Wife of ILR applying for Visa

[niceguy1]

Hi everyone,

I am writing this post after hours of sifting through the UK immigration website for a clear answer but I am still confused on a few points and would be grateful if you all could help me. I have been in UK for the last 7 years and I will be eligible for ILR in September. I am getting married in December in India. My questions are:
a) I understand that my wife cannot directly get an ILR. Does she have to fill out form FLR(M) first, stay on it for two years and then apply for ILR?
b) I currently earn £26000 gross annual salary which accounts to £1700 per month after tax deduction. The requirement to meet is £18000 per annum. Do I need to show some savings as well? For e.g. in Tier 2, you have to show £950 for 90 days, does a similar rule apply for ILR dependent applicants? Some of my friends said they had to show £1500 savings for 90 days but that is not mentioned anywhere in the supporting documents supplied on www.gov.uk. Do I have to show this money in my account in UK or her account in India?

I would be extremely grateful if someone could answer this. Thank you.

[CR001]

a) I understand that my wife cannot directly get an ILR. Does she have to fill out form FLR(M) first, stay on it for two years and then apply for ILR? Is your wife in the UK or applying from India? FLR(M) are applications made within the UK. If your future wife is in India, she needs to apply for a spouse visa on VAF4A, meet the English A1 test requirement. Initial visa will be for 33 months, after which she will need to apply for an extension on FLR(M) for a further 2.5 years. She needs 5 years residence to qualify for ILR. She will also have to pay the new NHS surcharge upfront at point of application, £200 per year so for the initial visa it will be £600 and then £500 for the extension. These fees are on top of the visa fees.

b) I currently earn £26000 gross annual salary which accounts to £1700 per month after tax deduction. The requirement to meet is £18000 per annum. Do I need to show some savings as well? For e.g. in Tier 2, you have to show £950 for 90 days, does a similar rule apply for ILR dependent applicants? Some of my friends said they had to show £1500 savings for 90 days but that is not mentioned anywhere in the supporting documents supplied on http://www.gov.uk. Do I have to show this money in my account in UK or her account in India? You as the sponsor have to meet the financial requirement of £18,600pa and provide the evidence. This is the amount before tax. No maintenance fund required.

[niceguy1]

Hi CR001,

Thanks for the reply. I did not know that she has to apply for a visa before she can apply for FLR(M). I also wasnt aware that there was now a 5 year waiting period before ILR application for spouse. Thanks for letting me know about the costs as well.

The maintenance fund issue might be an old thing or only for Tier 2 I guess. Thanks for clearifying.