Proof of address help FLR (M)

[croupier92]

My wife's partner visa is currently up for renewal via FLR (M) route. For her initial visa she completed the IELTS A1 exam which we are unable to use for her extension. As we are pushed for time we are looking to book BESE Grade 5 (B1) at a Trinity College London test centre where there's availability next week over an IELTS centre where there's no availability till January.

Am I right in thinking that the BESE Grade 5 (B1) can be used for FLR (M) instead of A2, and does it matter if the exam is with Trinity College London? If so it would make more sense financially because we could use the B1 result for my wife's ILR when the time comes.

[meself2]

You can do a B1 SELT straight away and use it for both an extension and ILR, yes.

Don't know what types of language tests Trinity College offers, but as long as they're HO approved, should be okay.

[AmazonianX]

My wife's partner visa is currently up for renewal via FLR (M) route. For her initial visa she completed the IELTS A1 exam which we are unable to use for her extension. As we are pushed for time we are looking to book BESE Grade 5 (B1) at a Trinity College London test centre where there's availability next week over an IELTS centre where there's no availability till January.

Am I right in thinking that the BESE Grade 5 (B1) can be used for FLR (M) instead of A2, and does it matter if the exam is with Trinity College London? If so it would make more sense financially because we could use the B1 result for my wife's ILR when the time comes.

Trinity College London SELT English language test at Level B1 is acceptable.

[croupier92]

Thank you both for your advice. My wife did the B1 last week, the preliminary says pass so just waiting for the certificate now.

I am not sure whether this should be for a new thread or not so I'll post here first.

We currently have a 4 week deadline to submit the application as we really want to avoid the IHS increase. Unfortunately this is all happening at the same time as finalising the purchase of a house which we expect to be completed in January. For now we are applying from our current address which I the sponsor have rented along with my mother as a joint applicant since 1 month before my wife came to the country in August 2021. It's a 3 bedroom house so it's more than enough space for 3 adults and 1 child. Unfortunately I never added my wife to the tenancy but I informed the estate agents that my wife and son would also be living with us. As I've read that a landlord letter would suffice in place of being named on the tenancy I contacted the estate agents and instead of writing a letter they offered to create a new tenancy and add my wife to it. This would either be a 12 month AST or a 1 month AST which would move to a rolling contract after. Our predicament is we don't want to sign a 12 month contract as we expect to be moving into the house we've bought in February. We have already been on a rolling contract for the previous 6 months and therefore don't have a tenancy agreement for that period.

Will my wife being added to the tenancy for a 1 month agreement be acceptable as proof of accommodation without a supporting letter? From the last correspondence with the estate agents I get the impression the landlord isn't willing to provide a supporting letter.

Thank you for your help.

[croupier92]

Hi all, it's time for renewal on my wife's spouse visa and we are deciding to renew 28 days early from her 30th month so we can avoid IHS increase and also because we are finalising the purchase of our first home and doubt we will have the required land registry in time. My wife entered the UK on 2nd August 2021 so therefore we should be able to apply from January 4th 2024, her BRP expires on 2nd March 2024. We are expecting to exchange contracts on the new house sometime in January but will have to give 1 months notice where we currently rent so we should be at the same address until 1st March.

For now we are applying from our current address which I the sponsor have rented along with my mother as a joint applicant since 1 month before my wife came to the country in August 2021. It's a 3 bedroom house so it's more than enough space for 3 adults and 1 child. Unfortunately I never added my wife to the tenancy but I informed the estate agents that my wife and son would also be living with us on the tenancy application. As I've read that a landlord letter would suffice in place of being named on the tenancy I contacted the estate agents and instead of writing a letter they offered to create a new tenancy and add my wife to it. This would either be a 12 month AST or a 1 month AST which would move to a rolling contract after. Our predicament is we don't want to sign a 12 month contract as we expect to be moving into the house we've bought in February. We have already been on a rolling contract for the previous 6 months and therefore don't have a tenancy agreement for that period.

Will my wife being added to the tenancy for a 1 month agreement dated from 1st January 2024 be acceptable as proof of accommodation without a supporting letter from the landlord? From the last correspondence with the estate agents I get the impression the landlord isn't willing to provide a supporting letter.

Also in terms of correspondence to the address we don't have anything addressed to us jointly as all of the bills are in either my name or my mother's. There's only 1 correspondence from the electoral roll which has both of our names on it. For me the sponsor proof of address documents consist of 2 council tax bills which is in mine and my mother's name but she pays it, will this be an issue? 1 Polling card, 1 yearly water bill, 2 letters from my bank and a letter from the NHS.
My wife the applicant has a letter from her GP, NHS registration letter, national insurance approval letter, electoral registration approval letter, 2 The Peoples Pension letters, Driving license letter, 2 NHS screening letters, Dentist letter and 1 Polling card.
All together we have around 18 individually addressed letters and 1 jointly addressed letter. Would this be enough and are the letters we intend to use adequate?
Also there are 2 large gaps in the correspondence, for me I have no posted correspondence between February 2022 and March 2023. Then only have 1 correspondence in March 23 and June 23, nothing since then.
My wife has a 4 month gap between September 22 and January 23. Also a 5 month gap between February 23 and July 23. Her latest correspondence is September 23.
The joint electoral register letter is dated July 2022 so this would fill in the gap slightly but it's only addressed to "the resident". It includes both our names in the letter though, is this adequate?
All of my energy and water bills are sent electronically, would I be able to use these to fill the gaps?
Will my wife's Pension program letters be allowed to use as evidence?

I honestly thought this would be a relatively straightforward process considering we both work and our son is a UK citizen currently in his first year of school. I know we should have been making preparations but we have been so focused on buying our first home the visa renewal went to the back of our minds.

Anyone who finds the time to read through our issues and provide any advice would be greatly appreciated. We are so worried that we don't have the required accommodation evidence and everything will fall through just as we are supposed to be moving to our new home.

Thank you for your time.

[croupier92]

Is there anyone who can give any advice? Thank you

[AmazonianX]

Is there anyone who can give any advice? Thank you

Dare I say your post quite verbose. Remember people have their personal and official lives, its busy festive time too. People only trying to assist one another here.
Be concise in your post and you may want to keep the question simple and direct.

[777GE90]

Hi all, it's time for renewal on my wife's spouse visa and we are deciding to renew 28 days early from her 30th month so we can avoid IHS increase and also because we are finalising the purchase of our first home and doubt we will have the required land registry in time. My wife entered the UK on 2nd August 2021 so therefore we should be able to apply from January 4th 2024, her BRP expires on 2nd March 2024. We are expecting to exchange contracts on the new house sometime in January but will have to give 1 months notice where we currently rent so we should be at the same address until 1st March.

In regards to the dates, I am in a similar situation to you. My wife entered 12 July 2021 and BRP expires 12 Feb 2024. However, we too want to avoid the IHS increase so want to apply earlier.

IHS increase should be earliest 16 January or possible slightly later (if it is not "made" by 26 Dec). Given you are trying to extend on literally the limit of the timelines, I would probably wait a little longer before I submit the application. Aim for like 10 Jan or something, because you don't know if they count the start / end dates which can move it 1-2 days up or down. Would be really bad if you apply like 1 or 2 days too early and have to do another FLR(M).

Personally, I am going to target 12 Jan, but may apply slightly earlier.

Looks like the visa fee has already increased by around £200, that happened on 4 Oct. But oddly the UK visa site still shows the old price, so I'm hoping it stays that way when it comes to pay lol. But the IHS is the big one that hasn't happened yet.

[croupier92]

Hi all, it's time for renewal on my wife's spouse visa and we are deciding to renew 28 days early from her 30th month so we can avoid IHS increase and also because we are finalising the purchase of our first home and doubt we will have the required land registry in time. My wife entered the UK on 2nd August 2021 so therefore we should be able to apply from January 4th 2024, her BRP expires on 2nd March 2024. We are expecting to exchange contracts on the new house sometime in January but will have to give 1 months notice where we currently rent so we should be at the same address until 1st March.

In regards to the dates, I am in a similar situation to you. My wife entered 12 July 2021 and BRP expires 12 Feb 2024. However, we too want to avoid the IHS increase so want to apply earlier.

IHS increase should be earliest 16 January or possible slightly later (if it is not "made" by 26 Dec). Given you are trying to extend on literally the limit of the timelines, I would probably wait a little longer before I submit the application. Aim for like 10 Jan or something, because you don't know if they count the start / end dates which can move it 1-2 days up or down. Would be really bad if you apply like 1 or 2 days too early and have to do another FLR(M).

Personally, I am going to target 12 Jan, but may apply slightly earlier.

Looks like the visa fee has already increased by around £200, that happened on 4 Oct. But oddly the UK visa site still shows the old price, so I'm hoping it stays that way when it comes to pay lol. But the IHS is the big one that hasn't happened yet.

We're aiming for the 12th January as well, I know it will be cutting it fine. As far as I'm aware the BRP is issued with an additional 28 day which will make up for applying earlier. Also when applying for ILR I think we can apply 28 days before the 60th. So fingers crossed or timings should be ok.

[croupier92]

Is there anyone who can give any advice? Thank you

Dare I say your post quite verbose. Remember people have their personal and official lives, its busy festive time too. People only trying to assist one another here.
Be concise in your post and you may want to keep the question simple and direct.

Apologies Amazonian if my last post was abit much to take in. I suppose I was in panic mode after going through all of our correspondence and wrote everything down that I had on my mind. I do really appreciate your advice.

As long as I'm right in thinking I can include online energy bills then the correspondence gaps should be filled in. As we don't have anything for the last few months I was going to contact the council and ask them to send an updated electoral roll letter and also contact my wife's GP asking for a letter stating past appointments, not sure if that's possible but worth a try.

My main concern at the moment is that we don't have a letter from my landlord acknowledging that my wife has lived at our address for the time she has been here. We are currently updating the tenancy to add my wife's name, it will only be a 1 month contract running from 1st January to 1st February and then will move back to rolling. Will this suffice for proof of address from our landlord or do I have to insist on getting a letter as well?

[AmazonianX]

Is there anyone who can give any advice? Thank you

Dare I say your post quite verbose. Remember people have their personal and official lives, its busy festive time too. People only trying to assist one another here.
Be concise in your post and you may want to keep the question simple and direct.

Apologies Amazonian if my last post was abit much to take in. I suppose I was in panic mode after going through all of our correspondence and wrote everything down that I had on my mind. I do really appreciate your advice.

As long as I'm right in thinking I can include online energy bills Yes indeed you can then the correspondence gaps should be filled in. As we don't have anything for the last few months I was going to contact the council and ask them to send an updated electoral roll letter and also contact my wife's GP asking for a letter stating past appointments, not sure if that's possible but worth a try.

My main concern at the moment is that we don't have a letter from my landlord acknowledging that my wife has lived at our address for the time she has been here. We are currently updating the tenancy to add my wife's name, it will only be a 1 month contract running from 1st January to 1st February and then will move back to rolling. Will this suffice for proof of address from our landlord or do I have to insist on getting a letter as well?

[croupier92]

Thanks Amazonian that's good to know. Do you have any thoughts on the 1 month's tenancy running from 1st January to 31st January with my wife's name added as being sufficient proof from our landlord?

[AmazonianX]

Not an issue.

[croupier92]

So we have completed the application now and are at the payment section for the NHS surcharge. Once I have paid for the NHS will I be required to upload the documents straight away or will I have a few days to do it?

Document checklist:

• Applicants passport and all pages
• Applicants BRP Card
• Sponsors passport and all pages
• Applicants B2 language certificate
• Marriage certificate
• Applicant and sponsors sons British passport
• Sons Birth certificate
• Family consent declaration
• Spouse declaration
• Covering letter

Accommodation
• Tenancy agreement in both names
• Letter from sponsors mother who is also on the tenancy
• Evidence of Council tax
Correspondence covering September 2021 - September 2023
• Sponsor - 1/09/2021 - Council letter
• Applicant - 3/09/2021 - NHS letter
• Applicant - 8/10/2021 - Government letter
• Sponsor - 30/11/2021 - Bank letter
• Sponsor - 1/02/2022 - Utility bill
Applicant - 3/05/2022 - Council letter
Joint - 21/07/2022 - Electoral roll letter
Applicant - 09/2022 - DVLA letter
Sponsor - 18/11/2022 - Utility bill
Applicant - 30/01/2023 - NHS letter
Sponsor - 12/03/2023 - Council letter
Sponsor - 24/06/2023 - NHS letter
Applicant - 07/09/2023 - Dentist letter

Financial
•Letter from employer
• Payslips covering 6 months dated 14/07/2023 - 05/01/2024 (26 weeks)
• Bank statements covering the 6 months of payslips


Do all of the bank statements need to be printed and stamped or can I just use the pdf downloads from my online banking? My utility bills are also online so do these need to be printed and rescanned?

Are the dates covered for correspondence acceptable and is it ok to not cover right up until the application date as long as we've covered a 2 year period (our last correspondence is 07/09/2023)

Is there anything we have missed?

Thank you for taking the time to read through my post and any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[AmazonianX]

So we have completed the application now and are at the payment section for the NHS surcharge. Once I have paid for the NHS will I be required to upload the documents straight away or will I have a few days to do it? You can upload till appointment

Document checklist:

• Applicants passport and all pages
• Applicants BRP Card
• Sponsors passport and all pages
• Applicants B2 language certificate
• Marriage certificate
• Applicant and sponsors sons British passport
• Sons Birth certificate
• Family consent declaration
• Spouse declaration
• Covering letter

Accommodation
• Tenancy agreement in both names
• Letter from sponsors mother who is also on the tenancy
• Evidence of Council tax
Correspondence covering September 2021 - September 2023
• Sponsor - 1/09/2021 - Council letter
• Applicant - 3/09/2021 - NHS letter
• Applicant - 8/10/2021 - Government letter
• Sponsor - 30/11/2021 - Bank letter
• Sponsor - 1/02/2022 - Utility bill
Applicant - 3/05/2022 - Council letter
Joint - 21/07/2022 - Electoral roll letter
Applicant - 09/2022 - DVLA letter
Sponsor - 18/11/2022 - Utility bill
Applicant - 30/01/2023 - NHS letter
Sponsor - 12/03/2023 - Council letter
Sponsor - 24/06/2023 - NHS letter
Applicant - 07/09/2023 - Dentist letter

Financial
•Letter from employer
• Payslips covering 6 months dated 14/07/2023 - 05/01/2024 (26 weeks)
• Bank statements covering the 6 months of payslips


Do all of the bank statements need to be printed and stamped or can I just use the pdf downloads from my online banking? My utility bills are also online so do these need to be printed and rescanned? Online PDFs are acceptable

Are the dates covered for correspondence acceptable and is it ok to not cover right up until the application date as long as we've covered a 2 year period (our last correspondence is 07/09/2023) should be alright

Is there anything we have missed?

Thank you for taking the time to read through my post and any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[croupier92]

Thanks a lot Amazonian. So just to confirm you don't think there is any need to print and have stamped online bank statements?

Also since we are about to buy a house (exchange of contracts should be this month) should I mention this on a covering letter? As we will more than likely be moving whilst waiting for a decision or is there no need to even mention we're about to buy a house?

[AmazonianX]

Thanks a lot Amazonian. So just to confirm you don't think there is any need to print and have stamped online bank statements? I know there is no need to do so if the said statement is same as you would get from your bank by post.

Also since we are about to buy a house (exchange of contracts should be this month) should I mention this on a covering letter? As we will more than likely be moving whilst waiting for a decision or is there no need to even mention we're about to buy a house? If it is not a done, signed and delivered deal, not need.