Preparing for ILR

Hi everyone,

My FLR visa was approved in May this year.

What does that mean for me in terms of timescales for the cohabitation evidence requirement/spacing of letters sent to our address?

In terms of other evidence, is it essentially the same as that of FLR? Eg bank statements, employment contract, land registry document, etc.?

I also appreciate I’ll need to take the Life in the U.K. test which I haven’t even started studying for!! Any helpful tips for preparing for this test?

Thank you!


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Hi everyone,

My FLR visa was approved in May this year.

What does that mean for me in terms of timescales for the cohabitation evidence requirement/spacing of letters sent to our address?

For ILR, your cohabitation evidence needs to be evenly-spaced over the period since your last visa was issued. This is normally over the last 2.5 years... which means spacing every 5 months rather than 4 months.

In terms of other evidence, is it essentially the same as that of FLR? Eg bank statements, employment contract, land registry document, etc.?

Yes, all the same documents again, plus the Life in the UK test.


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Hi everyone,

My FLR visa was approved in May this year.

What does that mean for me in terms of timescales for the cohabitation evidence requirement/spacing of letters sent to our address?

In terms of other evidence, is it essentially the same as that of FLR? Eg bank statements, employment contract, land registry document, etc.?

I also appreciate I’ll need to take the Life in the U.K. test which I haven’t even started studying for!! Any helpful tips for preparing for this test?

Thank you!


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The spacing of correspondence documents for ILR starts when your FLR was granted. It usually works out at every 5 months.
It's pretty much the same other than that. Same financial evidence (except savings requirement is less) accommodation etc.

For the test, read the book then take practice tests until you are consistently passing easily. There are many available online.
And do it sooner rather than later, it is not something you want to be panicking about at the last moment!

Great thank you both, helpful as always!

So if my FLR visa was issued in May, then we would need evidence for:
May 2021
October 2021
March 2022
August 2022
January 2023
June 2023
November 2023

Does that look about right?

Also, my FLR visa expires 23 Dec 2023 so could we apply in November 2023?

Thank you again!


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Great thank you both, helpful as always!

So if my FLR visa was issued in May, then we would need evidence for:
May 2021
October 2021
March 2022
August 2022
January 2023
June 2023
November 2023

Does that look about right?

Also, my FLR visa expires 23 Dec 2023 so could we apply in November 2023?

Thank you again!

When you can apply is based on when you reach 5 years from entry into the UK on a spouse visa (or 5 years from when you got your first FLR(M) if you did fiance>FLR(M)>FLR(M)>ILR).  This date should be stamped on your entry vignette in the US passport you held at the time you came to the UK.  You can apply from 28 days before you reach 5 years from entry on the spouse visa.  You must apply before the expiry of your current visa.

For example, if you entered the UK on a spouse visa on 29 September, 2018, the earliest you can apply for ILR is 28 days before 29 September, 2023... this would be 1 September, 2023.  Meanwhile, you must apply before 23 December, 2023.


I'll defer to others for the spacing of correspondence evidence, but personally, if it was my application, I wouldn't bother with May 2021, because you'd only just received your current visa then, so you have already shown that you were living together at that time.  I'd probably not go all the way to the date of new application, either, because all the other things in your application will show that you're together now.  Maybe 4 month spacing, starting from September 2021.  So that would be September 2021, January 2022, May 2022, September 2022, January 2023, May 2023.  But I don't know exactly what the application asks for (it either says "since previous visa granted" or "for previous 2 years", and I was never sure how to interpret it).

I'll defer to others for the spacing of correspondence evidence, but personally, if it was my application, I wouldn't bother with May 2021, because you'd only just received your current visa then, so you have already shown that you were living together at that time.  I'd probably not go all the way to the date of new application, either, because all the other things in your application will show that you're together now.  Maybe 4 month spacing, starting from September 2021.  So that would be September 2021, January 2022, May 2022, September 2022, January 2023, May 2023.  But I don't know exactly what the application asks for (it either says "since previous visa granted" or "for previous 2 years", and I was never sure how to interpret it).

For ILR, I believe the application asks for cohabitation evidence since the last visa was granted, but I think the checklist actually asks for the last 2.5 years, so we always recommend sending the last 2.5 years (spacing every 5 months) even if that starts before your last visa was issued.

I see from your previous posts that you arrived in the UK in July 2018, so you should be eligible to apply for ILR from June 2023, up to the expiry date of your current visa.

So, if you were to apply in June 2023, I would recommend including mail every 5 months from:
December 2020
May 2021
October 2021
March 2022
August 2022
January 2023
June 2023

But if you waited until December 2023 to apply then you would include mail every 5 months from:
June 2021
November 2021
April 2022
September 2022
February 2022
July 2022
December 2023


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