URGENT! Please help with FLR (M) Documents!

[ryrypot]

Just completed and paid for my wife's application for FLR and am pretty surprised at the complicated process of getting the supporting documents sent over. I assumed it would be by courier, but apparently I need to book an appointment, and scan my documents beforehand, or have them scanned at the appointment.

Searching for an appointment, the closest date anywhere near me is in Birmingham on the 20th May at a crazy cost of £100!

What happened to just posting things by mail? Surely it is quicker and much more effective. According to their site, they have some kind of free service at a few centres, but I have yet to find anything. I just wasn't expecting to fork out another £100 on just the documents. Am I missing something here?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

[Heythereitsme]

Didn’t realise you had to book an appointment? I walked in one day and got it scanned then and there for £75

It’s a shame they don’t accept physical copies anymore

[ariamus]

That is the new process for FLR I’m afraid.

To be honest I found and thought the new process is better because you can scan the documents at home, over several days/week at your own pace.

There is no chance of documents getting lost in post when sent or the return post.
There is very little chance of Home Office missing a document as they usually do when looking through a bundle.

Yes there is a fee if you wish for the Sopra Steria venue to scan them.

You do have many weeks/months however to book an appointment - this date should be on the completed application- the main thing is completing the online application before the current visa expires.

The early appointments are £100 but the ones later on are free, so maybe look dates further down the line.

You cannot walk in, maybe that is for entry visas, as they also do your fingerprints and photograph at the appointment.

[ryrypot]

Thanks for the reply.

We definitely have time to scan them all (her visa expires in June), but it seems that she won't be able to attend an appointment within the next 20 days at least, and nothing free seems available from anywhere. I can't even search past the 28th May.

Does this mean that our documents need to be more recent to that date? For example, I have a bank statement for our savings that is dated on the 26th April, but that will be pretty old by that time.

I can't don't get how this whole appointment stuff has been sprung on us AFTER we compiled and arranged our documents perfectly. It's pretty irritating. I understand how scanning stuff is generally better, but we have tonnes of documents to get through and we had no warning.

[ariamus]

What date does the current visa expire? You have applied no earlier than 28 days, right?

The date you completed the online application is key:
No documents can be dated after the online application date.
Documents also need to be no older than 28 days prior to the online application date - the bank statement you refer to may be older than 28 days? If so, simply obtain a newer statement/print in addition from the bank.

In respect of the period you have to scan documents, this is based on the appointment date you obtain. If that is say 15 July, you have until then to upload documents.

Don’t leave uploading until the last few days as you may have unforeseen internet issues, their site may be down etc.

Also try keep your scans files as lower number you can to make easy reading for Home Office.
For example, we scanned all payslips as 1 scan, also 6 months bank statements as 1 scan, passport pages, correspondence, etc.

[ryrypot]

[quote=ariamus post_id=1775273 time=1556742782 user_id=197642]
What date does the current visa expire? You have applied no earlier than 28 days, right?

No, her visa expires 22th June 2019. But as far as I understand, you can apply for the extension after 2y6m in the UK, which she has already done

[ariamus]

That’s right you can apply at 2.5 years, not a problem.

Ideally you should have waited until no earlier than 28 days of expiry because when you next apply for extension., you may have personal circumstances where you need to apply early and that could result in a shortfall of 5 years.

[ryrypot]

Hey Guys,

My Russian wife is applying for FLR (M), and we are gathering the necessary documents. I have a quick question about translations. Our marriage certificate is in Russian, has an apostille, and both of these were translated by a qualified translator in Moscow.

However, the information on the translation that proves that it is verified is also in Russian. Would this be ok to send? It was also used for my wife’s entry visa and was accepted. Any thoughts?

[ryrypot]

Hi there, so my wife has her biometric appointment booked for 29th May (FLR M), and we are getting the documents ready to scan. A few things about the document validity has occurred to me:

Our Russian marriage certificate has an apostille and both are translated into English. However, the information at the end of the translation that confirms that it is a certified and accurate translation is IN RUSSIAN. Will this be accepted? Has anyone had this experience? We submitted this document for our first entry visa and it was accepted, but know I have second thoughts.

Also, how recent do financial documents need to be? My account statement with my adequate savings is dated
25/04/2019. We submitted the application on 01/05/2019, and our date for the biometrics is 29/05/2019. Will our statement be too old by this point?

Any thoughts or experiences on this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[CR001]

Also, how recent do financial documents need to be? My account statement with my adequate savings is dated
25/04/2019. We submitted the application on 01/05/2019, and our date for the biometrics is 29/05/2019. Will our statement be too old by this point?

Date of application is the date you submit and pay online and this is the date relevant to the supporting documents.