FLR(M) Documentation & Questions

Hey guys!

I can’t believe it’s time to apply for FLR for my wife already. You guys were so helpful and supportive with our original application, so I’m hoping you’ll be able to help us again. I have listed some general questions below as well as some (probably stupid) questions within our document list – I’ve written all questions in red, so hopefully it’s clear what we mainly need clarification on. I’ll probably have more questions down the line, but hopefully this all makes sense.

We sent all documentation in via post during the first application, but I understand everything is online now - do we need to send anything in at all with the new process?

My wife entered the country on 10th March 2019 and her BRP expires on 1st December 2021 – therefore is it correct that we can apply for FLR any time from 13th August 2021 (30 months, minus 28 days) to 1st December 2021 (BRP expiry)? We currently plan to apply at some point in early-mid November 2021.

Does the format of the scans matter, i.e. can the formats be either JPEG/PNG or PDF? Does the size of the scans matter? Our original bank statements are A5 size, so hope this won’t be a problem. Lastly, if we were to get a PDF document from the Land Registry, could we upload that directly, or would we have to print it and scan it in?

Application Documents
My wife’s current passport
My wife’s previous passport (does she need to provide this? She’s still got the same passport that the entry vignette was posted in)
Declaration forms
Signed sponsor’s declaration (are this and the above declaration forms both on the electronic application?)

Proof of Identity/Travel History
My passport
My wife’s BRP (expires 1st December 2021)

Residence in the UK
Accommodation
Land Registry Title Register (will the £3 online version suffice, or does it need to be a paper copy? Does this also need to be dated within a certain timeframe of the application?)
Latest mortgage statement (will order closer to the time in late October)
Latest council tax statement (March 2021, jointly addressed)

Cohabitation
October 2019 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)
February 2020 – water bill (jointly addressed in full names)
June 2020 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)
October 2020 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)
February 2021 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)
June 2021 – electricity bill (jointly addressed, but only first and middle initials, plus surname – is this sufficient?)
October 2021 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)

I lived with my parents (we used their address on our initial application as we were going through the process of buying a house at the time) from December 2018 – March 2019. We moved into our new house in March 2019, so I have three questions:
1) Do I need to provide any communication around the change of address?
2) Do I need to provide proof from my parents that I lived at their address for that period of time?
3) Do I need to provide any evidence that my wife and I continued to communicate (despite living apart) between December 2018 and March 2019?

Finances
Payslips from April 2021 – October 2021 (7 months to be safe)
Original bank statements covering that same period
Letter from employer
Job contract
Latest P60

My job security is a little shaky at the moment, so we also have the savings route (luckily we have enough) in our back pocket. If we are to go down this route, do we only provide bank statements, or is there other evidence we would need to provide as well?

Other
Marriage certificate


Thanks again, guys, really appreciate your support x

Welcome back .

We sent all documentation in via post during the first application, but I understand everything is online now - do we need to send anything in at all with the new process?

No, you do not need to send anything at all anymore, not even your passport or BRP card.

You either:
- upload everything to the UKVCAS website before biometrics
or
- add the document scanning service to your biometrics appointment (or book an appointment that has it included) and they will scan/upload everything for you at the appointment

My wife entered the country on 10th March 2019 and her BRP expires on 1st December 2021 – therefore is it correct that we can apply for FLR any time from 13th August 2021 (30 months, minus 28 days) to 1st December 2021 (BRP expiry)? We currently plan to apply at some point in early-mid November 2021.

That's correct - you can apply any time between 13th August and 1st December 2021

Does the format of the scans matter, i.e. can the formats be either JPEG/PNG or PDF? Does the size of the scans matter? Our original bank statements are A5 size, so hope this won’t be a problem. Lastly, if we were to get a PDF document from the Land Registry, could we upload that directly, or would we have to print it and scan it in?

You can just upload the PDF document from the Land Registry directly.

There's a guide for how to scan and upload your documents on the UKVCAS website here:
https://www.ukvcas.co.uk/faq

Application Documents
My wife’s current passport
My wife’s previous passport (does she need to provide this? She’s still got the same passport that the entry vignette was posted in)
Declaration forms
Signed sponsor’s declaration (are this and the above declaration forms both on the electronic application?)

As she still has the same passport with the entry vignette in it, she does not need her previous passport.

The sponsor's declaration and the Part 1 and Part 2 consent to checks forms are part of the online application... I believe you print them out, sign them, and then scan them in.

Residence in the UK
Accommodation
Land Registry Title Register (will the £3 online version suffice, or does it need to be a paper copy? Does this also need to be dated within a certain timeframe of the application?)
Latest mortgage statement (will order closer to the time in late October)
Latest council tax statement (March 2021, jointly addressed)

The £3 online version is fine. It doesn't need to have a specific date on it... the £3 one will be issued with the date you order and download it.

You only need the most recent annual mortgage statement you have received, so the one you submit could be up to 11 months old (i.e. I get mine in January each year, so if I was applying I would provide the January 2021 statement).

Cohabitation
October 2019 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)
February 2020 – water bill (jointly addressed in full names)
June 2020 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)
October 2020 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)
February 2021 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)
June 2021 – electricity bill (jointly addressed, but only first and middle initials, plus surname – is this sufficient?)
October 2021 – bank statement (jointly addressed in full names)

Yes, the June 2021 electricity bill is fine.

I lived with my parents (we used their address on our initial application as we were going through the process of buying a house at the time) from December 2018 – March 2019. We moved into our new house in March 2019, so I have three questions:
1) Do I need to provide any communication around the change of address?
2) Do I need to provide proof from my parents that I lived at their address for that period of time?
3) Do I need to provide any evidence that my wife and I continued to communicate (despite living apart) between December 2018 and March 2019?

1) No
2) No
3) No

As it was more than 2 years ago, the period of time you lived with them is completely irrelevant to your application, because you only need to provide evidence from the last 2 years, going back to October 2019

Finances
Payslips from April 2021 – October 2021 (7 months to be safe)
Original bank statements covering that same period
Letter from employer
Job contract
Latest P60
]
My job security is a little shaky at the moment, so we also have the savings route (luckily we have enough) in our back pocket. If we are to go down this route, do we only provide bank statements, or is there other evidence we would need to provide as well?[/color]

Honestly, if you meet the savings route (£62,500 held in your account in full for at least 6 months), then I would not use your employment income at all, and instead just apply under Category D: Cash Savings... it's much easier with a lot less paperwork required.

All you need to provide is:
- 7 months of bank statements
- a statement of the source of the savings (i.e. 'savings built up from income')

- If the savings are from the sale of a house, you must provide evidence of the sale and of the money going into your account
- If the savings are in the form of a gift from a friend or family member, you must provide a letter from them confirming it's a gift and does not have to be repaid

Thanks so much, ksand24! That all makes perfect sense and has made me feel a lot better about the process.

All you need to provide is:
- 7 months of bank statements
- a statement of the source of the savings (i.e. 'savings built up from income')

- If the savings are from the sale of a house, you must provide evidence of the sale and of the money going into your account
- If the savings are in the form of a gift from a friend or family member, you must provide a letter from them confirming it's a gift and does not have to be repaid

When you mention the source of savings, how far back would the declaration of the source need to go? So, for example, we bought a house in late 2018 so a lot of our savings (regardless of source) would have gone into that. Our savings are predominantly made up of cumulative income, but there may have been some gifts from years and years ago, so just wondering how far back the declaration would need to go?

Thanks so much, ksand24! That all makes perfect sense and has made me feel a lot better about the process.

When you mention the source of savings, how far back would the declaration of the source need to go? So, for example, we bought a house in late 2018 so a lot of our savings (regardless of source) would have gone into that. Our savings are predominantly made up of cumulative income, but there may have been some gifts from years and years ago, so just wondering how far back the declaration would need to go?

Definitely go for savings, so much easier.

You can just add "gifts of money over the years" to the other sources. It's impossible to extrapolate it all out!

Thanks for the advice, larrabee! I was slightly concerned that I would have to forensically detail practically every single transaction if I went down the savings route, but it sounds like that's not the case 

Thanks for the advice, larrabee! I was slightly concerned that I would have to forensically detail practically every single transaction if I went down the savings route, but it sounds like that's not the case 

You just can't! But just to elaborate on what I said about the gifts, as it's a requirement to declare any gifted money specifically, I might give a rough amount and frequency.  Eg-  $xxx on each birthday for the last x years and various other small gifts of money unrelated to the application.   I thought it better to do this for the sake of full transparency, even though these were not related to the visa in any way.

And gifts are fine in any case. Even if you had been given the entire amount for the purpose of the visa, that's not a problem. What is not permitted is to borrow any money with the intention of repaying it.

Thanks again, larrabee, that makes sense.

I think my only doubt is that any gifts will have been of varying amounts and at random times, which is why it is quite challenging to summarise. For example, if I had received separate gifts from x different people over the past y years, would I need a letter from each gift-giver to confirm that they are gifts rather than loans?

The gifts are by no means related to the visa in any case, I just want to make sure we would have all bases covered if we were to go down the savings route.

Thanks again, larrabee, that makes sense.

I think my only doubt is that any gifts will have been of varying amounts and at random times, which is why it is quite challenging to summarise. For example, if I had received separate gifts from x different people over the past y years, would I need a letter from each gift-giver to confirm that they are gifts rather than loans?

The gifts are by no means related to the visa in any case, I just want to make sure we would have all bases covered if we were to go down the savings route.

No, you would only need letters if the gifts happened for the purpose of the visa. This will be obvious as your balance would have been under 62.5k, then a deposit will have been made to your account to bring you up to/over that amount. This is obviously not the case here.

In all honesty, it's probably not even necessary to mention historical gifts but I just did to be completely thorough. It was just a case of adding a couple of sentences to my declaration and made me feel better!

Ah! I didn't realise that letters were only required if the gifts were solely for the visa. Thanks for talking me through things; I thought I was probably overthinking things, so glad to confirm that that's probably the case!

Thanks for all of your help - no doubt I'll think of more questions as I'm collating all of the documents

Hi guys, happy Sunday!

My wife and I have been busy collating our documents for submission at some point next month (once we receive the final bank statement we need), and I have a few other questions.

The application asks about other countries my wife (the applicant) has lived in. She has lived in numerous countries and the US at several different points, so what would be the best way to answer this question? I haven't yet started the application so am not sure if it has the functionality to cater for her in-and-out stays in the US, so it might not be a problem, but would it be best to write a cover letter explaining this just in case?

The application asks why it would be difficult for my wife to move back to the US/why she wants to stay. What type of information should we be putting in here? She is employed, but I am wary of mentioning it as it may cloud the application and introduce new, unnecessary information that the case worker has to consider.

The application asks for evidence of when we first met - what type of thing should we be providing here?

As we are planning to use the savings route, it was mentioned that we need to state the source of savings - is this just in the form of a(nother) cover letter, or is there something else we need to provide?

I have seen other people include relationship documents like in the first spouse visa, e.g. multiple photos, conversation logs, plane tickets etc. Is it advised to include this for a strengthened application, or does it really make no difference?

Is it okay to use the same documents for the financial evidence and the correspondence evidence? Our bank statements are in joint names and have our address on them, so we were planning to provide the last 6/7 months' worth, but also wanted to include some of them in the correspondence list - is that allowed?

Do we need cover letters as per the first application? E.g. separate cover letters from both the sponsor and applicant stating why it is important that the visa is granted.

And finally (for now, anyway!  ) just to triple check, correspondence in the format 'Mr A B Name & Mrs C D Name' is perfectly valid?

Thanks so much, you're all absolute lifesavers! x

The application asks about other countries my wife (the applicant) has lived in. She has lived in numerous countries and the US at several different points, so what would be the best way to answer this question? I haven't yet started the application so am not sure if it has the functionality to cater for her in-and-out stays in the US, so it might not be a problem, but would it be best to write a cover letter explaining this just in case?

I think it’s going to depend on what exactly the online form asks for. I can’t see it myself but it may just ask for a list of dates and countries, in which case you would just fill those in.

The application asks why it would be difficult for my wife to move back to the US/why she wants to stay. What type of information should we be putting in here? She is employed, but I am wary of mentioning it as it may cloud the application and introduce new, unnecessary information that the case worker has to consider.

Your answer to question will only be looked at if the application falls for refusal and they have to see if she qualifies to be put on the 10-year path to ILR under Article 8.

They want to know serious reasons why it would be impossible for her to return to the US and why she MUST remain in the UK in order to continue living her life safely.

For example:
- her life would be in danger in the US due to war, famine, natural disasters, terrorism, domestic violence etc.
- she has no family or ties to the US or wouldn’t have any means to support hersel and so she would end up homeless/penniless if she had to return
- you (her U.K. sponsor) are permanently banned from entering the US and will never qualify for a visa to move there, therefore it would be impossible for you set up a life in the US together and she would have to stay in the UK in order to be with you

The application asks for evidence of when we first met - what type of thing should we be providing here?

Does it? I don’t recall anyone ever mentioning having to provide evidence before. Normally you just have to list the date you met in person and state how long you have been in a relationship.

As we are planning to use the savings route, it was mentioned that we need to state the source of savings - is this just in the form of a(nother) cover letter, or is there something else we need to provide?

There may be a space on the form for stating the source, but you should include a short declaration on a separate sheet stating where the savings came from.

I have seen other people include relationship documents like in the first spouse visa, e.g. multiple photos, conversation logs, plane tickets etc. Is it advised to include this for a strengthened application, or does it really make no difference?

No, none of that will be considered this time so should not be included .

For FLR(M) the required relationship evidence is:
- marriage certificate
- your 6 items of correspondence/cohabitation showing you have lived together for the last 2 years

Is it okay to use the same documents for the financial evidence and the correspondence evidence? Our bank statements are in joint names and have our address on them, so we were planning to provide the last 6/7 months' worth, but also wanted to include some of them in the correspondence list - is that allowed?

Yes, that’s fine - you would just upload those specific bank statements twice, once to the finances section and once to the residence in the UK section.

Do we need cover letters as per the first application? E.g. separate cover letters from both the sponsor and applicant stating why it is important that the visa is granted.

No, there is no requirement at all for these. Instead, the online form has a Sponsor’s Declaration that you print, sign and upload, confirming that you sponsor the application and that all the information provided is correct.

There are also Part 1 and Part 2 Consent to Checks forms which you and your wife sign and upload.

If you need to, you can include a cover letter but that would just be to explain anything specific about the documents, such as if you needed to explain inconsistent spacing of correspondence documents, or a previous visa refusal or criminal conviction or something.

And finally (for now, anyway!  ) just to triple check, correspondence in the format 'Mr A B Name & Mrs C D Name' is perfectly valid?

Yep.


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Thanks so much as always, ksand24! 

So the time for our application is fast approaching...we hope to apply next week or the week after depending on when our last bank statement comes through, so starting to get (even more) nervous!

I did have one more question though. We currently have three accounts with the same bank, but only plan to use the balance from one of these accounts towards the financial requirement. There are transfers from the other two accounts to our main one (predominantly monthly savings from employment) that show up on our bank statements - do we need to detail the other two accounts at all as a result and include them as part of the application (even in the source of income statement), or are we fine to just proceed using the bank statements for our main account? Just to reiterate, our main account has a high-enough balance to meet the requirement by itself.

And I did also have another question - our house and mortgage are currently only in my (the sponsor) name; do I therefore need to write a letter stating that my wife has my permission to live here with me, or is that just assumed?

Thank you!

So the time for our application is fast approaching...we hope to apply next week or the week after depending on when our last bank statement comes through, so starting to get (even more) nervous!

I did have one more question though. We currently have three accounts with the same bank, but only plan to use the balance from one of these accounts towards the financial requirement. There are transfers from the other two accounts to our main one (predominantly monthly savings from employment) that show up on our bank statements - do we need to detail the other two accounts at all as a result and include them as part of the application (even in the source of income statement), or are we fine to just proceed using the bank statements for our main account? Just to reiterate, our main account has a high-enough balance to meet the requirement by itself.

And I did also have another question - our house and mortgage are currently only in my (the sponsor) name; do I therefore need to write a letter stating that my wife has my permission to live here with me, or is that just assumed?

Thank you!

You only need the statements from the account you are using plus the declaration of the source of funds. You don't need to mention the other accounts, it's almost a given that deposits go through more than one account.

It is assumed that you are granting her permission to live with you because you are sponsoring her, no letter of permission required.

You only need the statements from the account you are using plus the declaration of the source of funds. You don't need to mention the other accounts, it's almost a given that deposits go through more than one account.

It is assumed that you are granting her permission to live with you because you are sponsoring her, no letter of permission required.

Thank you - I thought I was probably overthinking it!

In terms of gifts, how far back do I need to go in terms of detailing it? I think I asked this before, but I'm just wary that I had support with buying a house (back in 2018), so would something like that need to be covered, or are they only really interested in the 6/7 month period detailed by the supporting bank statements?