by HR?

6) If I apply in January 2021, do I need 24 months of post (from Jan 2019 - Jan 2021) as proof of residency?

I think that's everything for now. No doubt I will have more questions as I go along. Is there any official government website that outlines exactly what is required or a guidance document I can follow? I'm literally learning from reading this forum

Many thanks for the help!

**Edit** Looking at some of the other posts, I thought it might be helpful to add a bit more info such as the date of my payslips and the date the money was paid into the account.

December payslip dated: 25/12/2020
December paid into bank: 21/12/2020

November payslip dated: 25/11/2020
November paid into bank: 25/11/2020

October payslip dated: 26/10/2020
October paid into bank: 26/10/2020

September payslip dated: 25/09/2020
September paid into bank: 25/09/2020

August payslip dated: 25/08/2020
August paid into bank: 25/08/2020

July payslip dated: 24/07/2020
July paid into bank: 24/07/2020

June payslip dated: 25/06/2020
June paid into bank: 25/06/2020


Do I go off of the payslip date to determine the full six months? So in this case, 25 June to 25 Dec?

Thanks again!

Hello,

I also have a couple more questions and would be grateful for some advice:

1) We currently rent. In addition to our tenancy agreement, what exactly does the letter from the landlord have to specify?

2) Is it necessary to submit a council tax bill as proof of residency? I don't think we've received one for this year. I will have to contact the council to get this ASAP if required.

Thanks again all

I arrived in the country on 29 May 2018 and my BRP is valid until 17 Feb 2021. I plan on applying and submitting my documents in mid-to-late January.

Not sure if you're aware, but you can actually apply as early as 28 days before you reach 30 months in the UK. As you entered the UK on 29th May 2018, you reached 30 months on 29th November 2020, which means you have been eligible to apply for FLR(M) since 1st November 2020.

Which means you can submit your online application at any time between today and 17th Feb 2021, so if you're ready to apply earlier than mid-late January, you don't have to wait.

1) Am I correct in thinking that the financial documents must be within 28 days of the date of application? If I apply on say 15 Jan, I am ok to use my December payslip dated 21 Dec? The corresponding bank statement should be arriving this coming week.

That's correct. The latest payslip, bank statement and your employer letter must be dated no earlier than 28 days before the date you submit the online application.

So, if your December payslip was deposited on 21st December, you have until 18th January to submit the online application.

2) We plan to use my (the applicant's) employment this time around because I've been with the same employer for longer than six months and we just thought it easier to have to deal with one HR department rather than two in the case of my husband. Can someone please confirm that it is acceptable to rely on the applicant's salary alone? Also, what is the minimum monthly gross payment required?

Yes, that's fine to use just the applicant's salary, because you have the right to work in the UK. The only reason your income could not be used for the initial spousal visa was because at that point, you did not yet have the right to work in the UK.

The minimum requirement is a gross annual salary of £18,600 per year. In term of the minimum monthly payment required, that depends on whether you are salaried or non-salaried employee. If you are salaried, you will have a fixed base salary which will be the same every month. If you are non-salaried, you will be paid an hourly wage for a contracted number of hours per week, and your monthly income may change depending on hours worked.

Your income will be calculated as follows:

Salaried Employment (fixed base salary)
- they will take your lowest payslip from the last 6 months and multiply it by 12 to get your annual salary
- as long as the gross (pre-tax) income on that payslip is at least £1,550, you will meet the requirement (£1,550 x 12 months = £18,600)

Non-Salaried Employment (hourly wage)
- they will add up all 6 months of payslips, divide by 6 and multiply by 12 to get your average annual income
- this amount must be at least £18,600

3) I've been with the same employer since I arrived back in 2018 and was recently promoted on 1 September 2020. Am I correct in thinking that it is only the last 6 months of salary UK immigration are interested in? So if I apply in mid-Jan, I need payslips and bank statements from July 2020 - Dec 2020? Or do I need 7 months of payslips? (I vaguely remember reading this somewhere.)

Yes, you only need to show the last 6 months of income. However, you must cover every single day of the 6 months, which usually means that you have to provide 7 months (or possibly even 8 months) of payslips to explicitly cover every day of the 6 months, depending on your payslip dates.

So, for example, if your December payslip was deposited on 21st December, the 6 months you must cover will be 21st June to 21st December.

Therefore you will need the following payslips and bank statements
25th May 2020 (to cover the days of 21, 22, 23 and 24th June)
25th June 2020
25th July 2020
25th August 2020
25th September 2020
25th October 2020
25th November 2020
25th December 2020

4) Following on from the above, I have two contracts of employment (one dated 11/07/18 from my original role and a new one dated 13/09/19 to reflect the promotion...I got the job last year, but couldn't start for a year later as it's one of those graduate positions that commences annually.) On the newer contract, it says that my "employment with the company will commence on 1 September 2020" (but, again, this is in the new role) It goes on to specify that my "period of continuous employment with the company commenced on 17 July 2018" which reflects when I started working there. I  don't want UK immigration to get confused and think I'd only been working here for less than 6 months. Should I submit both contracts of employment with the application? Should I ask my employer to emphasise this in the employment letter?

It is not a requirement to provide your job contract (it's optional, but they can ask to see it)... so it's up to you whether you provide contracts. If you decide to, I would provide both contracts to prove that you have worked there since 2018.

In regards to your new role starting in September 2020, as you have not yet been in that new role for 6 months yet, they will only consider your previous salary for the visa requirements. Also, your employer letter will need to specify your new role, salary and start date of the new role, along with your previous role, original start date and previous salary.

5) I  receive electronic payslips that I then print. Do I need to get these signed by HR?

They do not need to be signed, but they MUST be verified in a letter from the employer, printed on company letterhead and signed by a senior official. Most people have their employer verify their payslips as part of the mandatory employer letter, so that they do not need to provide 2 separate letters.

The letter should verify, for each payslip:
- pay date
- pay period
- gross pay
- net pay
- date deposited into your bank account
- an explanation for any discrepancies between the date/amount on each payslip and the date/amount of the bank deposit (i.e. if you were paid early due to Christmas)

6) If I apply in January 2021, do I need 24 months of post (from Jan 2019 - Jan 2021) as proof of residency?

You need to show 2 years of correspondence, one item of mail in each name dated every 4 months. Depending on when you apply, you may not have anything from January 2021 yet, so you could provide documents from December 2018 to December 2020 instead.

In that case, you will want 1 item of mail in each name (either joint mail or 1 each) from each of the following months:
December 2018
April 2019
August 2019
December 2019
April 2020
August 2020
December 2020

Or if you do Jan 2019 to Jan 2020, you will need the following months:
January 2019
May 2019
September 2019
January 2020
May 2020
September 2020
January 2021

Is there any official government website that outlines exactly what is required or a guidance document I can follow? I'm literally learning from reading this forum

Nothing which has every document required, unfortunately... it's probably easiest to just ask here.

The financial documents required are outlined in Appendix FM 1.7 and Appendix FM-SE:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/939926/appendix-fm-1-7-financial-requirement-v5.0.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-fm-se-family-members-specified-evidence

There is a Maintenance and Accommodation page which outlines how you need to meet the Accommodation requirement:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maintenance-and-accommodation-maa/maintenance-and-accommodation-maa--2

The items of correspondence requirements, I believe, are mentioned in the online application.

1) We currently rent. In addition to our tenancy agreement, what exactly does the letter from the landlord have to specify?

Are you both named on the tenancy agreement? If so, you do not need a letter from the landlord.

A letter is only required if only one of you is named on the agreement, in which case the landlord must also give their written permission for the other person to continue living there. If they are already named on the agreement, they already have permission, so no letter is needed.

So, assuming you are both listed on the tenancy, for the accommodation requirement you just need:
- tenancy agreement in both names
- latest council tax bill

If only one of you is on the tenancy, you need:
- tenancy agreement
- letter from landlord confirming the tenancy and giving permission for the other person to live there
- latest council tax bill

2) Is it necessary to submit a council tax bill as proof of residency? I don't think we've received one for this year. I will have to contact the council to get this ASAP if required.

Yes, you will need your latest council tax bill/annual statement as proof of monthly housing costs.

Thanks for the detailed response ksand24 - all very helpful.

I'm in the process of completing the online application and I'm a little confused about the finance section. As a reminder, we are relying on my income alone. I've been with the company since July 2018 and was promoted in Sept 2020.

The application asks:

What is their current job title?
I've entered the new role I started in Sept 2020.

When did the current employment begin?
I've said 01 Sept 2020

Have they been employed by the same employer for the last 6 months prior to the date of the application?
Yes

What do they earn?
I received a one-time signing on bonus in September's pay. Therefore, I selected:
Not the same amount continuously, above the financial requirement.
Is this right?

What is their annual income before tax for this employment?
I specified the salary of the new role.

Now,  my question is this: As the application asks when the current employment began, am I correct in thinking that I will need to add additional employment income for myself to cover the time before Sept 2020?  It seems as though I am being asked to separate the two roles even though they are with the same company.

Thanks again for the help!

What is their current job title?
I've entered the new role I started in Sept 2020.

That's correct.

When did the current employment begin?
I've said 01 Sept 2020

No, this should be July 2018, otherwise you're implying that you have only been working for your current employer since September 2020.

Have they been employed by the same employer for the last 6 months prior to the date of the application?
Yes

Correct.

What do they earn?
I received a one-time signing on bonus in September's pay. Therefore, I selected:
Not the same amount continuously, above the financial requirement.
Is this right?

No, you need to select 'same amount continuously, above the financial requirement' otherwise the application form will tell you to send 12 months of payslips and bank statements.

This is a quirk with the online application form, where you have to select a specific answer in order for it to register the right financial category, even though it doesn't seem like the correct answer.

What this question is really asking is: "Have you been earning more than £18,600 for at least 6 months?" or "Are you applying under Category A or Category B", except they use 'same amount or not the same amount continuously' to determine between Cat A and Cat B, which doesn't take into account the situation where you have received a raise in the last 6 months but have continuously earned above the requirement with the same employer (which is still Cat A).

What is their annual income before tax for this employment?
I specified the salary of the new role.

Correct.

Now,  my question is this: As the application asks when the current employment began, am I correct in thinking that I will need to add additional employment income for myself to cover the time before Sept 2020?  It seems as though I am being asked to separate the two roles even though they are with the same company.

No, for the current employment, they mean how long have you been with your current employer... which for you is since July 2018.

So, what you do is just put your current salary and job title, and include 6 months worth of payslips and bank statements (well, 7 months usually so that you make sure you cover the full 6 months).

Then, when they calculate your income over the last 6 months, they will actually use your previous salary to for the calculation, because you haven't been earning the new salary for 6 months yet.

So, assuming you are salaried, they will calculate your previous income as follows:

Lowest gross payslip amount x 12 = Total annual salary that can be counted towards the income requirement.

And then your future income will be taken as your new salary.

Your employer letter will therefore need to state all of the following:
- current job title and salary
- length of employment (July 2018)
- length of time earning current salary (Sept 2020)
- previous salary prior to Sept 2020 (they can also put the previous job title as well if they want)
- type of employment (full or part time, permanent or temporary)

Thanks, ksand24, this is very helpful. I've made the changes as you've suggested.

Will I be required to submit both my new USA passport as well as my old passport? Will my husband have to submit his new and old passports as well?

How are documents submitted during COVID? The system won't tell me until after I submit the application (not ready to submit just yet and am curious).

Thanks

Will I be required to submit both my new USA passport as well as my old passport? Will my husband have to submit his new and old passports as well?

You submit:
Sponsor
- full scan of every page of the sponsor's UK passport

Applicant
- full scan of every page of the applicant's US passport
- full scan of every page of any previous US (or other foreign) passports that the applicant has held since moving to the UK

How are documents submitted during COVID? The system won't tell me until after I submit the application (not ready to submit just yet and am curious).

Covid hasn't changed how you submit documents, because a new application system came in around late 2018, whereby all documents are uploaded now (even your passport and BRP) and nothing is mailed anywhere.

You either:
- scan and upload all the documents to the UKVCAS website before your biometrics appointment at a UKVCAS centre
or
- when you book your biometrics appointment on the UKVCAS website, you can add the Document Scanning Service for £50, and they will scan and upload all the documents for you at your appointment

I've had to print bank statements and a utility bill from 2019 as proof of correspondence. Do these need to be stamped by the bank and do I need to provide a letter of authenticity? I recall these being required a few years back. I wonder if banks are still open...

I've had to print bank statements and a utility bill from 2019 as proof of correspondence. Do these need to be stamped by the bank and do I need to provide a letter of authenticity? I recall these being required a few years back.

You can't use printed online statements for the correspondence requirement. All the correspondence documents must have been received in the post in the months they were dated, because they are being used to prove you were physically living in the house at the time in order to receive them in person.

I wonder if banks are still open...

Banks are allowed to open during the lockdown.

If you are using printed bank statement for the financial requirements, then you will need to get these either stamped by the bank on every page, or they need to be accompanied by a letter from the bank confirming their authenticity.

Ah, well that's going to be a bit of a problem, unfortunately. We don't have any post for Jan 2020. I've got a United Utilities bill dated Oct 2018 and another one dated Feb 2019. Would this be acceptable?

I also don't have any post for September 2019, but I do have August 2019 and November 2019 United Utilities bills.

If you list everything you have here, we can help work out what you can use.

If you list everything you have here, we can help work out what you can use.

That's probably easier, thanks!

June 2018
* Joint council tax bill (they've listed me as a Miss when it should have said Mr)

July 2018
* Joint SSE electricity statement
* Joint SSE gas statement

August 2018
* Joint United Utilities bill

October 2018
* Joint council tax bill (again, they've put Miss rather than Mr)
* Joint United Utilities bill

November 2018
* Joint SSE electricity statement
* Joint SSE gas statement

February 2019
* Joint SSE electricity statement
* Joint SSE gas statement
* Joint United Utilities bill

March 2019
* Joint council tax bill (I'm listed as a Miss again)

May 2019
* Joint SSE electricity statement
* Joint SSE gas statement

July 2019
* Applicant: Peronal loan statement from bank

August 2019
* Joint United Utilities bill

October 2019
* Applicant - NHS appointment letter

November 2019
* Joint United Utilities bill

December 2019
* Applicant:  Nationwide Credit card statement

January 2020
* Applicant: NHS appointment letter
* Applicant:  x2 letters from bank for personal loans
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it is for the period 29 December 2019 - 28 January 2020)
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement

February 2020
* Joint United Utilities bill
* Applicant: Nationwide Credit card statement
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it is for the period 29 January 2020 - 28 February 2020)
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement

March 2020
* Sponsor: Council tax bill
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it is for the period 29 February 2020 - 28 March 2020)
* Applicant: Letter from employer confirming a revised start date
* Applicant: Nationwide Credit card statement
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement

April 2020
* Joint letter from the bank about changes to base rates
* Applicant:  Nationwide Credit card statement
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it is for the period 29 March 2020 - 28 April 2020)
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement

May 2020
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it is for the period 29 April 2020 - 28 May 2020)
* Applicant: NHS appointment letter
* Applicant: Nationwide Credit card statement
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement (also using for income requirement)

June 2020
* Applicant: Letter from employer confirming a revised start date
* Applicant: Nationwide Credit card statement
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it is for the period 29 May 2020 - 28 June 2020)
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement (also using for income requirement)

July 2020
* Sponsor: Capital One Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Credit card statement
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it's for the period 29 June 2020 - 28 July 2020)
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement (also using for income requirement)

August 2020
* Joint United Utilities bill
* Sponsor: Capital One Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Credit card statement
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it's for the period 29 July 2020 - 28 August 2020)
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement (also using for income requirement)

September 2020
* Sponsor: Capital One Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Credit card statement
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement (also using for income requirement)

October 2020
* Applicant: Nationwide Credit card statement
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it's for the period 29 September 2020 - 28 October 2020)
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement (also using for income requirement)

November 2020
* Sponsor: Capital One Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Credit card statement
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it's for the period 29 October 2020 - 28 November 2020)
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement (also using for income requirement)

December 2020
* Sponsor: Capital One Credit card statement
* Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (it doesn't have a date on it, but it's for the period 29 November 2020 - 28 December 2020)
* Applicant: American Express Credit card statement
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement (also using for income requirement)

January 2021
* Joint council tax bill (I'm listed as Mr)
* Applicant: Nationwide Bank statement (also using for income requirement)
* Applicant: Nationwide Savings account statement
* Applicant: Three contract renewal letter

_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________

That's about everything. When it comes time to scan the documents, am I required to scan each and every page? Some of the statements are lengthy and/or contain terms and conditions, etc.

If my documents aren't quite evenly spaced, is it better to apply in February?

Thank you!

Okay, so ideally you want documents from January, May and September of each year, going back to January 2019.

From the documents you've listed, I would suggest using the following:

February 2019
1. Joint: SSE electricity statement (Source 1)

[Spacing: 3 months]

May 2019
2. Joint: SSE gas statement (Source 2)

[Spacing: 3 months]

August 2019
3. Joint: United Utilities bill (Source 3)

[Spacing: 5 months]

January 2020
4. Applicant: NHS appointment letter (Source 4)
4. Sponsor: M&S Bank statement (Source 5)

[Spacing: 4 months]

May 2020
5. Applicant: Credit card statement (either statement is fine) (Source 6)
5. Sponsor: M&S Bank statement

[Spacing: 4 months]

September 2020
6. Credit card statement (either statement is fine)
6. Sponsor: Capital One Credit card statement

[Spacing: 4 months]

January 2021
7. Joint: council tax bill (Source 7)

And then I would also just write a letter explaining the reason for having 3-month and 5-month gaps in documents between February 2019 and January 2020, and why you don't have a document for January 2019 and September 2019.

That's about everything. When it comes time to scan the documents, am I required to scan each and every page? Some of the statements are lengthy and/or contain terms and conditions, etc.

Every page of the actual statements with the transactions/bill amounts on them should be scanned, but I think you'd be okay leaving out the Terms and Conditions pages.

If my documents aren't quite evenly spaced, is it better to apply in February?

No, I would still with the documents I've listed above.

Using February 2019 to February 2021 documents (so Feb, June and Oct each year) actually makes things worse because you would still have some uneven spacing, you would only have 4 sources instead of 7 sources, AND you would be missing 2 of the required sponsor documents as you only have an applicant document for June 2019 and June 2020 and no corresponding sponsor document. So, you would still need to write a letter explaining the missing documents and the uneven spacing.

However, you can apply in February if you want to and still use all the documents I've listed above (the Jan 2019 to Jan 2021 documents).