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We're in the same boat here: I think the form is obviously botched and hopefully they'll fix it at some point. As it stands, I underline the words "if relevant" then write underneath "not relevant as I have not been granted leave as a partner before", then skip to 6.16. That's just my best guess, though.bjws1987 wrote: 3) QUESTION 6.9 - REALLY CONFUSING - this asks "If relevant, have you lived together permanently in the UK with your sponsor since your last grant of limited leave to remain as a partner".
I would have thought that this is not relevant to us. My GF has not been granted limited leave to remain as a partner before, as this is the first time we are applying. So my gut feeling would be to leave this question blank. But the form then says: "Applicants who answered yes to question 6.6 and have completed question 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9, proceed to question 6.16".
If we leave 6.9 blank, then we would have to move to question 6.10 (which asks "Why do you not currently live with your sponsor? Please provide details") - but we do live together. This whole section of the form seems really counter-intuitive. Equally, questions 6.11 to 6.15 don't seem to really apply to us (e.g. "how often do you see your sponsor?" - we live together, we see each other every day!)
Am I missing something here?
bjws1987 wrote:Hi guys,
We have our premium service appointment for FLR(M) in just over a week. This is the first time we're applying, and we are applying on the basis of 2 year cohabitation as unmarried partners. I am a British citizen and my girlfriend is Canadian.
We've been through the form and, for the most part, it seems fairly straightforward. I just have a few questions about certain parts of the application which we've found really confusing. Any help that could be offered would be hugely appreciated.
1) PAYMENT DETAILS
We paid the application fee + premium service fee + IHS when we booked our premium appointment about a month ago. There doesn't seem to be any box on the Payment Details page to tick to say that we're all paid up. Should we just leave the Payment Details section blank?
Yes and I would add a note in the additional information box stating this.
2) QUESTION 6.3 - Where did you first meet?
How much detail should we give here. Do we just say we met while GF was studying in England, or do we go into specific detail (i.e. we met on a train on our way to a music festival)?
As this is your gf's first application as a partner I would put a little more detail in about how you meet./color]
3) QUESTION 6.9 - REALLY CONFUSING - this asks "If relevant, have you lived together permanently in the UK with your sponsor since your last grant of limited leave to remain as a partner".
I used to think the same thing however for one reason or another not every couple necessarily lives together.
I would have thought that this is not relevant to us. My GF has not been granted limited leave to remain as a partner before, as this is the first time we are applying. So my gut feeling would be to leave this question blank. But the form then says: "Applicants who answered yes to question 6.6 and have completed question 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9, proceed to question 6.16".
If we leave 6.9 blank, then we would have to move to question 6.10 (which asks "Why do you not currently live with your sponsor? Please provide details") - but we do live together. This whole section of the form seems really counter-intuitive. Equally, questions 6.11 to 6.15 don't seem to really apply to us (e.g. "how often do you see your sponsor?" - we live together, we see each other every day!)
Am I missing something here?
The form has to cover a number of scenarios. Not everyone in genuine relationships applying for leave as a partner live together for one reason or another... Having looked through the form I would ignore 6.9 and 6.10 and just stat 'N/A' in the boxes so it is clear that you didn't just miss the questions. Then continue from 6.11. As you do live together just put that you see each other everyday.
4) QUESTIONS 9.12 to 9.15 - Fingerprints
GF is fairly certain that she has had fingerprints taken before, although she is not 100% certain and certainly can't remember dates. Is there any way she might be able to find this information out?
Her fingerprints would have been taken when she applied for her visa to enter the UK. If it was a student visa does she not remember the month/year?
5) QUESTION 10.11 - How long have you lived in the UK?
My girlfriend first came to the UK for one year on a student visa. After this, she went back to Canada for 13 months and then came back for 2 years on a Tier 5 (YMS) visa. So for question 10.11 do we just list the 2 years she has lived here on her current visa, or do we list the total 3 years over the two visas and explain that she went home for just over a year in between?
List all dates and reasons for absences.
Might have a couple of follow up questions on the financial requirement section, but I would REALLY appreciate any help on the above in the meantime.
Thanks
bjws1987 wrote:Hi everyone,
We had our premium service appointment yesterday and I just thought I’d leave a post to let those who have contributed to this thread (or have been following it) know how it went.
Delighted to say that our application was successful and my GF has been granted leave to remain as an unmarried partner for the next 30 months!
Our situation is summarised in the first post on this thread, but for context: GF is Canadian and has been living in the UK with me since 11 August 2013. Her Tier 5 (YMS) visa expired yesterday (11 August 2015), which was the exact day that we reached the 2-year co-habitation requirement for FLR(M) as unmarried partners.
On the advice of the fantastic people who contribute to this forum, we booked a premium service appointment at Croydon (Lunar House) on the day that her Tier 5 expired.
Our appointment was at 12:00pm and we arrived just after 11:30am.
We were shown through airport-style security and escorted to the 3rd Floor, where we joined a queue to “check in” at the front desk.
We were asked to show:
- a print-out of our appointment confirmation email;
- a print-out of proof of payment;
- our passports; and
After our appointment had been confirmed, we were given a numbered ticket and told to go to the waiting room across the hall. Here there is a café where you can get tea, coffee and snacks. There are a number of screens which track the progress of your application using your ticket number. Get used to staring at these screens, as you will spend most of your day doing so!
- our completed FLR(M) application form.
At about 12:05pm our ticket was called and we proceeded to “Case Registration”. We sat with a friendly caseworker who checked our application form, our photographs and our passports and logged our case into the IT System.
We were asked to put all our supporting documents into a clear plastic folder marked with our ticket number. We were a bit disheartened by this, as we had spent literally hours painstakingly organising our documents into a logical order.
While OCD-levels of organisation may help you to mentally check off all the documents that you need, it isn’t really necessary as you are just asked to shove all your documents into this plastic folder – I guess the caseworkers who pick up your application go through them and sort them into the order that they need them anyway.
So, into the clear plastic folder went:
- the FLR(M) application form (with our photographs attached);
- both our passports;
- 6 payslips;
- letter from my employer confirming employment, salary, etc;
- bank statements to show salary payments corresponding to payslips;
- 10 documents as proof of co-habitation; and
A note on the financial requirement: we used my employment income only, as my girlfriend recently moved jobs and, because she has not been there for more than 6 months, we would have had to calculate her income under Category B. As my annual salary meets the financial requirement on its own, and I have been with the same employer for 9 months, we just used mine calculated under Category A to avoid overcomplicating things.
- 10 photographs of ourselves with family, friends, etc.
A note on correspondence documents: we lived with my parents for 3 months at the beginning of the two years, so we included a letter signed by them confirming the dates that we lived there. We had a few items addressed to both of us (joint tenancy agreements, council tax statements, etc.) but we also used some correspondence addressed to each of us separately, with roughly the same dates on them. The form asks for 6 items of correspondence, we included 10 to be safe.
A note on English language requirement: the girlfriend is Canadian, so all we needed to provide was her passport, as proof she is from a majority-English speaking country.
After our case had been registered, we were told to wait in a separate area so that GF could give her biometrics. At 12:20pm our ticket was called and we proceeded to a separate corridor with several booths. A very nice gentleman chatted away to us while my GF provided her signature, her fingerprints and a photograph. This information is used to produce your biometric residence permit (“BRP”).
We were then told to wait about 1-2 hours (…ha!) for our ticket to be called again. It was about 12:30pm at this time, so we left Lunar House and went for lunch. I will say that there isn’t much around, except for the Whitgift Centre which is pretty decent for shopping.
We returned to Lunar House at about 1:30pm and went through security again. Back in the café / waiting room we settled down and watched the screens. You watch as your ticket number goes from “Awaiting Consideration” to “Under Consideration”. It’s a bit nerve-wracking when you notice that your ticket has moved to “Under Consideration”, as you then know that a caseworker is flicking through your documents and deciding your future…!
If the caseworker looking at your application has any questions, your ticket number will be called and you will be asked to go to a desk, maybe to provide more documents or to answer a question. This didn’t happen to us, but it did happen to some folks sitting near us in the waiting room.
After what felt like hours, at 3:20pm our ticket number (215… I’ll never forget it) suddenly appeared on the third and final page… “Ready for Collection”. This was it, our application had been decided, and we had gotten literally zero facetime with the caseworker who had made the decision.
Even though we were “Ready for Collection”, you still have to wait for your ticket to be called before going to the collection desk. This wait was agonising, and made worse by the fact that they were clearly very busy. From 3:20pm we had to wait for over an hour until our ticket was finally called at 4:25pm.
We went to the collection desk where another very friendly lady told us that our application had been successful (cue high-fives!)
Our documents were returned and we were asked to check that they were all there. Girlfriend was also asked to check her BRP details and sign to confirm that they were correct. The caseworker explained that the BRP would be her “visa” (i.e. there wouldn’t be a sticker in her passport) and would be sent by courier in 7-10 days.
I will say that despite the long wait (nearly 5 hours in total), everyone at the Home Office was really very friendly. They’re clearly busy at all times, so patience is key.
We’re obviously delighted, and I want to thank everyone that has helped me out on this forum, which has been invaluable for information. To those who are in a similar situation and applying for FLR(M) soon, the very best of luck – I hope it all goes well. If you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them.
All the best
