How long is NARIC certificate valid for meeting English Req?

[matt1020]

Dear Forum,

I am British and the sponsor for my wife, who is a non-EU citizen. We moved to the UK in December 2014, so we're halfway through the 5-year route and compiling evidence for an FLR(M) application next month.

My wife has an overseas degree which meets the English requirement CEFR C1, and we obtained an official NARIC certificate dated 7th January 2015 confirming this.

The section of the current Immigration Rules relating to Evidence of English Language Requirements states that any English language test needs to have been taken no more than than two years before the date of application. Does this mean that we will need to obtain a new certificate from NARIC (as our existing one is now more than two years old), or does a NARIC certificate effectively have no expiry date in terms of evidencing this requirement?

Many thanks in advance for any assistance.

[SimonS]

From what I can ascertain, the NARIC only expires if the institution or degree ceases to be on the approved list. The sections that I think apply here are 4.3 and 4.4 on p17 of the following

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... n_1.21.pdf

The section you refer to is applicable to somebody that has actually taken a specific test because they do not meet the requirement in another way.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... uage-tests

As I understand the NARIC is not a test. It is a certificate that confirms a significant portion of the degree program was taught in English at the required level.

See paragraph 7.10 - Degree taught in English.....

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... h-language

I'm not an expert and this is only my opinion formed by reading the relevant sections of the rules (given above)

Hope this helps.

[matt1020]

Thank you Simon, that's very helpful. I will read the links you have provided - M.