Prepping to apply for FLR(M) 2 where should I look.

Hello and Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is staying strong through this insane year.

I am just getting things together to begin looking at what I need to do to apply for what I think is my second FLR(M)

Here is our timeline.

Received FLR(M) on February 6th 2019
Entered into the UK on 24th Feb 2019

The letter I received with my BRP says I have permission to be in the UK (Leave to Enter) from the 12th of February 2019 to the 12th of November 2021.

What are my next steps in terms of a second FLR(M) and where can I find the requirements for that second application process? I believe I am on the 5 year route for settlement due to the vignette in my passport stating "standard".

As always, thanks for the help!

Welcome .

Received FLR(M) on February 6th 2019
Entered into the UK on 24th Feb 2019

If you received your first visa outside the UK, then you DO NOT currently have an FLR(M) visa, you have a spousal visa.

They are 2 different visas, which are valid for different lengths of time, and it's important to know which one you have, because that affects when you can apply for the next visa.

Spousal visa
- only issued OUTSIDE the UK
- costs £1,523 (plus £1,872 IHS surcharge - used to be £1,200 but it increased in October 2020)
- valid for 33 months (2 years and 9 months)
- issued as a 30-day visa vignette in your passport and a 33-month BRP card
- you can apply for your first FLR(M) 28 days before you reach 30 months (2.5 years) in the UK

FLR(M) visa
- only issued INSIDE the UK if you are already living here on a different visa
- costs £1,033 (plus £1,560 IHS surcharge - used to be £1,000 but it increased in October 2020)
- valid for 30 months (2 years and 6 months)
- issued as 30-month BRP card
- you can apply for your second FLR(M) 28 days before your BRP expires

The letter I received with my BRP says I have permission to be in the UK (Leave to Enter) from the 12th of February 2019 to the 12th of November 2021.

What are my next steps in terms of a second FLR(M) and where can I find the requirements for that second application process? I believe I am on the 5 year route for settlement due to the vignette in my passport stating "standard".

Okay, so you have a spousal visa (leave to enter) which was issued outside the UK, and you entered the UK on 24th February 2019.

Therefore, you will reach 30 months in the UK on 24th August 2021 and you can apply for your FIRST FLR(M) up to 28 days before this date, which is  27th July 2021.

So, your window for applying for FLR(M) is:

27th July 2021 to 12th November 2021 (expiry date of your BRP).

Which means you can submit your online application for FLR(M) at any point between those 2 dates.

Amazing, thank you. Yes thats what we were trying to figure out.


So when I apply for my first FLR(M) and hopefully its granted. What is the process from then on towards citizenship?

I took a look at  a few FLR threads and found the financial obligations and accommodation requirements but they were based on people I believe applying for their 2nd FLR. Are those links the same for my application?

Is the application the link the settlement application as well?
Thanks

Neil

Amazing, thank you. Yes thats what we were trying to figure out.

No problem .

So when I apply for my first FLR(M) and hopefully its granted. What is the process from then on towards citizenship?

Once the FLR(M) is granted, you will spend another 2.5 years on that visa.  When you reach 5 years in the UK, you will then apply for ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) which gives you permanent residence in the UK.

You won't need to apply for a second FLR(M), because you entered the UK on a spousal visa (which was the equivalent of a first FLR(M) for people who applied from inside the UK).

ILR currently costs £2,389, but it may increase in the next couple of years. However, there is no IHS surcharge for ILR, because permanent residence gives you full access to UK benefits and 'free' NHS entitlement, same as a UK citizen.

You can apply for ILR up to 28 days before you reach 5 years in the UK. You will reach 5 years on 24th February 2024, so you will be eligible to apply for ILR from 27th January 2024, and you will have up until the expiry date of your FLR(M) BRP to apply.

Once you have ILR, as long as you are still married to a UK citizen, you can apply for citizenship right away.

The requirements for citizenship for people married to a UK citizen are:
- you must hold ILR
- you must have been physically inside the UK exactly 3 years prior to your citizenship application date
- you must not have been outside the UK for more than 270 days in the last 3 years before applying for citizenship
- no more than 90 of those 270 days can have been in the final 12 months before applying

So the visa route for you will be:
- 2.5 years on a spousal visa
- 2.5 years on FLR(M)
- ILR after 5 years in the UK (on the spousal and FLR(M) visas)
- UK citizenship once you have been granted ILR

However, the visa path is a bit different for people who entered the UK on other visas (fiance, work or student visas) and then got married and switched to FLR(M) from inside the UK, which is why you are reading about second FLR(M) visas.
For those people, their visa route is:
- enter UK on fiance, work or student visa, then switch to an FLR(M) visa once married
- 2.5 years on first FLR(M) visa
- 2.5 years on second FLR(M) visa
- ILR after 5 years on the two FLR(M) visas
- UK citizenship once they have been granted ILR

I took a look at  a few FLR threads and found the financial obligations and accommodation requirements but they were based on people I believe applying for their 2nd FLR. Are those links the same for my application?

The financial and accommodation requirements are basically the same for all the settlement visas (with a slight exception for cash savings for ILR).

So your initial spousal visa, your FLR(M) visa and your ILR will all have the same £18,600 requirement. However, as you now live in the UK with the right to work, your income can count towards the financial requirement as well if you need it to.

See Appendix FM 1.7 for the financial requirement categories:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/939926/appendix-fm-1-7-financial-requirement-v5.0.pdf

Is the application the link the settlement application as well?

The FLR(M) online application is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-extend-stay-in-the-uk-as-a-partner-or-dependent-child-form-flrm

Such great info! Thank you. Amazing to see in one place.

So when I go to apply for my FLR(M) is there a day-count of my first 2.5 years on the spousal visa? Like an amount of days I needed to be in the country that first 2.5 years?

If there is not,  my 270 day count will technically start January 27th 2021.

Is the price of this FLR(M) the same as my spousal visa?



I think we are still going to use savings for this FLR(M) and that is 18,600/year right? So technically x2.5

Thanks

So when I go to apply for my FLR(M) is there a day-count of my first 2.5 years on the spousal visa? Like an amount of days I needed to be in the country that first 2.5 years?

Nope, there are no 'number of days' restrictions for FLR(M) or ILR applications.

The only requirements are that:
- the UK is your primary residence
and
- you and your spouse have lived together at the same address as each other for the entire length of the visa (either in the UK or overseas)

If there is not,  my 270 day count will technically start January 27th 2021.

The good thing about applying for citizenship is that there are no deadlines to apply. If you don't meet the 270 day count right away, you just wait to apply until you do meet it. Also, when calculating the 270 days, you do not count the day you left or the day you returned to the UK, as you were physically inside the UK for part of those days. Therefore, say you left the UK on a Monday and returned on Friday, that would only count as 3 days outside the UK (Tue, Wed and Thu).

Bear in mind that it can take up to 6 months to process an ILR application (unless the 24-hour priority service is available), and the earliest date you can apply for ILR is 27th January 2024.

So, that means that if you apply on 27th January potentially you might not get your ILR until July 2024 or later... which means that you wouldn't be able to apply for citizenship until July 2024 or later... so your 270-day count would therefore not start until July 2021 or later.

Is the price of this FLR(M) the same as my spousal visa?

No, the visa fee is about £500 cheaper.

The FLR(M) visa currently costs, £1,033 visa fee plus £1,560 IHS surcharge, which comes to £2,593.

I think we are still going to use savings for this FLR(M) and that is 18,600/year right? So technically x2.5

Yes, you will be using savings, you need a minimum of £62,500 held in full in your bank account(s). The first £16,000 of savings do not count and then you need 2.5 years' worth of £18,600 annual income. So, this is calculated as £16,000 + (2.5 x £18,600) = £62,500.

The £62,500 must have been in your account(s) for a minimum of 6 months before applying for FLR(M). The balance in the account(s) cannot have fallen below £62,500 for even 1 day in the 6 months.

So so amazing! As always thank you a million times over!

One final question. Say I apply for my FLR(M) near the end of my visa expiry date (Say November 1 when my visa runs out on the 12th) if I am not granted an extension before the 12th (Last time this spousal visa took 3 months) will I be illegally in the UK for that period in between?

I assume we shouldn't wait that long to apply when I have that large window open to apply.

Do we still need to continue to prove we are in a committed relationship (2 photos like last time? )

N

One final question. Say I apply for my FLR(M) near the end of my visa expiry date (Say November 1 when my visa runs out on the 12th) if I am not granted an extension before the 12th (Last time this spousal visa took 3 months) will I be illegally in the UK for that period in between?

Nope. All you need to do is submit the online application by the 12th in order to have an in-time application.

If your current visa expires while the application is processing, your immigration status and right to live and work in the UK will be automatically extended under Section 3C Leave until the new visa has been issued. As long as you don't leave the UK while your application is processing, you will be protected under 3C Leave and can continue to work in the UK.

See here for more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/3c-and-3d-leave

I assume we shouldn't wait that long to apply when I have that large window open to apply.

It's up to you. As long as the application has been submitted by the 12th, it doesn't matter when exactly you apply.

Do we still need to continue to prove we are in a committed relationship (2 photos like last time? )

You do, but you provide different documents this time.

Instead of providing photos and evidence of communication, you provide evidence that you and your spouse have been living together in the same house as each other for the last 2 years.

This is done by providing items of official mail addressed to both of you at the same address, covering the last 2 years.

The requirements are:
- 6 items of mail in each name (either jointly or separately addressed)
- spread evenly over the last 2 years... so 1 document in each name every 4 months
- from at least 3 official sources
- the documents must have been received in the mail in the months they are dated... you can't just print online bills and statements

So, as an example, if you apply in early November 2021, you will need 1 item of mail in each of your names from each of the following months:
October 2019
February 2020
June 2020
October 2020
February 2021
June 2021
October 2021

And if you apply earlier, you just adjust the months accordingly so that you cover the 2 years leading up to the application.

Acceptable documents that you can use include:
• Letters or other documents from government departments or agencies, for example HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Work and Pensions, DVLA, TV Licensing.
• Letters or other documents from your GP, a hospital or other local health service about medical treatments, appointments, home visits or other medical matters
• Bank statements/letters
• Building society savings books/letters
• Council tax bills or statements
• Electricity and/or gas bills or statements
• Water rates bills or statements
• Mortgage statements/agreement
• Tenancy agreement(s)
• Telephone bills or statements

Great, thats good to know. I know we signed up for joint water bill and council tax right when I arrived, a few other things like heat and electricity I was not allowed to piggy back on.

Say for one month I have my own personal bank statement that came to me at our address and my husband has his own personal bank statement that comes to him does that count for that month? Does it always have to be a joint account?

If it always has to to be a joint account then a joint bank statement and a joint council tax would count for that month?

I know we have a joint back account for this reason, but paper statements stopped last year. I just ordered this years (2020) set of paper statements officially from the back will these be okay?

Great, thats good to know. I know we signed up for joint water bill and council tax right when I arrived, a few other things like heat and electricity I was not allowed to piggy back on.

Say for one month I have my own personal bank statement that came to me at our address and my husband has his own personal bank statement that comes to him does that count for that month? Does it always have to be a joint account?

If it always has to to be a joint account then a joint bank statement and a joint council tax would count for that month?

I know we have a joint back account for this reason, but paper statements stopped last year. I just ordered this years (2020) set of paper statements officially from the back will these be okay?

Two individual statements are fine. They do not need to be joint.

Great!

We just realised our water bills only come twice a year and council tax only once. If the months these bills come in do not fit in the 4 month pattern does that mean they are not useable?

Do people plan their application date around using these infrequent bills so they are applicable?

Thanks

Great!

We just realised our water bills only come twice a year and council tax only once. If the months these bills come in do not fit in the 4 month pattern does that mean they are not useable?

Do people plan their application date around using these infrequent bills so they are applicable?

Thanks

If you are struggling for sources you might have to plan around them but if you have plenty it won't be an issue. You only need 3 separate sources.
You'll need your council tax bill in any case as part of the accommodation requirement.

I don't think were struggling to find things, but definitely struggling with paper statements from different sources. I think we should be okay if ordered paper statements officially work.

So many places moved to online statements really without us telling them too but we are in the process of ordering now. I'm glad I asked this earlier than I even thought I should.

I don't think were struggling to find things, but definitely struggling with paper statements from different sources. I think we should be okay if ordered paper statements officially work.

So many places moved to online statements really without us telling them too but we are in the process of ordering now. I'm glad I asked this earlier than I even thought I should.

Mail only counts for the period it arrives in.
Are you both receiving your bank statements every month? That's the first thing to arrange. Then you can slot them in around your less frequent items.
Keep an eye on everything from now on, there is also a correspondence requirement for ILR.

We were receiving them for a while, but recently (have just realised) were switched over to only online statements.

Yes we will definitely be more cognisant of it now.

We were good about adding myself (the applicant) to things to have them in joint name.

Do accountant statements work for official mail?