Applied for a FLR(M) and received FLR(FP) letter

[gi_br_uk]

Dear forum members,

Due to a lack of attention and naivety, I found myself in a difficult situation and I am looking for some guidance.

For context, I initially moved to the UK in 2018 under a fiancee visa and applied for a spouse visa under the FLR(M) form shortly after. I met all the requirements, but couldn't provide substantial proof of living, as I didn't have any official correspondence in my name (I couldn't work under a fiancee visa and open a bank account or change any bills to my name as we were living with my inlaws). For this reason, the Home Office reached out and requested further information on cohabitation, to which we provided letters from family members and neighbours as instructed by a solicitor.

Two weeks later, we received a confirmation that my application was accepted. However, there was an error in the confirmation letter as it showed a ten-year route under FP, even though we had applied for the marriage route. Although I should have refuted the decision, at the time we were very young, thrilled and didn't realize the implications of this letter:

"Grant of Leave to Remain
Ten Year Parner Route
(...)
On 04 March 2019 you submitted an application for limited leave to remain on the basis of your family and private life in the UK.
I am writing to inform you that you have been granted a period of 30 months limited leave to remain on the ten year partner route under paragraphs D-LTRP1.2 of Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules, as we were satisfied that you meet the requirements of paragraphs R-LTRP1.1.(a), (b) and (d) of these rules. You may be eligible to apply for settlement after completing at least 10 years under this route"

In 2021, I applied for the FLR(M) extension as I was aware that we could 'reset' the time to IRL. However, I received no confirmation that my route was changed. Instead, I received the email below with little information:

"Your application under the Partner (FLR M) route of the Immigration Rules has been successful.
You have been granted permission to stay in the UK until xx xxx 2024"

I have completed 5 years in the UK and need to apply for a new visa. However, after reading numerous forums, I have not found any similar cases. I am now wondering if the first letter from the Home Office could be a mistake, as it does not explicitly state that my original application was not accepted and they are now changing the route, as many others have reported. Both my Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) indicate "Type of permit: Spouse/Partner Leave to Remain". Would an FLR(FP) application show the same?

I'm uncertain if I should try to apply for the ILR at this stage as it is quite an expensive application.

Apologies for the long story.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[CR001]

For context, I initially moved to the UK in 2018 under a fiancee visa and applied for a spouse visa under the FLR(M) form shortly after. I met all the requirements, but couldn't provide substantial proof of living, as I didn't have any official correspondence in my name

Presumably, you applied for FLR(M) after getting married on a fiance visa?? And are you certain you were on a fiance visa and not the substantially cheaper Marriage Visit visa?

To switch to a spouse visa from a Fiance visa, there is NO requirement to prove cohabitation and you should have pointed this out to UKVI as they clearly made an error.

Your route changed in 2021 as the email says.

You don't qualify for ILR.

[secret.simon]

Two weeks later, we received a confirmation that my application was accepted. However, there was an error in the confirmation letter as it showed a ten-year route under FP, even though we had applied for the marriage route. Although I should have refuted the decision, at the time we were very young, thrilled and didn't realize the implications of this letter:

"Grant of Leave to Remain
Ten Year Parner Route
(...)
On 04 March 2019 you submitted an application for limited leave to remain on the basis of your family and private life in the UK.
I am writing to inform you that you have been granted a period of 30 months limited leave to remain on the ten year partner route under paragraphs D-LTRP1.2 of Appendix FM to the Immigration Rules, as we were satisfied that you meet the requirements of paragraphs R-LTRP1.1.(a), (b) and (d) of these rules. You may be eligible to apply for settlement after completing at least 10 years under this route"

Have your British citizen/settled spouse demonstrated that they earned £18,600 p.a. in the original FLR(M) application?

Failure to meet the income requirement is the most common reason for an FLR(M) application to be converted to an FLR(FP) application.

As for applying for ILR, you need to have spent five continuous years on FLR(M) in order to apply for ILR on that route. And as CR001 has advised above, you are currently not eligible to apply for ILR.

You would need to have been resident for either five years on the same type of visa (and FLR(M) and FLR(FP) are not the same type of visa) or 10 years on different visas to be able to apply for ILR.

You have only spent 2.5 years on FLR(M), with the preceding 2.5 years on FLR(FP). You will need to extend your existing FLR(M) for a further 2.5 years before being eligible to apply for ILR on the spousal route.

[AmazonianX]

If it were to be a mistake, its far gone for you to seek correction now
You need 5years on FLRM to qualify

[gi_br_uk]

Thank you all for the responses!

I was on the fiancee visa and we did meet all the requirements (such as financial). They only requested further information on the cohabitation proof for these six months.

I thought this would be the case but had a bit of hope as the letter did not say I didn't meet the requirements and therefore they were placing me on the 10 year route. Well, serves me right for not being on it right away.