ILR and status of PBS spouse before FLR (M)

[ronin]

Dear Mods and experts,

Hopefully I'm posting this topic in right forum and please move my post to more appropriate topic if needed. I have couple of questions I am confused about,

My status: I arrived UK in October 2008. I have clear immigration history, no refusal or overstay. Currently I am on Tier 2 (G) and my visa expires on February 2019. I was lucky enough to book a premium appointment in early Oct-18 for ILR 10 years route and hopefully my application will be successful.

My Spouse: We got married in August 2013 here in UK and she is currently a PBS T2(G) Dependant of mine. Her current visa also expires in February 2019. I believe she need to apply under FLR (M) to continue her stay as my dependant.

Questions:

1. What is the status of my wife between the approval of my ILR and lodging the FLR (M) application? My employer will certainly let HO know and cancel my T2 (G) sponsorship as soon as I tell them about ILR. Should it affect the immigration status of my wife? Should her T2(G) dependant status continues until Feb-19?

I was advised by a solicitor to lodge both applications via premier service on the same day keeping 2/3 hours of gap between two appointments (FLR-M should be later). I struggled to get my premier service appointment(took me 2 weeks), let alone having FLR (M) appointment on same day within 2 hours is simply out of question. Do I really need to have the both application lodged on same day? What if my application need further investigation and HO wants more time to process! How can I have a dependant application lodged without my application being approved?

2. FLR (M) online application requires the date of ILR approval of spouse (My Application) and that cannot be a date in future. I think online application is not an option as I want my wife to apply for FLR (M) as soon as possible, preferably within a week or two of my application date. Online application will delay the FLR(M) application for more than a month (because of not enough availability of premier srv slots). Will it be ok to take paper application for FLR (M)? Is there any deemed negative effects on paper form other than lengthy processing time on the day? Do I really need to rush for the FLR (M) application?

Your expert comments on above will be highly appreciated.

Many thanks.

Kind regards,

Ronin

[secret.simon]

What is the status of my wife between the approval of my ILR and lodging the FLR (M) application?

Her previous visa is valid until its expiry date. You should file an FLR(M) before then.

Should it affect the immigration status of my wife? Should her T2(G) dependant status continues until Feb-19?

No. Yes.

I was advised by a solicitor to lodge both applications via premier service on the same day keeping 2/3 hours of gap between two appointments (FLR-M should be later). I struggled to get my premier service appointment(took me 2 weeks), let alone having FLR (M) appointment on same day within 2 hours is simply out of question. Do I really need to have the both application lodged on same day? What if my application need further investigation and HO wants more time to process! How can I have a dependant application lodged without my application being approved?

The idea is to make the application for FLR(M) after your ILR is approved.

Obviously if your ILR is placed on hold for investigation, you do not submit the FLR(M) as your wife would not meet the requirements.

No, you do not need to submit the FLR(M) at the same time.

But your ILR(LR) resets her ILR clock down to zero and it only restarts when she is issued with a new FLR(M). So, if you apply for ILR(LR), she will only become eligible for ILR in 2023/24, unless she becomes eligible for ILR(LR) earlier herself. So the earlier you apply for FLR(M), the faster she can apply for ILR.

Alternatively, if your Tier 2 visa is valid longer than February 2019, do not apply for ILR(LR) now. Let your wife apply for ILR based on five years as a PBS dependent and then once she gets that, you can apply for ILR based on Long Residence or PBS T2.

[ronin]

What is the status of my wife between the approval of my ILR and lodging the FLR (M) application?

Her previous visa is valid until its expiry date. You should file an FLR(M) before then.

Should it affect the immigration status of my wife? Should her T2(G) dependant status continues until Feb-19?

No. Yes.

I was advised by a solicitor to lodge both applications via premier service on the same day keeping 2/3 hours of gap between two appointments (FLR-M should be later). I struggled to get my premier service appointment(took me 2 weeks), let alone having FLR (M) appointment on same day within 2 hours is simply out of question. Do I really need to have the both application lodged on same day? What if my application need further investigation and HO wants more time to process! How can I have a dependant application lodged without my application being approved?

The idea is to make the application for FLR(M) after your ILR is approved.

Obviously if your ILR is placed on hold for investigation, you do not submit the FLR(M) as your wife would not meet the requirements.

No, you do not need to submit the FLR(M) at the same time.

But your ILR(LR) resets her ILR clock down to zero and it only restarts when she is issued with a new FLR(M). So, if you apply for ILR(LR), she will only become eligible for ILR in 2023/24. So the earlier you apply for FLR(M), the faster she can apply for ILR.

Alternatively, if your Tier 2 visa is valid longer than February 2019, do not apply for ILR(LR) now. Let your wife apply for ILR based on five years as a PBS dependent and then once she gets that, you can apply for ILR based on Long Residence or PBS T2.

Dear secret.simon,

Thanks a lot for your quick reply its a great relief

I thought about the timing issue. My 5 years under T2(G) will be completed in Sept-2021 (she completes 10 years in Dec-2021). In that case I will have to be restricted for another 3 years. Opportunity cost of having her ILR sorted first by keeping myself restricted and not being able to move around is greater in this case.

Is there any other alternatives we can think about other than FLR (M) at all?

About the qs 2 in my post, should a paper application be alright if I book a premier service appointment and take all supporting documents along with the paper application? Or you suggest to delay a bit and have the online application submitted after the successful ILR application of mine?

Thank you very much.

[secret.simon]

Is there any other alternatives we can think about other than FLR (M) at all?

Not to my knowledge.

should a paper application be alright if I book a premier service appointment and take all supporting documents along with the paper application? Or you suggest to delay a bit and have the online application submitted after the successful ILR application of mine?

I will let others answer this question as I am not aware of the specific differences between the paper and online applications.

[vinny]

Let your wife apply for ILR based on five years as a PBS dependent and then once she gets that, you can apply for ILR based on Long Residence or PBS T2.

No. She cannot apply for ILR based on five years as a PBS dependent before you are granted ILR under PBS! 319E(c) fails.

[ronin]

Let your wife apply for ILR based on five years as a PBS dependent and then once she gets that, you can apply for ILR based on Long Residence or PBS T2.

No. She cannot apply for ILR based on five years as a PBS dependent before you are granted ILR under PBS! 319E(c) fails.

Dear Vinny,

Understood. I believe one way to avoid timing issue to prolong my T2(G) and have my wife's ILR sorted based on Long residency in Dec-2021. But My 5 years completes in Sept-2021. I think, I better not make the situation complicated and have my ILR sorted even-though my wife will loose 2 years

Will it be possible for you to answer the questions in point 2, here is the qs,
'should a paper application be alright if I book a premier service appointment and take all supporting documents along with the paper application? Or you suggest to delay a bit and have the online application submitted after the successful ILR application of mine?'

Many thanks.

[seagul]

I think more wiser strategy is to get ILR based on long residence in your situation otherwise you both will need to wait until 2021 and by that time a lot of rules & fees might have been changed. By this strategy at least one of you will get ILR now.

[ronin]

I think more wiser strategy is to get ILR based on long residence in your situation otherwise you both will need to wait until 2021 and by that time a lot of rules & fees might have been changed. By this strategy at least one of you will get ILR now.

True, thank you seagal.

If I go for paper application for FLR (M), should it be ok? Does online application has any upper-hand other than quicker processing time?

I need to book a premium service for FLR (M) application. If I go for online application I will only be able to book after I have my application approved (I need the approval date of my ILR). Whereas with paper application, I will be able to book an appointment now and reschedule it if I need to.

Please let me have an expert opinion.

Thank you.

[secret.simon]

Let your wife apply for ILR based on five years as a PBS dependent and then once she gets that, you can apply for ILR based on Long Residence or PBS T2.

No. She cannot apply for ILR based on five years as a PBS dependent before you are granted ILR under PBS! 319E(c) fails.

Oops!!!

Thank you for catching that, vinny. My apologies for the OP for incorrect advice.

[seagul]

I think more wiser strategy is to get ILR based on long residence in your situation otherwise you both will need to wait until 2021 and by that time a lot of rules & fees might have been changed. By this strategy at least one of you will get ILR now.

True, thank you seagal.

If I go for paper application for FLR (M), should it be ok? Does online application has any upper-hand other than quicker processing time?

I need to book a premium service for FLR (M) application. If I go for online application I will only be able to book after I have my application approved (I need the approval date of my ILR). Whereas with paper application, I will be able to book an appointment now and reschedule it if I need to.

Please let me have an expert opinion.

Thank you.

If you are not in extreme hurry then ideally let your ILR application gets approved then depending on your budget apply FLRM for your partner either by post or premium service. I also read somewhere that under same circumstances the both partners book appointment on same day at same centre but with FLRM application at later on time than ILR. But again in my opinion unless you have extreme hurry preferably let your ILR firstly gets approved then apply FLRM.

[ronin]

I think more wiser strategy is to get ILR based on long residence in your situation otherwise you both will need to wait until 2021 and by that time a lot of rules & fees might have been changed. By this strategy at least one of you will get ILR now.

True, thank you seagal.

If I go for paper application for FLR (M), should it be ok? Does online application has any upper-hand other than quicker processing time?

I need to book a premium service for FLR (M) application. If I go for online application I will only be able to book after I have my application approved (I need the approval date of my ILR). Whereas with paper application, I will be able to book an appointment now and reschedule it if I need to.

Please let me have an expert opinion.

Thank you.

If you are not in extreme hurry then ideally let your ILR application gets approved then depending on your budget apply FLRM for your partner either by post or premium service. I also read somewhere that under same circumstances the both partners book appointment on same day at same centre but with FLRM application at later on time than ILR. But again in my opinion unless you have extreme hurry preferably let your ILR firstly gets approved then apply FLRM.

Hi seagal,

Thank you very much for your kind suggestion.

Regards.