LITUK test ID problem

[pauldm21]

Hi folks,

looking for bit of advice on an issue my wife is having sitting her life in the UK test. She is from Peru, her FLR expires on 27/07/18 and she first entered on her spouse visa in May 2013.

We have all our docs together and ready to go, she has passed the B1 English test, but we're having problems with her Life In the UK test. We have boked and paid for it twice, but both times she has been turned away as the won't accept the ID and proof of address she can provide. The first time she took her passport and when I booked the test, I had selected BRP as her form of ID - £50 down the drain. The second time she had her BRP, passport, 4 proofs of address (they ask for 1). The problem this time is that all her bills/letters etc are in her married name.... and her passort and brp are obviously in her maiden name. She offered to go the bank, and get a letter from them saying they had only changed the name on her account to her married name last year but the test centre wouldn't accept that. She called me and I offered to email the test centre a copy of our marriage certificate (certified and translated) but they wouldnt accept that. The only suggestion the test centre could make was that she applied for a UK driving licence in her married name and used this as ID instead of her passort/brp. They have a very short list of whats acceptable is proof of address and whatever is used must be dated within the last 3 months.

So, I'm a bit stuck. Anyone else had this problem? Or any ideas how to get around it? The only document(s) she has in her maiden name are those she receives from the home office (eg the letter accompanying her brp) which the test centre would accept as proof of add, but thats well over 3 months old. So I genuinely can't see how we prove her address and her name matching the ID she has.

As I understand it, we can (and have to) submit her ILR application before 27/07/18? We were going to pay the extra for the same day decision but I dont think that's and option now. Can we send everything we have now, and then send the LITUK test certificate once we have it? Or should we wait and send everything together?

Any help/advice is appreciated, obviously it's starting to get a bit urgent.

Thanks

[Djsuccess]

Hi folks,

looking for bit of advice on an issue my wife is having sitting her life in the UK test. She is from Peru, her FLR expires on 27/07/18 and she first entered on her spouse visa in May 2013.

We have all our docs together and ready to go, she has passed the B1 English test, but we're having problems with her Life In the UK test. We have boked and paid for it twice, but both times she has been turned away as the won't accept the ID and proof of address she can provide. The first time she took her passport and when I booked the test, I had selected BRP as her form of ID - £50 down the drain. The second time she had her BRP, passport, 4 proofs of address (they ask for 1). The problem this time is that all her bills/letters etc are in her married name.... and her passort and brp are obviously in her maiden name. She offered to go the bank, and get a letter from them saying they had only changed the name on her account to her married name last year but the test centre wouldn't accept that. She called me and I offered to email the test centre a copy of our marriage certificate (certified and translated) but they wouldnt accept that. The only suggestion the test centre could make was that she applied for a UK driving licence in her married name and used this as ID instead of her passort/brp. They have a very short list of whats acceptable is proof of address and whatever is used must be dated within the last 3 months.

So, I'm a bit stuck. Anyone else had this problem? Or any ideas how to get around it? The only document(s) she has in her maiden name are those she receives from the home office (eg the letter accompanying her brp) which the test centre would accept as proof of add, but thats well over 3 months old. So I genuinely can't see how we prove her address and her name matching the ID she has.

As I understand it, we can (and have to) submit her ILR application before 27/07/18? We were going to pay the extra for the same day decision but I dont think that's and option now. Can we send everything we have now, and then send the LITUK test certificate once we have it? Or should we wait and send everything together?

Any help/advice is appreciated, obviously it's starting to get a bit urgent.

Thanks

Yes, they are strict with IDs and address verification. Applying for a provisional driver's licence might be the option. The issue now is that it might take up to 2 weeks to get it.
I would have thought that with the original copy of your marriage certificate, they would accept ID in her maiden name. I guess there's no room for discretion.

[vinny]

Check the ‘Identification requirements’ document to make sure the ID you have is acceptable

[pauldm21]

Thanks Vinny. Reading the document on that attachment, there is no mention of proof of address being required. It does state that only a UK marriage certificate is acceptable as proof of a name change though - bit harsh on the many (and probably the majority) of settlement applicants who married overseas?!

I've had a look into the provisional driving licence option, unfortunately the will also only accept a UK passport as ID or a BRP but with my wife's expiring in 5 days, I doubt they'll accept that, and it also means sending it away (they say allow a month).

So as far as I can see we are still stuck with no options? This seems like another example of do things by the book and get screwed?! Aside from the fact that 80% of the test questions are irrelevant, they are making it impossible for my wife to sit the test, and therefore impossible to apply for settlement.

To add to how ridiculous this is, I contacted the bank about getting her account changed back into her maiden name.... they said the only way to do that would be to get divorced!

[vinny]

If you have registered in your married name and your ID is in your maiden name, you must bring an original UK Marriage certificate or a UK Spouse Visa (in date) to support this. Without one of these you will not be allowed to take your test and your test fee will not be refunded.

...

From 1st January 2015 candidate proof of postcode cannot be any older than 3 months prior to the date of the test (except a UK photocard driving licence). We will not let you take your test without this proof, or if it older than 3 months and we will not refund your test fee. This proof should be an original of one of the following documents (photocopies, printouts or electronic documents will not be accepted):
Final demand notices are not acceptable)
 A bank statement/credit card statement (this must be an original statement printed by your bank. If you do not normally receive paper statements, you can ask your bank to provide you with one however it MUST have been stamped by the issuing branch).
 gas / electricity / water bill (the word ‘Bill’ or ‘Statement’ must be shown on the document and the usage must be present covering a historical timespan to confirm residency)

 council tax bill (adjustments can be accepted.

 A bank transaction list (you can ask your bank to provide you with one however it MUST have been stamped by the issuing branch).

 UK photocard driving licence (this can also be used as photographic ID)
 or a letter from the Home Office with your name  and address on it.

You must bring proof of your address to the test.

[pauldm21]

Unfortunately we have neither of those.... we were married in Peru. and her last UK Spouse Visa expired on 27/01/16. At that point we applied for FLR, she was issued with a BRP and the spouse visa in her passort was stamped with "leave superseded by BRP".

What would you advise? I am thinking we should submit the ILR application then either send that with everything we have now and send the LITUK test certificate once we have it.... or hold off til we have the certificate and send everything then? Is there any timescale in which we must send the documents by after submitting the application?
From what I understand, her rights to remain continue beyond the expiry date of the BRP as long as we submit the ILR application before that date? Her employer has asked a couple of times whats happening as they obviously have the 27th the date of expiery on her current leave.... I think there is a checking service they can use if they want to satisfy themselves that she is still entitled to live and work here.

[trueblue19]

Call your utility company and ask them to add your wife's maiden name to the account.

They generally dont ask for any proof and will add whatever name you provide them.

Then hopefully they can provide you an electronic bill right away, with both names on it. Take a color print of this bill. This is a long shot but worth trying.

It will help if any of your utility bills are getting generated around today's or tomorrow's date.

[vinny]

That’s a good suggestion.

It’s best if she submits an application in-time.

Although it may be possible to submit additional documents after applying, I think it’s risky if they ignore it. If she cannot submit a SET(M) in-time, then perhaps she should submit a FLR(M) first with at least A2 English language and later vary it to SET(M) after getting the life in the UK test passed?

[pauldm21]

I'll give that a try, thanks.

If this doesn't work, we'll probably submit the SET(M) application online and try to get the LITUK test certificate asap. Do you know if there is specific time in which we have to send supporting docs once its submitted?

FLR is another option, but an additional expense we could do without.

[pauldm21]

Also, could some just clarify for me that we have gone beyond the period where we could use the premium service centre?

My wife first entered UK on her Spouse Visa 15/05/13
FLR was granted on 20/01/16
BRP expires 27/07/2018

if applying via SET(M) online, how long do we have to send the supporting docs?

[trueblue19]

Currently the appointments at PSC are only available for first week of September onwards (and even these are hard to get as they get gobbled up pretty quickly). There's no chance for you to secure an appointment at any of the PSCs in UK before 27 Jul.

[IJOS]

I believe you can use a letter from the GP right?

[trueblue19]

I believe you can use a letter from the GP right?

Unfortunately, No.

Only the following are allowed as address proof (source: https://www.gov.uk/life-in-the-uk-test/ ... ppens-test)

'You must also bring proof of your address that has your name and postcode on it. It must be dated within 3 months of the day of your test. This can be a:

Gas, electricity or water bill
Council Tax bill
Letter from the Home Office with your name and address on it
UK photocard driving licence
Bank or credit card statement

Bank statements must be an original statement printed by your bank. If you do not usually get paper statements, you can ask your bank for one. These statements must be stamped by the bank branch that gave you it.

If you do not bring the correct documents you will not be able to sit the test and you will not get a refund.'

[pauldm21]

Thanks for the input folks.

I’ve managed to get our gas/electricity supplier to add my wife’s name to the bill and generate a new bill. The issue we have now is the test centres little caveat over and above the requirements that trueblue19 illustrated above....

they state that “All documents must be originals posted to your home address, not print outs of electronic documents.“

We don’t really have option other than to print the bill in pdf format from our online account and take that. Not enough time for the to post us an original. Hopefully this slips past them, as I’ve said we have countless actual bills in my wife’s name, just not her maiden name matching her brp.

[trueblue19]

In my experience, a good quality (laser printer) printed online bill feels exactly the same as the one received in post. Just give it a couple of creases for the effect

All the best and hope it all works out for you.

[mginn79]

Hi,

Just wondering if you got away with a printed version of your utility bill in order to take the LIUK test?

Thanks,

Michael