Biometrics appointment - how does it work?

[Hwanne]

Hi,

My husband was granted his initial leave to remain on 26th October 2016, and his visa expires on May 24th 2019. We are hoping to submit the FLR (M) application in the next few days, and would be grateful for advice on the documents we’re submitting.

Mandatory documents
Biometric Residence Permit
Applicant’s passport
Sponsor’s passport

English language requirement
Applicant’s postgraduate degree certificate from UK university

Housing costs (some are mentioned in correspondence below)
Council tax letter – March 2018
Council tax letter – March 2019
Copy of mortgage deed (no date)
Letter from conveyancer confirming purchase – April 2017
Copy of land registry document – April 2017
Letter from mortgage company – May 2017
Mortgage statement – May 2018

Correspondence
26th November 2016 – Barclays statement (sponsor’s name)
8th February 2017 – utility bill (applicant’s name)
30th March 2017 – Barclays statement (applicant’s name)
4th May 2017 – British Gas bill (both names)
5th May 2017 – insurance letter (both names)
7th May 2017 – letter from conveyancer (both names)
11th May 2017 – DVLA (applicant’s name)
17th May 2017 – insurance letter (sponsor’s name)
June 2017 (no date) – HMRC (applicant’s name)
15th June 2017 – RBS (applicant’s name)
August 2017 (no date) – HSBC statement (sponsor’s name)
5th December 2017 – pension letter (sponsor’s name)
January 2018 (no date) – HMRC (sponsor’s name)
26th January 2018 – pension letter (sponsor’s name)
9th March 2018 – council tax letter (both names)
14th March 2018 – financial advisor (applicant’s name)
22nd March 2018 – insurance letter (sponsor’s name)
9th May 2018 – pension letter (applicant’s name)
May 2018 (no date) – Halifax mortgage letter (both names) – also used as evidence of housing costs
May 2018 (no date) – RBS letter (applicant’s name)
18th June 2018 – council invoice (applicant’s name)
29th June 2018 – internet provider (applicant’s name)
12th July 2018 – pension letter (sponsor’s name)
24th November 2018 – copy of water bill (both names)
18th January 2019 – employer letter (sponsor’s name)
21st January 2019 – NHS (sponsor’s name and address used in letter, but addressed to GP)
8th March 2019 – council tax letter (both names)
March 2019 (no date) – pension letter (applicant’s name)
23rd April 2019 – letter from financial advisor (both names)

Financial requirement (my husband meets this on his salary, but we have included both anyway)
Applicant’s employment contract
Sponsor’s employment contract
Applicant’s bank statement for 12 months
Sponsor’s bank statement for 6 months
Applicant’s last 12 months of payslips
Sponsor’s last 6 months of payslips
Letter from applicant’s employer
Letter from sponsor’s employer
Applicant’s P60 for last two years
Sponsor’s P60 for the previous year (copy stamped by employer)

Relationship
Marriage certificate
A few photos of two recent holidays
Plane tickets for our two holidays (one of which was to stay with my husband’s family)

The pension letters are all from different pension providers (apart from the two to the applicant, which are the same). Those from the financial advisors are different as well.

I know there is a lot of correspondence, but we have included as much as possible in case anything isn’t considered permissible. Are pension and insurance letters valid as correspondence?

Thanks for any advice in advance!

[vijay14307]

are you also submitting the declaration as well right? because it is mandatory -- I guess you are submitting them

I am not sure about the pension & insurance letter - as I do not know about it

regards
vijay

[CR001]

Hi,

My husband was granted his initial leave to remain on 26th October 2016, and his visa expires on May 24th 2019. We are hoping to submit the FLR (M) application in the next few days, and would be grateful for advice on the documents we’re submitting.

Mandatory documents
Biometric Residence Permit
Applicant’s passport
Sponsor’s passport

English language requirement
Applicant’s postgraduate degree certificate from UK university

Housing costs (some are mentioned in correspondence below)
Council tax letter – March 2018
Council tax letter – March 2019
Copy of mortgage deed (no date)
Letter from conveyancer confirming purchase – April 2017 Not required.
Copy of land registry document – April 2017
Letter from mortgage company – May 2017
Mortgage statement – May 2018

Correspondence
26th November 2016 – Barclays statement (sponsor’s name)
8th February 2017 – utility bill (applicant’s name)
30th March 2017 – Barclays statement (applicant’s name)
4th May 2017 – British Gas bill (both names)
5th May 2017 – insurance letter (both names)
7th May 2017 – letter from conveyancer (both names)
11th May 2017 – DVLA (applicant’s name)
17th May 2017 – insurance letter (sponsor’s name)
June 2017 (no date) – HMRC (applicant’s name)
15th June 2017 – RBS (applicant’s name)
August 2017 (no date) – HSBC statement (sponsor’s name)
5th December 2017 – pension letter (sponsor’s name)
January 2018 (no date) – HMRC (sponsor’s name)
26th January 2018 – pension letter (sponsor’s name)
9th March 2018 – council tax letter (both names)
14th March 2018 – financial advisor (applicant’s name)
22nd March 2018 – insurance letter (sponsor’s name)
9th May 2018 – pension letter (applicant’s name)
May 2018 (no date) – Halifax mortgage letter (both names) – also used as evidence of housing costs
May 2018 (no date) – RBS letter (applicant’s name)
18th June 2018 – council invoice (applicant’s name)
29th June 2018 – internet provider (applicant’s name)
12th July 2018 – pension letter (sponsor’s name)
24th November 2018 – copy of water bill (both names)
18th January 2019 – employer letter (sponsor’s name)
21st January 2019 – NHS (sponsor’s name and address used in letter, but addressed to GP)
8th March 2019 – council tax letter (both names)
March 2019 (no date) – pension letter (applicant’s name)
23rd April 2019 – letter from financial advisor (both names)

Financial requirement (my husband meets this on his salary, but we have included both anyway)
Applicant’s employment contract
Sponsor’s employment contract
Applicant’s bank statement for 12 months
Sponsor’s bank statement for 6 months
Applicant’s last 12 months of payslips
Sponsor’s last 6 months of payslips
Letter from applicant’s employer
Letter from sponsor’s employer
Applicant’s P60 for last two years Not required.
Sponsor’s P60 for the previous year (copy stamped by employer) Not required.

Relationship
Marriage certificate
A few photos of two recent holidays Not required.
Plane tickets for our two holidays (one of which was to stay with my husband’s family) Not required.

The pension letters are all from different pension providers (apart from the two to the applicant, which are the same). Those from the financial advisors are different as well. Not really required. You have sufficient other documents.

I know there is a lot of correspondence, but we have included as much as possible in case anything isn’t considered permissible. Are pension and insurance letters valid as correspondence? You only need items for every 3 or 4 months spread evenly over the last 2.5 years. Usually 6 items in joint names.

Thanks for any advice in advance!

[Hwanne]

I know there is a lot of correspondence, but we have included as much as possible in case anything isn’t considered permissible. Are pension and insurance letters valid as correspondence? You only need items for every 3 or 4 months spread evenly over the last 2.5 years. Usually 6 items in joint names.

Thank you - I'll remove the things that aren't required. However, the application checklist does ask us to provide P60s.

I've removed a lot of the unnecessary items of correspondence. There were some large gaps between those addressed to both of us, which is why I've still included a few individual ones:

November 2016 – Barclays statement (sponsor’s name)
March 2017 – Barclays statement (applicant’s name)
May 2017 – British Gas bill (both names)
May 2017 – letter from conveyancer (both names)
May 2017 – DVLA (applicant’s name)
June 2017 – HMRC (applicant’s name)
August 2017 – HSBC statement (sponsor’s name)
January 2018 – HMRC (sponsor’s name)
March 2018 – council tax letter (both names)
May 2018 – Halifax mortgage letter (both names) – also used as evidence of housing costs
June 2018 – council invoice (applicant’s name)
July 2018 – pension letter (sponsor’s name)
November 2018 – copy of water bill (both names)
March 2019 – council tax letter (both names)
April 2019 - electricity bill (both names)
April 2019 – letter from financial advisor (both names)

Some of these documents are being used to support the finance and housing requirements - if they're uploaded in different sections, will they still count towards the correspondence requirement? Or should I upload them twice so that I can still keep all of the correspondence items together?

[Hwanne]

are you also submitting the declaration as well right? because it is mandatory -- I guess you are submitting them

I am not sure about the pension & insurance letter - as I do not know about it

regards
vijay

Thanks Vijay - we haven't seen the declaration section yet, but will sign everything that's needed when we get to it.

[seagul]

Some of these documents are being used to support the finance and housing requirements - if they're uploaded in different sections, will they still count towards the correspondence requirement? Or should I upload them twice so that I can still keep all of the correspondence items together?

uploading twice in both sections is better idea. You really have strong amount of cohabitation evidences

[Hwanne]

I've almost finished the online application for FLR (M), but want to clarify two questions. I've heard the answers would only be relevant if the application was denied, so I'm not sure whether to go into detail.

What family or friends do you have in the country where you were born and/or any other country whose nationality you hold?
It suggests providing 'their names, relationship to you and where they live'. So far I've just mentioned the names of my husband's parents and brother, and which city and country they live in. Is it necessary to make a list of extended family and friends' names and locations as well?

Are there any factors which would make it difficult or impossible for you to integrate and establish a private life in that country?
This follows the question about where he would go if he had to leave the UK. I put 'yes', but then it asks for evidence to prove this. The only reason is that he has a wife and career here (nothing out of the ordinary), so is it simpler to just choose 'no'? I'm assuming that won't be counted against him?

Thanks!

[Casa]

I've almost finished the online application for FLR (M), but want to clarify two questions. I've heard the answers would only be relevant if the application was denied, so I'm not sure whether to go into detail.

What family or friends do you have in the country where you were born and/or any other country whose nationality you hold?
It suggests providing 'their names, relationship to you and where they live'. So far I've just mentioned the names of my husband's parents and brother, and which city and country they live in. Is it necessary to make a list of extended family and friends' names and locations as well? No, that's sufficient.

Are there any factors which would make it difficult or impossible for you to integrate and establish a private life in that country?
This follows the question about where he would go if he had to leave the UK. I put 'yes', but then it asks for evidence to prove this. The only reason is that he has a wife and career here (nothing out of the ordinary), so is it simpler to just choose 'no'? I'm assuming that won't be counted against him? I suggest you state 'established life in the UK with wife and career.'

Thanks!

[ariamus]

You only need items for every 3 or 4 months spread evenly over the last 2.5 years. Usually 6 items in joint names.

You need cohabitation evidence for the last 2 years, not 2.5 years.

[Hwanne]

We submitted our FLR (M) application yesterday, and booking the biometrics appointment raised a few questions I can't find clear answers to:

1. On most of the forum timelines I've seen, people attend an appointment within fewer than 5 days of submitting their application. How is this possible? The soonest free appointment was 31st May, and we had to pay £60 for one in 13 days' time. I feel like I've missed something, and I'm guessing we can't look out for other dates now that it's booked...

2. Does the date of the biometrics appointment affect how soon you receive a decision? Will they wait until the biometrics have been taken to start processing the application, or does their processing time have nothing to do with when the appointment is?

3. The soonest appointment we could find was at an enhanced service centre. What do we get as part of this 'enhanced' service, as the website offers no information (just the option of extra paid services)? Does it include document checking? If so, I'm guessing we can upload all the documents now anyway? And surely a £60 appointment offers other services as well..?

Sorry there are so many questions here, but it might help make this process a bit more transparent for everyone.

[CR001]

Kindly keep ALL questions on the same application in one topic. Topics merged.

1. On most of the forum timelines I've seen, people attend an appointment within fewer than 5 days of submitting their application. How is this possible? The soonest free appointment was 31st May, and we had to pay £60 for one in 13 days' time. I feel like I've missed something, and I'm guessing we can't look out for other dates now that it's booked...

It depends on location and the service chosen on how quickly you can get an appointment.

2. Does the date of the biometrics appointment affect how soon you receive a decision? Will they wait until the biometrics have been taken to start processing the application, or does their processing time have nothing to do with when the appointment is?

Application will only be worked on once biometrics is complete.

[Hwanne]

So does anyone know what you get at an enhanced service centre that you don't get at a core service centre (without buying extra services)?

[vijay14307]

i guess this option is not available
you can buy a document checking service £35 - they will tell you if anything is missing or required
for my appointment, I paid £100 as I did not have free one any sooner
if you need any enhanced service you might have to approach some solicitors


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completed the process at Sopra Steria on 7that cardiff
did not even take more than 15 mins
they did not ask for any documents
just scanned the passport, took a photo & the biometrics
I paid for documents checking service £35 -- they just told me that they checked it only & all clear no need to worry about the documents
got the confirmation email from home office in 3 hours around 12:52 on 07.05.2019
got the new BRP delivered to home address today (just now )
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regards
vijay

[vijay14307]

one of my friend went to Croydon today (for his wife visa 2nd extension) in free appointment but they did not allow him inside as the appointment was free
so if you want your partner to be with you make sure that you pay for the appointment
but I went to Cardiff which was a paid appointment but they did not ask or check to say whether it is a paid or not paid appointment
I feel this difference from place to place