The FLR (M) vs SET (M)

My wife already has a settlement visa ... but in 2 years time, she will need to apply for ...

FLR(M) = Extension of stay (No test required)
OR
SET(M) = Indefinite Leave to Remain (Life in the UK test required from April 2007 )

Which is better and what are the real main differences?



My wife's English isn't that good ... I think 2 years may not be enough to do the Life in the UK test.

nucleus888 wrote:My wife already has a settlement visa ... but in 2 years time, she will need to apply for ...

FLR(M) = Extension of stay (No test required)
OR
SET(M) = Indefinite Leave to Remain (Life in the UK test required from April 2007 :x )

Which is better and what are the real main differences?



My wife's English isn't that good ... I think 2 years may not be enough to do the Life in the UK test.

SET(M) - 750 quid - ouch!! I doubt u'd get another FLR(M) anyway.

Christ two years is easily enough to learn English well enough - almost fluently I'd reckon.

I've been to Germany for four weekends and I've gone from no German to being able to converse not too badly.

nucleus888 wrote:My wife already has a settlement visa ... but in 2 years time, she will need to apply for ...

FLR(M) = Extension of stay (No test required)
OR
SET(M) = Indefinite Leave to Remain (Life in the UK test required from April 2007 )

Which is better and what are the real main differences?

My wife's English isn't that good ... I think 2 years may not be enough to do the Life in the UK test.

Your wife's English does not have to be perfect, and she can learn a lot in two years...if you want to be certain that she can successfully apply for ILR, then....assuming she isn't working and you don't have young children (right now), maybe she can do some ESOL classes once or twice a week. They have the ESOL + Citizenship classes all over the UK - best thing for her.

FLR and ILR are two totally different visas, and just as you have written...ILR is permanent residency in the UK & N. Ireland, with no time restrictions. FLR is if you want to extend your visa/stay in the UK under a specific category. If she is on a spouse visa then after two years you'd obviously want ILR...FLR would mean her stay is still time-restricted. If she doesn't pass the test (she can take it as many times as she likes, btw, with no limit on how long she needs to wait before taking it again), then you apply for FLR to give her more time.

But...and this is why the UK decided to implement such a requirement...she can learn (enough) English within 2 years if she does a course or joins a community club or something.

Here's a question, which may (hopefully not) face my wife and I.

We're still waiting on an outcome from a postal application for her SET(M) (i'm uk citizen), but if she gets refused (e.g. for not having enough evidence of our cohibation) is it a case of:

a) go back to her home country, reapply (forking out 500 notes) to come back to the uk

b) get an FLR(M), wait 2 years, reapply for set (M) again (or something else)

Any help would be very much appreciated!

Before rejecting the application they might give you a chance to fill in any gaps in the documentation supplied. But if they are indeed minded to reject the ILR, they could just issue your wife with FLR, even though the application was for ILR. And in that eventuality, no, there would not be a refund of any of the application fee. It is an application fee, not a success fee.

John wrote:Before rejecting the application they might give you a chance to fill in any gaps in the documentation supplied. But if they are indeed minded to reject the ILR, they could just issue your wife with FLR, even though the application was for ILR. And in that eventuality, no, there would not be a refund of any of the application fee. It is an application fee, not a success fee.

Cheers for the info - one of the helpline advisors hinted the same thing in that an FLR could be granted (but told me not to keep my hopes up), and i'd actually would be satisfied with that outcome of them granting an FLR instead.

i totally understand about the application fee (though not too sure why it jumped up from 300 odd quid to £750! Talk about inflation.) I'm not too bothered about the money whether they take the fee and then say no - like u said, its an application fee.

Though, i would like to know if they did say no, and they didn't grant the flr, COULD we apply for an FLR straight after? OR , would we have to shift out the country, get to home country, reapply, then come back again?