ILR Advice Required Please

Hi All,

I have briefly  asked and got some advice on a previous post earlier in the year but would like to keep a fresh one that is specific for now and not to confuse me any more than I already am.

My wifes Visa expires this September, (Ive forgoten the name of it) but its one she got when she came to live here after we married which we had to then renew something like 2.6 years later and now the time has come again.    From what I remember it was pointed out to me because she now has 5 years in the UK she can apply for ILR? which has benefits over the current one?

IVe been trying to find the link to the correct forms / procedure but unsure if the one I am looking at is correct.
https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/set-m?_ga=2.65333547.404577729.1623076217-2090387503.1612450377

I also believe she will have to take a British Test...
It mentions its 6 months which could be an issue due to immediate family issues for which she is in USA at the moment dealing with.
Do you know if Fast Trak has re-opened yet by paying a premium to go faster than 6 months?

Any other advice as always from this group is appreciated.

My wifes Visa expires this September, (Ive forgoten the name of it) but its one she got when she came to live here after we married which we had to then renew something like 2.6 years later and now the time has come again.    From what I remember it was pointed out to me because she now has 5 years in the UK she can apply for ILR? which has benefits over the current one?

The first visa she applied for was a temporary residence spousal visa.

The second visa she applied for was a temporary residence visa extension called FLR(M).

Now that she has been in the UK for 5 years she will be eligible to apply for permanent residence, also known as ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain).

ILR means:
- she can live in the U.K. indefinitely without having to apply for any more visas in the future (as long as she remains living in the U.K.
- she will be able to access to all U.K. government benefit
- she will get free NHS healthcare with no IHS surcharge to pay
- she can apply for UK citizenship as soon as she gets her ILR visa

So, as long as she qualifies for ILR, there is no benefit at all to not applying for it.

I also believe she will have to take a British Test...

Yes, she must have passed the Life in the UK test before she applies for ILR.

If she cannot pass it before her current visa expires, she will have to apply for another 2.5-year FLR(M) instead, take the test, and then apply for ILR after passing the test... which means an extra £2,600 in visa fees - which you don’t want to spend out on if you don’t have to.

IVe been trying to find the link to the correct forms / procedure but unsure if the one I am looking at is correct.
https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/set-m?_ga=2.65333547.404577729.1623076217-2090387503.1612450377

Yes, that’s the correct form (SET(M)).

It mentions its 6 months which could be an issue due to immediate family issues for which she is in USA at the moment dealing with.
Do you know if Fast Trak has re-opened yet by paying a premium to go faster than 6 months?

Yes, the Super Priority service is available again now, which gives a visa decision within 24 hours of biometrics for £800 (and the new BRP is delivered within 10 working days)... but it is only being made available to a limited number of applicants due to Covid... so it may or may not be offered as an option when she applies.

If it is an option, it will be offered for purchase at the time she submits the online application and pays for the visa.


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As always Ksand24 thank you for your iexpertise.

Good Morning

One thought I had over night is do you know at what stage my Wife would have to submit her PassPort? (I presume she does)

For example lets say she starts her application July is this the time she has to submit it?  Reason I ask is we have a holiday planned early August (if spain gets on green list by then!) so if she applied in July and sent passport off I would be going on my own :-)    ITs not an issue if I can find out in advance as I can cancel for free at the moment up to end of June...

Thanks in advance

She won’t need to submit her passport or BRP as everything is scanned and uploaded now.

However she cannot travel while her visa is processing, because that would cancel her visa application. So, she must remain in the UK until her visa has been processed and she has received her new BRP.

She doesn’t have to apply in July though... she can apply at any time before her visa expires in September.

The only deadline is that she must have submitted her online application before the expiry date on her current BRP card. So, if you have a holiday booked in August, she could always wait to apply until after she gets back from the holiday.


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Hi All

My wife has started studing the material for the test about knowing abount UK!...

Couple of questions, I presume she books in on line for the test, is that part of the ILR application or outside of it, and if outside of it do you know if there are long waiting lists?  Lastly if it is outside of it I presume she can still travel once she has passed that but before she does the ILR applicaton?

I hope my query makes sense!

Thank you..

The Life in the UK test is not part of the ILR application, but it must have been passed BEFORE you apply for ILR. It is also a requirement for UK citizenship as well, but only needs to be passed once as the.test pass certificate never expires.

The online ILR application will ask her to enter her Unique Reference Number from the test, to show she has passed it before applying.

The test can be taken at any time in the 5 years before applying for ILR. We normally recommend taking it earlier rather than later so that you aren’t scrambling around to pass it last minute before your visa expires.

See here for how to book it and what happens at the test:
https://www.gov.uk/life-in-the-uk-test

Hi Thank you for all the responses unfortunatly the way my mind goes I start asking myself extra questions!....

I understand that the Visa my wife has now has to be renewed every 2.6 years
I understand ILR gives her a one off payment for a Visa  (Not sure what cost difference is between ILR and the Current one she has)
I understand with ILR she can then apply for British Citizenship, however it mentions only if she has NOT been out of country for 450 days in the last 5 years.  I am guessing she may be close to that but it may just be under would have to try to work all that out via stamps in her passport.

I also envisage withiin the next 3 - 5 years we may be moving to USA as that was the promise I made her when we met 11 years ago!...

Any sensible thoughts are valued :-)

Hi Thank you for all the responses unfortunatly the way my mind goes I start asking myself extra questions!....

I understand that the Visa my wife has now has to be renewed every 2.6 years

Your wife only has to renew her visa for 2.5 years one time and then the next renewal she applies for is ILR which is indefinite.

No need to keep applying every 2.5 years if you only have to do it once!

So the visa path is:
- spousal visa valid 2.5 years
- FLR(M) valid 2.5 years
- ILR valid indefinitely

I understand ILR gives her a one off payment for a Visa  (Not sure what cost difference is between ILR and the Current one she has)

The cost for ILR is £2,389, but there is no IHS surcharge to pay for it.

In comparison the current visa she has costs £1,033 plus £1,560 IHS surcharge = £2,593... which is actually more expensive than ILR.

I understand with ILR she can then apply for British Citizenship, however it mentions only if she has NOT been out of country for 450 days in the last 5 years.  I am guessing she may be close to that but it may just be under would have to try to work all that out via stamps in her passport.

The requirements for citizenship are different to that if you are married to a UK citizen.

The residency requirements for citizenship if you are married to a UK citizen are:
- you hold ILR (for any length of time)
- you were physically inside the U.K. exactly 3 years prior to your application date.
- you have spent no more than 270 days outside the U.K. in the last 3 years before applying
- no more than 90 of those 270 days can have been in the last 12 months

When you count the days spent outside the U.K. you do not count the day you left or the day you arrived back in the U.K... so if you left on Monday and returned on Friday that would only count as 3 days.

They do allow some leeway of up to about 300 days out of the U.K. if you have a good reason for it.

I also envisage withiin the next 3 - 5 years we may be moving to USA as that was the promise I made her when we met 11 years ago!...

Any sensible thoughts are valued :-)

I would definitely recommend her getting ILR and citizenship before you leave the U.K., because having citizenship means she will always be able to return to live in the U.K. for the rest of her life without applying for any more visas.

However, if she gets only ILR and not citizenship, the ILR will lapse if she leaves the U.K. for more than 2 years... which would mean if she wishes to return to live here she would have to start all over again with the 5 years of spousal and FLR(M) visas.


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Definitely get citizenship!

Thanks as always, she has been in USA Since April and not due back till July due to family death and sorting housing out for her grandma then emptying her house and selling it so she would break the 90 days but now we know we can probably maniuplate when we put in for that later in the year or even next year..........

So ILR is the way forward....   Best make sure she reads the books and practices some tests then on the history of Britain, which I Would probably fail if asked despite being british and 50! 

Thanks as always, she has been in USA Since April and not due back till July due to family death and sorting housing out for her grandma then emptying her house and selling it so she would break the 90 days but now we know we can probably maniuplate when we put in for that later in the year or even next year..........

There’s no deadline for applying for citizenship after receiving ILR, so all you would need to do is wait until she is under the 90 days in the last 12 months and then apply.

Besides, ILR can take up to 6 months to be issued anyway (unless you pay for the Super Priority service), so with standard processing times, by the time her ILR has actually been issued, she may well be close to being under the 90 days again and won’t have to wait long to apply for citizenship.


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Sorry I am back!...

IVe been reading through the SET(M) links on government site but struggling to find guidance on what is needed to apply in terms of documentation / evidence etc.  Would you be able to point me in the right direction or give a quick over view.   

Thank you as always

Sorry I am back!...

IVe been reading through the SET(M) links on government site but struggling to find guidance on what is needed to apply in terms of documentation / evidence etc.  Would you be able to point me in the right direction or give a quick over view.   

Thank you as always

It's almost exactly the same as FLR. The exceptions are, you need the life in the UK test pass and the correspondence evidence is spread over 2.5 years instead of 2 years.
The financial and accommodation requirements are the same, as is the rest of the relationship evidence.
The good news is, no IHS!

Thank you, let me see if I can remember what we did 2 years ago :-)

Nothing has changed really except my wife has stopped working from Christmas but she has good savings and I have a good income so fingers crossed all ok!....