ILR(M) Timeline/Questions

Hello all!

I got my FLR(M) approved last year thanks in no small part to you wonderful folks and your invaluable help. Even so, it was incredibly stressful and I'm trying to plan ahead to minimize the anxiety of the next one, so I have a couple questions if you'd be so kind.

1: It's my understanding that I can apply for ILR(M) after 60 months in the UK. I arrived here on Aug 4th, 2018, which puts Aug 4th 2023 as 60 months, unless I'm horrendous at math (which I usually am). And in the confirmation of my FLR(M) from the home office, it says this:

"Following a continuous period of lawful leave to remain in the UK of at least five years (60 months), and subject to meeting the requirements of the Immigration Rules at the time, you may be eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK. You must apply before the end of your authorised stay in the UK, but not more than 28 days before completing that period. If you apply earlier than that, your application may be refused."

My Residence Permit expires on the 22nd of December, 2023. Am I to take that to mean that I can apply for ILR(M) at any time between July 9th, 2023 and December 21st, 2023?

2: All financial requirements/documents are again to be provided by my sponsor (my wife in this case) correct? For all intents and purposes, other than the Life in the UK test, the ILR(M) visa's requirements are essentially the same as the FLR(M) if I'm understanding it correctly?

Thanks in advance for any help. I truly can't express how grateful I am for the existence of this forum and all of you that tirelessly share your knowledge.

1: It's my understanding that I can apply for ILR(M) after 60 months in the UK. I arrived here on Aug 4th, 2018, which puts Aug 4th 2023 as 60 months, unless I'm horrendous at math (which I usually am). And in the confirmation of my FLR(M) from the home office, it says this:

"Following a continuous period of lawful leave to remain in the UK of at least five years (60 months), and subject to meeting the requirements of the Immigration Rules at the time, you may be eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK. You must apply before the end of your authorised stay in the UK, but not more than 28 days before completing that period. If you apply earlier than that, your application may be refused."

My Residence Permit expires on the 22nd of December, 2023. Am I to take that to mean that I can apply for ILR(M) at any time between July 9th, 2023 and December 21st, 2023?

Almost… You can apply 28 days before you reach 5 years (60 months) in the UK and 28 days before 4th August 2023 is 7th July. And you can apply right up to 11:59pm on the expiry date of your visa.

So, you can apply any time from 7th July 2023 to December 22nd 2023.

2: All financial requirements/documents are again to be provided by my sponsor (my wife in this case) correct? For all intents and purposes, other than the Life in the UK test, the ILR(M) visa's requirements are essentially the same as the FLR(M) if I'm understanding it correctly?

Yes, all documents are basically the same… though the financial documents don’t specifically need to be provided by your sponsor - if you can meet the financial requirement yourself using your income or savings, you can choose to use that instead of your wife’s income… just depends which works best for you.

The only real differences in the requirements are:
- passing the Life in the UK test
- there is no IHS surcharge to pay for ILR
- the cohabitation documents need to cover a full 2.5 years for ILR, so they need to be dated every 5 months (not every 4 months)
- if you are using cash savings for the financial requirement, you only need to show £34,600 for ILR instead of the £62,500 needed for the spousal visa and FLR(M).


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