FLR 2nd extension help

Hi there,

I came to the UK on Feb 2019 under the fiance visa and was granted FLR on May 15th 2019. I am now looking at applying for my second FLR extension (correct me if I'm wrong) later this year.

My residence permit says that it expires on Dec 13rd 2021.

However, due to covid, a lot has happened and I am a bit lost in terms of the financial requiriments. Currently, I do not hold a job and my husband has also lost his job recently. We have very good savings in place and we wanted to know if the savings way is still at £62K having it untouched for 6 months in a separate bank account?

It seems I'm supposed to be applying a month in advance, so if my current visa expires on Dec 13rd, I should be applying starting Nov 13th? And does that mean we should have our savings untouched starting June 13th?

In case we get jobs in the comings months but cannot have the 6 months payslips, what other route are we looking at? Can we combine savings and payslips?

Very odd timings with this visa extensiton and out current job situation :/

I hope someone here can help us understand what we should be doing.

Many thanks!

It's £62,500 for savings which is by far the easiest way of meeting the requirements, job or no job.

The savings don't need to have been literally untouched, rather the amount in the account must not have fallen below the requirement in the 6 months preceding the application date. So you can still use the account by adding  and withdrawing funds just as long as you never go below the minimum during that time. Having said that, I kept mine in a completely separate account, for ease and for safety.

It's £62,500 for savings which is by far the easiest way of meeting the requirements, job or no job.

The savings don't need to have been literally untouched, rather the amount in the account must not have fallen below the requirement in the 6 months preceding the application date.

Thank you for such a speedy reply. So does it mean I should be applying starting Nov 13th? I have heard if you don't apply one month in advance prior to your residence permit expires then you have to apply for FLR a 3rd time around to get ILR for the 5 years?

Also does it need to be in a joint account or is it fine if one of us holds the account?

In case we get jobs in the comings months but cannot have the 6 months payslips, what other route are we looking at? Can we combine savings and payslips?

Thank you for such a speedy reply. So does it mean I should be applying starting Nov 13th? I have heard if you don't apply one month in advance prior to your residence permit expires then you have to apply for FLR a 3rd time around to get ILR for the 5 years?

Also does it need to be in a joint account or is it fine if one of us holds the account?

In case we get jobs in the comings months but cannot have the 6 months payslips, what other route are we looking at? Can we combine savings and payslips?

Yes, you're going to want to apply close-ish to the time of the expiration of your visa to stop that from happening.

The money must be in either one, or both of your names. If you have the savings, just go with that.

Thank you for such a speedy reply. So does it mean I should be applying starting Nov 13th? I have heard if you don't apply one month in advance prior to your residence permit expires then you have to apply for FLR a 3rd time around to get ILR for the 5 years?

Because you switched from a fiancé visa, the absolute earliest date you can apply for the next FLR(M) is 28 days before your current visa expires.

So you cannot apply before 15th November 2021.


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Hey guys, I’m starting to gather everything that we may need to apply for my spouse extension  in a few months time. I believe the entire process hasn’t changed much and that is quite similar to when I first applied? Please correct me below if I am wrong

Background story: First arrived in the UK under the Fiance Visa on Feb 15th 2019 then got granted FLR on May 15th 2019 shortly after our wedding. My current visa expires on Dec 13th 2021 so it appears I am supposed to apply for an extension no earlier before Nov 15th 2021?

If so, below is a list of what I gathered that is needed to apply.  Would be appreciated if someone can let us know if it all looks good/what needs changing

Application Documents
- Applicant Passport
- Marriage certificate
- IHS reference number/surcharge

Applicant’s Spouse Documents:
 - Spouse UK Passport

Proof of Identity/Travel History:
- Applicant BRP – front and back
- Applicant passport (scan of all pages)

Financial Documentation:
We want to apply under the cash savings route (£62.500). Should we just provide 6 months of signed and stamped bank statements along with a declaration by my husband (since the amount is held in his account)? What should we include in this declaration? Will these months suffice?

June 2021
July 2021
August 2021
September 2021
October 2021
November 2021

Residence in the U.K:
- Land Registry document
- Latest mortgage statement (Does this need to be signed and stamped by mortgage provider?)
- Council Tax Bill 2021/2022


Evidence of Cohabitation:
How should we go about this? Spacing bills between 6 months at a time?

Hey guys, I’m starting to gather everything that we may need to apply for my spouse extension  in a few months time. I believe the entire process hasn’t changed much and that is quite similar to when I first applied? Please correct me below if I am wrong

Assuming that you applied using the online system and uploaded your documents through the UKVCAS website (and attended biometrics with UKVCAS), then yes, it should be very similar.

Background story: First arrived in the UK under the Fiance Visa on Feb 15th 2019 then got granted FLR on May 15th 2019 shortly after our wedding. My current visa expires on Dec 13th 2021 so it appears I am supposed to apply for an extension no earlier before Nov 15th 2021?

Yes, the earliest you can apply is 28 days before December 13th 2021, which will be November 15th.

I'm just going to rearrange your documents into the correct upload sections for the UKVCAS website. Missing documents are in red, my comments are in blue

Application Documents
- Applicant Passport (full scan of every page)
- any other passports held by applicant since moving to the UK
- Signed sponsor's declaration (part of online application)
- Part 1 Consent to Checks form signed by applicant  (part of online application)
- Part 2 Consent to Checks form signed by sponsor  (part of online application)

Proof of Identity/Travel History:
- Sponsor's UK passport (scan of every page)
- Applicant BRP – front and back

Financial Documentation:
- You must provide 6 FULL months of bank statements ending no more than 28 days before you submit the online application. This normally means including 7 months' worth in order to cover every single day of the 6 months.
- For the declaration of source of savings, you just state where the money came from, for example: 'savings from income built up over the years'

If you apply in mid-November, and your bank statement is issued on the last day of each month, you would include all of the following bank statements
30 April 2021
31 May 2021
30 June 2021
31 July 2021
31 August 2021
30 September 2021
31 October 2021

Or if you apply in early December, you would need all of the following months of bank statements:
31 May 2021
30 June 2021
31 July 2021
31 August 2021
30 September 2021
31 October 2021
30 November

Residence in the U.K:
Accommodation Documents
- Land Registry document
- Latest mortgage statement (Does this need to be signed and stamped by mortgage provider?) - no, it doesn't
- Council Tax Bill 2021/2022
Cohabitation Documents
The requirements for cohabitation documents are:
- 6 items of mail in each name
- spaced evenly over the last 2 years... so 1 document in each name dated every 4 months (either 1 joint, or 2 individual documents)
- from at least 3 different official sources
So, you will need 1 item of mail in each name from each of the following months:
November 2019
March 2020
July 2020
November 2020
March 2021
July 2021
November 2021

Other
- Marriage certificate

You will write the IHS reference number on your online application form, so there is no need to include it separately in your uploaded documents

Does "Full month" mean an actual named month, or just a 30/31-day period?
My bank statements are on the 29th of the month so if we apply mid-November we'll only have 29 days of October in the statement. Is that ok as it's <28 days before the application or is it bad because October isn't complete? We can go back at least 7 or 8 months from there.

How does this look for bills? I have changed the last 3 months, prob OK? If I'm applying mid November I can't get a full nov 2021 statement...

- November 2019: Water(Applicant's)/ TV(Spouse)
- March 2020: Joint Monzo bank account
- July 2020: Joint Energy & Gas
- November 2020: Joint Internet
- April 2021: EE (Applicant's)/ EE (Spouse)
- August 2021: Joint Council Tax
- October 2021: Monzo (Applicant's)/ Amex (Spouse)

I have been looking at some paper communication we have, and I found some letters from the NHS confirming an appointment date. Can I use this as well?

Does "Full month" mean an actual named month, or just a 30/31-day period?
My bank statements are on the 29th of the month so if we apply mid-November we'll only have 29 days of October in the statement. Is that ok as it's <28 days before the application or is it bad because October isn't complete? We can go back at least 7 or 8 months from there.

The 'Full' part refers to the whole 6-month period... the statements have to cover a 'full 6 months', as in every single day of an entire 6-month period... so if you are even 1 day short of a full 6 months, the visa can be refused.

So, that means that if your latest statement is dated 29th October, then your statements must explicitly cover every single day from 29th April to 29th October... and the date of 29th April must be explicitly shown on your first bank statement (i.e. if the first statement only shows 30th April onwards, then you will be 1 day short of a full 6 months and will need the March statement as well).

How does this look for bills? I have changed two months, prob OK?

- November 2019: Water(Applicant's)/ TV(Spouse)
- March 2020: Joint Monzo bank account
- July 2020: Joint Energy & Gas
- November 2020: Joint Internet
- April 2021: EE (Applicant's)/ EE (Spouse)
- August 2021: Joint Council Tax
- November 2021: Monzo (Applicant's)/ Amex (Spouse)

That looks okay, but you will also need to include a letter of explanation for why you cannot provide documents from March and July 2021 and are instead providing documents from April and August 2021.

I have been looking at some paper communication we have, and I found some letters from the NHS confirming an appointment date. Can I use this as well?

Yes, you can use those.

From the old paper FLR(M) form, examples of acceptable documents are:

• 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

That looks okay, but you will also need to include a letter of explanation for why you cannot provide documents from March and July 2021 and are instead providing documents from April and August 2021.

May I ask why I would need to explain such a thing? Isn't it supposed to be spread over the 2.5 years...? Will a month here or there really make it look bad? Also, If I'm applying in mid November, I won't have a full bill for this month, so I'd need to supply an October bill instead...?

So I figured I'd include the following:

- November 2019: Water(Applicant's)/ TV(Spouse)
- March 2020: Joint Monzo bank account
- July 2020: Joint Energy & Gas
- November 2020: Joint Internet
- March 2021: EE (Applicant's)/ EE (Spouse)
- July 2021: Monzo (Applicant's)/ Amex (Spouse)
- October 2021: Joint Council Tax

Please, do let me know if you advise something else

May I ask why I would need to explain such a thing? Isn't it supposed to be spread over the 2.5 years...? Will a month here or there really make it look bad?

You need to explain it because the application form tells you to include a letter of explanation if your documents don't quite meet the criteria laid out in the guidance (i.e. if you don't have 6 items each, or you cannot cover the 2-year period, or they are not evenly-spaced, or you do not have at least 3 sources).

It won't 'look bad' or be an issue as long as you include an explanation... but with no explanation it could be a problem.

Also, If I'm applying in mid November, I won't have a full bill for this month, so I'd need to supply an October bill instead...?

So I figured I'd include the following:

- November 2019: Water(Applicant's)/ TV(Spouse)
- March 2020: Joint Monzo bank account
- July 2020: Joint Energy & Gas
- November 2020: Joint Internet
- April 2021: EE (Applicant's)/ EE (Spouse)
- August 2021: Joint Council Tax
- October 2021: Monzo (Applicant's)/ Amex (Spouse)

You could do that, but you will again need to explain the reason why the entire second year of documents are not evenly-spaced every 4 months... so you will need to explain:
- the 5-month gap between Nov 2020 and April 2021
- the 3-month gap between April 2021 and August 2021
- the 2-month gap between August 2021 and October 2021

It doesn't have to be a bill though, it could be any item of official mail... so if you receive anything in the first couple of weeks of November, it can be used.

Or the other option is to adjust your months for the whole 2 years accordingly, and instead cover October 2019 to October 2021, using the following months:
October 2019
February 2020
June 2020
October 2020
February 2021
June 2021
October 2021

Here is the full guidance from the old paper FLR(M) form (FLR(M) Version 04/2018, pages 63-64):

If your application is as the partner of a settled person or person who is in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection

Six items of correspondence addressed to you and your partner at the same address as evidence that you have been living together since your last grant of leave in this category, or from the date you first started living together up to a maximum of two years. See Note 11.

Note 11
The items of correspondence should be addressed to you jointly or in both your names.

Examples of acceptable items are listed below. The documents provided must be originals. Photocopies are not acceptable.

The dates of the items of correspondence should be spread evenly over the whole period you are relying on. They should be from at least 3 different sources. If you do not have enough items in your joint names, you may also provide items addressed to each of you individually if they show the same address for both of you.

For example - Four items of correspondence in joint names to the same address and two items addressed to each partner at the address. In total eight items would need to be submitted.

If you and your partner have no bills or correspondence in joint names, you will need to submit twelve items (six each) of correspondence, evidencing that you reside together at the same address.

If you and your partner lived with relatives or friends for some or all of the period you are relying on, please provide a letter from the relative(s) and/or friend(s) confirming this.

If you did not live together for any part of the period you are relying on, tell us the reasons for this and whether you stayed in contact with each other during this time, and provide any relevant supporting evidence.

Please give an explanation on a separate sheet if you cannot provide six items; if the items are not addressed to both of you; or if they do not cover the period you are relying on.

Examples of acceptable items of correspondence
• 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[/i]

Thanks for that.

It appears the edits I made after I posted didn't appear for you? I had only October 2021 changed instead of November 2021.
As I mentioned, I won't be able to provide a bill for the month of november if I'm applying mid november. Is it OK then? Would I still need to provide a letter explaining this last month?

Thanks for that.

It appears the edits I made after I posted didn't appear for you? I had only October 2021 changed instead of November 2021.

Ah, yes - sorry about that... I must have quoted your post before you edited it.

As I mentioned, I won't be able to provide a bill for the month of november if I'm applying mid november. Is it OK then? Would I still need to provide a letter explaining this last month?

As I said above, you don’t need a bill for the month of November, you can use any other item of mail you receive in the first couple of weeks of the month.

Or you can use something from the end of October and include a letter of explanation for why it’s not dated in November.

Or you wait until early December to apply and use a bill from the end of November.

Or you can adjust all your documents and have them be dated in October, February and June each year instead of November, March and July.

You have plenty of options.


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The reality is that November, March and July looks better to us - for many reasons, because we have bills from old providers (tv and energy especially). Water and Energy are quite irregular bills and it just happens that we have the months you have first suggested!

All I could possibly receive is a council tax if I order it in the post in November (we actually didn't get sent one earlier this year) as it will have a date of issue in early November in order to include November 2019 to November 2021. Should I stick to this plan then? And provide the following finally without the need of more paperwork having to explain if things are missing etc

- November 2019: Water (Applicant's)/ TV (Spouse)
- March 2020: Joint Monzo bank account
- July 2020: Joint Energy & Gas
- November 2020: Joint Internet
- March 2021: EE (Applicant's)/ EE (Spouse)
- July 2021: Monzo (Applicant's) / Amex (Spouse)
- November 2021: Joint Council Tax

All I could possibly receive is a council tax if I order it in the post in November (we actually didn't get sent one earlier this year) as it will have a date of issue in early November in order to include November 2019 to November 2021. Should I stick to this plan then? And provide the following finally without the need of more paperwork having to explain if things are missing etc

- November 2019: Water (Applicant's)/ TV (Spouse)
- March 2020: Joint Monzo bank account
- July 2020: Joint Energy & Gas
- November 2020: Joint Internet
- March 2021: EE (Applicant's)/ EE (Spouse)
- July 2021: Monzo (Applicant's) / Amex (Spouse)
- November 2021: Joint Council Tax

Looks good to me .


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