FLR(M) Visa Questions

Thank you!

I've just been racking my brain trying to figure out why I always get paid on the third to last business day of the month except for August. My wife just asked if it was a bank holiday and I looked into it and that's what it was.

So I was paid on Thursday 26 August and Monday the 30th was a bank holiday.

Ah, yes, I assumed it was likely due to the bank holiday… that’s the most common reason for a change in payslip/pay deposit date (another reason is early payment due to Christmas) .

So I was actually paid on the third to last business day of the month.
So I'm assuming I can leave out any explanation about that now?

As long as the letter explicitly states that payslips are dated for the third to last working day of the month, that should be okay.


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That's awesome, thank you so much for your help.


Something else I've just thought of is about the bank statements that I'm providing. Do they need to cover the whole 6 month period or do they solely need to show my payslips being deposited?

Because all of my bank statements are dated on the 21st or 22nd of each month and I'm always paid after that date. So I would only need to provide my June bank statement to show my pay from May being deposited. So would I just provide bank statements from June, July, August, September, October, November, and a partial statement from the 22 November until now to show my most recent pay being deposited? Because I think that would be below showing a full 6 months.

Something else I've just thought of is about the bank statements that I'm providing. Do they need to cover the whole 6 month period or do they solely need to show my payslips being deposited?

Both the payslips and bank statements must cover every single day of the 6-month period. This normally means including 7 months' worth of both payslips and bank statements in order to cover every single day of the 6 months.

For example, if your latest payslip is dated November 20th, the 6-month period you must cover will be:
May 20th to November 20th 2021

Therefore you will need the following payslips:
20th May (in order to explicitly cover the day of 20th May)
20th June
20th July
20th August
20th September
20th October
20th November

And the following bank statements:
May 21st/22nd
June 21st/22nd
July 21st/22nd
August 21st/22nd
September 21st/22nd
October 21st/22nd
November 21st/22nd
November 22nd - Present

Okay, thank you very much for clearing that up, that makes sense.

So all of my bank statements have been mailed to me so don't need to be stamped. But for the partial statement I'll ask it to be stamped in the bank to verify it.

For example, if your latest payslip is dated November 20th, the 6-month period you must cover will be:
May 20th to November 20th 2021

A follow-up this, as far as figuring out the 6-month period it's just the date on the payslip not the deposit dates, correct?


And sorry just had a couple other questions I had been meaning to ask:

On our lease agreement it mentions that it's only for 6 months and somewhere else in the contract it mentions that after the 6 months it becomes a month-to-month lease. I'm assuming that's standard enough and doesn't need any further explanation?

Also we were worried about applying too early because I've read that it can give you a limited window to apply for ILR. I will have been in the UK for 2 and a half years on 23/12/2021. So if our plan is to submit on the 16th of Dec, we were thinking of waiting to book biometrics until like 2 or 3 weeks after we submit. Is there a time limit on how soon we need to book biometrics after submitting?

Thank you for reading.

Okay, thank you very much for clearing that up, that makes sense.

So all of my bank statements have been mailed to me so don't need to be stamped. But for the partial statement I'll ask it to be stamped in the bank to verify it.

Sounds good.

A follow-up this, as far as figuring out the 6-month period it's just the date on the payslip not the deposit dates, correct?

To work out the 6 months you need to use, you take the latest payslip date and count back 6 months.

The deposit date is not relevant when it comes to calculating the 6-month period... you just need to make sure that each payslip deposit shows up on the bank statements you provide.

The ONLY reason you provide bank statements at all is to prove that each payslip was deposited into an account in your name.

On our lease agreement it mentions that it's only for 6 months and somewhere else in the contract it mentions that after the 6 months it becomes a month-to-month lease. I'm assuming that's standard enough and doesn't need any further explanation?

Yes, as long as the month-to-month is stated somewhere in the agreement, you don't need anything else.

Also we were worried about applying too early because I've read that it can give you a limited window to apply for ILR. I will have been in the UK for 2 and a half years on 23/12/2021. So if our plan is to submit on the 16th of Dec, we were thinking of waiting to book biometrics until like 2 or 3 weeks after we submit. Is there a time limit on how soon we need to book biometrics after submitting?

I think you have 2-3 months to book biometrics after submitting the online application

Are you planning to us the £800 Super Priority service for the visa?

If you ARE planning to use Super Priority, it's better to leave it a bit later to apply, just so you have more leeway for applying for ILR in 2024... i.e. if you were to apply on 16th December and have biometrics on the 17th December and it was approved that day, the visa would only be valid from 17th December 2021 to 17th June 2024... but you won't qualify to apply for ILR until 26th May 2024, which would only give you a 22-day window to apply for ILR.

If you AREN'T planning to use Super Priority, there's no need to delay biometrics, because FLR(M) processing time is about 8 weeks, which means even if you were to attend biometrics on 17th December, the visa likely won't be granted until maybe mid-February 2022... and so it would be valid from mid-Feb 2022 to mid-August 2024... which would give you almost a 3-month window to apply for ILR.

Thank you for your reply

The ONLY reason you provide bank statements at all is to prove that each payslip was deposited into an account in your name.

That's what was confusing me about which statements I should provide before your previous post. So if my May bank statement only shows my April pay being deposited, I still need to include it just to cover the time period even though it doesn't show the deposit of any of the payslips I'm using?

If you ARE planning to use Super Priority, it's better to leave it a bit later to apply, just so you have more leeway for applying for ILR in 2024... i.e. if you were to apply on 16th December and have biometrics on the 17th December and it was approved that day, the visa would only be valid from 17th December 2021 to 17th June 2024... but you won't qualify to apply for ILR until 26th May 2024, which would only give you a 22-day window to apply for ILR.

If you AREN'T planning to use Super Priority, there's no need to delay biometrics, because FLR(M) processing time is about 8 weeks, which means even if you were to attend biometrics on 17th December, the visa likely won't be granted until maybe mid-February 2022... and so it would be valid from mid-Feb 2022 to mid-August 2024... which would give you almost a 3-month window to apply for ILR.

We were thinking of doing the super priority service but I've read some people saying that they don't even get it as an option. And we would save the money by doing standard  so we'll probably just do standard.

I think I had also read some people saying they were receiving quick decisions with a regular application so that's why I was thinking about booking biometrics a couple of weeks out. I guess I'll just see what's available.

Thank you for your reply
That's what was confusing me about which statements I should provide before your previous post. So if my May bank statement only shows my April pay being deposited, I still need to include it just to cover the time period even though it doesn't show the deposit of any of the payslips I'm using?

Yes, the bank statements must cover the exact same full 6-month period as the payslip... so every single day that is covered by the payslips must be covered by the bank statements.

We were thinking of doing the super priority service but I've read some people saying that they don't even get it as an option. And we would save the money by doing standard  so we'll probably just do standard.

Due to Covid, they have put a restriction on the number of applicants per day that can purchase Super Priority... so when you submit the application, if the quota hasn't been met for the day yet, it will be offered as an option. But if all the slots are taken for the day, it won't be offered. Which means that if you really want to use the service, you need to keep checking each day to see if it is offered (I think maybe they release the new batch at midnight).

Having said that, a lot of people decide not to use Super Priority for FLR(M) as the standard processing time is only 8 weeks and using standard gives you more time to apply for ILR later on. In comparison, ILR can take 6 months for processing, and you can't apply for citizenship until you have the ILR, so more people choose to wait and use Super Priority for ILR instead.

I think I had also read some people saying they were receiving quick decisions with a regular application so that's why I was thinking about booking biometrics a couple of weeks out. I guess I'll just see what's available.

It's hard to tell exactly how long it will take... we've seen anywhere from about 2 weeks to 4 months this year... but to be honest, you may have to wait a few weeks to get an available biometrics appointment, so I wouldn't strategise too much about it. You may find you can't get an appointment until mid-late January anyway.

Not sure if you're already aware, but it's very likely you will have to pay for your biometrics appointment (up to about £130). They are supposed to offer free appointments, but almost no one has been able to get one in the last year or so, or if they have, they've had to wait several weeks for the appointment, so most people have ended up paying for it.

Thank you again for your reply.

Having said that, a lot of people decide not to use Super Priority for FLR(M) as the standard processing time is only 8 weeks and using standard gives you more time to apply for ILR later on. In comparison, ILR can take 6 months for processing, and you can't apply for citizenship until you have the ILR, so more people choose to wait and use Super Priority for ILR instead.

Yeah that sounds like a good plan.

 Not sure if you're already aware, but it's very likely you will have to pay for your biometrics appointment (up to about £130). They are supposed to offer free appointments, but almost no one has been able to get one in the last year or so, or if they have, they've had to wait several weeks for the appointment, so most people have ended up paying for it.

Yeah thank you for the information. I think I've seen some people saying that.



So I've gone to the bank and got my partial statement and it's been stamped. It doesn't have anything on it that says "since previous statement" or "from 22 Nov. to present"

It just says the date it was printed and shows the three transactions that have happened since my last statement ended. Including my pay being deposited. Should that be good enough?

It just says the date it was printed and shows the three transactions that have happened since my last statement ended. Including my pay being deposited. Should that be good enough?

If that's what the bank has given you, it should be fine.

Sorry I keep asking so many questions but I've thought of a few more.

I'm going to try and get my employer letter filled out and signed tomorrow. For payslip verification should I ask my employer to sign each page as well or is the employer letter all that is needed?

Should I work out the income calculation in my cover letter to show how we meet the requirement or is that uneccassary?

On our lease my wife/sponsor's mother is listed as the guarantor because we needed one to get approved back then. Does that have any impact on anything?


Thank you for reading.

I'm going to try and get my employer letter filled out and signed tomorrow. For payslip verification should I ask my employer to sign each page as well or is the employer letter all that is needed?

No, the payslips should not be signed, just verified in the letter.

The official requirement is:

(bb) Payslips must be:
(i) formal payslips issued by the employer and showing the employer’s name;
or
(ii) accompanied by a letter from the employer, on the employer’s headed paper and signed by a senior official, confirming the payslips are authentic;

Should I work out the income calculation in my cover letter to show how we meet the requirement or is that uneccassary?

Not necessary.

On our lease my wife/sponsor's mother is listed as the guarantor because we needed one to get approved back then. Does that have any impact on anything?

No idea, I’m afraid.


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No idea, I’m afraid.

It's frustrating because I've done a lot of searching and can't really find any questions about that. I'm not sure if it's because having a guarantor is very uncommon or because people just don't think that it would be an issue. I don't know.

The only other post I can find on here that mentions a similar thing is https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=97295.msg1293816#msg1293816

They seem to have just had their in laws who were guarantors on their lease fill out an additional Consent Form 2. I didn't know if multiple people can fill out that form.

It's frustrating because I've done a lot of searching and can't really find any questions about that. I'm not sure if it's because having a guarantor is very uncommon or because people just don't think that it would be an issue. I don't know.

The only other post I can find on here that mentions a similar thing is https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=97295.msg1293816#msg1293816

They seem to have just had their in laws who were guarantors on their lease fill out an additional Consent Form 2. I didn't know if multiple people can fill out that form.

This is anecdotal, and so should be taken as such, but we had a guarantor listed on our lease who didn't sign any of the consent forms and my FLR(M) went through last year without any issues relating to the accommodation requirement. We might have been lucky with this, of course.

This is anecdotal, and so should be taken as such, but we had a guarantor listed on our lease who didn't sign any of the consent forms and my FLR(M) went through last year without any issues relating to the accommodation requirement. We might have been lucky with this, of course.

Thank you for your post. Yeah I understand how that's anecdotal but it is comforting to know. I've now seen two people who have had guarantors without issue and I haven't seen anybody posting about how they had an issue.

We're thinking of including a cover letter for my application. This is a rough draft of what it could be. Does anyone know if it seems alright or if it's even necessary?

Thank you in advance for reading.


To Whom It May Concern,

I’m writing this letter to provide further clarification about some details of my application. When I arrived in the UK on 23 June 2019 I attempted to have my passport and vignette stamped but was informed by the border agent that this was no longer the policy. I have included my boarding passes from my flights that brought me to the UK as further evidence of my arrival.

Additionally due to my tax code I ended up paying too much tax for part of 2021. On my July Payslip I was refunded by HMRC for my overpayments which is why my net pay that month was higher than my gross pay.

Furthermore, my bank statement from the month of December has not been issued so I went to my bank and received a partial statement showing all transactions since the issue of my November statement until the date and time it was printed in the branch.


Yours Faithfully,