Wife FLR(M). HO asking to confirm who resides in property

[manilondon10]

I am a settled person and applied for my wife's visa -FLR(M) with HO in December 2014. I received a letter from HO yesterday as per below:

Thank you for your application for leave to remain in the UK.

To help me consider the matter, please send me the following documents. Please send ORIGINAL documents and photocopies are NOT acceptable for the purpose of deciding your application.

Documents required:
1. Documentary evidence of ownership of your home OR rent book/tenancy agreement AND a letter from the landlord / local authority confirming who is residing there.----------------Need clarification/advice on the latter part of this requirement.
2. Most recent council tax bill---------(I can provide this document)
3. Passport for Spouse (myself).-----(I can provide this document)

To enable me to decide your case promptly it is essential that you use the enclosed return label and reply by 29th January 2015.

If you fail to produce the information requested within the time that has been given, I must warn you that the application will be considered on the basis of the information currently available. Please be aware that under paragraph 322(9) of the immigration rules, the grounds on which leave to remain should normally be refused include failure by an applicant to produce within a reasonable time information, documents or other evidence required by the Secretary of State to establish his Rules.

Yours Sincerely

Please note that I am a leaseholder and have been living with my wife and my son in the property for 3 years. I therefore have following documents to provide to show ownership of the property i.e. purchase confirmation from my solicitor, my mortgage agreement, land registry document, Bank annual mortgage statement, Service Charges and Council tax bill.

My question is what kind of evidence I can provide from the landlord/local authority confirming who is residing in the property?

I have just spoken to local council leasehold team who advised me that they are not sure what HO means by that requirement. They can send me a copy of 'letter of assignment' that they received from my solicitor at the time of purchase of the property but they are not sure what other document they can supply to suffice this requirement.

Senior members please advise what are my options here in terms of providing the requested evidence.

Thanks in advance for your assistance and kind advice.


Regards,

manilondon10

[manci]

the HO want to make sure that there is no overcrowding in the property, see:
http://www.immigrationboards.com/immigr ... t6227.html
and
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... annexf.pdf

Since you are leasing the house from the local authority get a letter from their housing office (not the legal dept.) confirming that there is no overcrowding in the property, i.e. confirming the No of rooms and the No of persons living there.

[manilondon]

Hi Manci,

Thanks for your reply. I called the Local Council again today and asked to speak to Housing. I was advised by the Housing officer that since I am a leasholder therefore I need to speak to their leashold department and there is nothing his department can do/provide in this matter.

I then called the leashold department and was advised that they will not provide any such letter as they do not know how many people are living in the property. All they can suggest is to speak to Council Tax Division who maybe able to assist me further. As far as the council tax division is concerned, since I am the leaseholder, they would only have my name in their records and not my wife's and my son's. Chances of me getting anything useful from them are minimal.

Basically I am going round the houses and no one in local council seems to be understanding my problem. I did some research online and came to know that I can get a property inspection done by a qualified chartered surveyor and provide his report to HO as a proof of who resides there and that it is not over crowded. Do you suggest I do that or is it something that doesn't add any value? Will the HO accept it? Not sure really. Please advise.

Thanks

[Rayking]

Didn't you include tenancy agreement or any lease holding documents in your application?
I don't know your council but may be you didn't explain you need housing inspection report,a lot of council do that.

[WR1]

Manilondon

It sounds like your local council are useless and clueless as this is a service most councils offer (for example my local council):

http://www.bury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2552

It you cannot get your local council to provide the service, then a chartered surveyor is perfectly fine to use. When I applied for my Mrs spouse visa a few years ago, I used a local estate agent (only as they were cheaper than the local council) and the report was accepted by the Home Office without any issue.

All the Home Office require is satisfaction that there will be no overcrowding with the addition of your spouse joining you. It doesn't necessarily have to be a report from your local council, any competent professional organisation will do. As i mentioned, I used a local estate agent without any issues.

[vinny]

I then called the leashold department and was advised that they will not provide any such letter as they do not know how many people are living in the property. All they can suggest is to speak to Council Tax Division who maybe able to assist me further. As far as the council tax division is concerned, since I am the leaseholder, they would only have my name in their records and not my wife's and my son's. Chances of me getting anything useful from them are minimal.

That's odd. In my experience, Councils are usually more than happy to add adult names to their council tax bills.

Property inspections are not mandatory.

[manci]

Going by how my council work they have a general phone number and email address for enquiries. If this is the same in your case suggest you contact them this way, rather than individual departments where the person who answers the phone may not know about the subject, and request an immigration inspection. By googling you will see that many councils provide this service and a request form can usually be downloaded from their websites.

[manilondon]

Continuing the same thread....


Hi All,

There has been a development in my wife's FLR(M) application.

In reply to HO letter requesting me to provide following docs, I submitted followings:

1. Documentary evidence of ownership of your home OR rent book/tenancy agreement AND a letter from the landlord / local authority confirming who is residing there.

(I submitted a property inspection report (PIR) from an independant surveyor who is technical member of IOSH and holds the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) V2 qualification)

2. Most recent council tax bill---------(I provided this document in original)

3. Passport for Spouse (myself).-----(I provided this document in original)


After one week of submitting the above documents I received another letter from HO inviting both me and my wife for a face to face interview at Sheffield office on 11th March.

The letter from HO has a pretty standard wording and does not suggest why an interview is needed. The letter also states that no additional documents will be seen on the day of interview.

The interview will last upto 2 hours max (which makes me worried) and both me and my wife will be questioned separately.

I have few questions here:

1. The fact that
a. me and my wife have been living together in UK since 2009,
b. we have a 4 year old british born son (who now has a british passport),and
c. we have provided all documents (letters from GP/NHS/Bank statements etc in my wife's name) covering last 2 years showing that we live together at the same address,

why would HO ask us for an interview? Do they still suspect we don't live together or are not in a genuine relationship? Do they think our relationship is not subsisting?

2. What type of questions can we expect during the interview?

3. Can we take our son with us as there is no one else who can take care of him on that day? The letter states that we can take our solicitor with us,if needed but does not state anything about taking dependents along with us.

4. The HO letter also states that an interpreter can be provided to my wife, if needed. Altough my wife passed CEFR level A1 English test from City & Guilds - which is very basic level of qualification, yet she feels nervous and thinks that she would struggle to explain in English if the interviewing officer asks her a complex question. Is it a good idea to ask for an interpreter or will it have a negative impact on her application as having a basic understanding of English is a requirement for a dependant who intends to obtain a spouse visa?

5.Is there anything else I need to be aware of or need to consider or do I need to take any further evidence such as our pictures (on ipad) showing that we have been living together all along?


Senior members please advise.


Regards,

manilondon

[julian1972]

It is strange in a way that the HO would invite you and your partner for an interview. What sort of visa does your partner prior to the FLR(M) application?

You have lived together for 3 years and have kid together, something does not seem right. It's either they don't think that your relationship is subsisting.

[manilondon]

My wife was on PBS Dependant visa as I held PBS Migrant visa prior to settlement. My wife's PBS dep visa was about to run out this year and she had to get the category changed to spouse of a settled person hence we submitted her FLR(M) application.

We have been living together since 2009 (6 years) and have a a 4 year old son.

I met a local solicitor/Immigration adviser yesterday and explained him the situation. He advised that these days HO is requesting majority of applicants to attend interview so that they can see that they are a genuine couple. People have abused the system to obtain settlement in past so HO is doing everything to ensure they only approve those applicants who are genuine. He also advised me to request for an interpretor for my wife as it will not have any negative impact on her application. According to him we may take our wedding pictures and other pictures covering last 6 years showing that we have been together.

[Obie]

They have a criteria for people who are called for an interview, which is people without children.

In your case, there is a child, so i wonder why they have decided to call you for an interview.

[n8net]

I don't get this...

whent hey gave PBS Dep visa they know there are genuine couple ? and if the applicant is the same for FLR why the fuss now
they want to make sure they are genuine couple ?

what am I missing ?

[Amber]

Anyone can be called to an interview regardless of circumstances. I wouldn't be concerned, if this is to access the genuineness of your relationship expect a separate interview with question based on your relationships for comparison. It's unlikely to check for overcrowding, although take evidence to rebut an allegation if you think one may be raised. Take cohabitation proof (letters in names to same address), any photographs if you have them and a reference from a professional person who knows you both confirming you are in a relationship.

[manilondon10]

Continuing the same thread....

Hi All,

Good News, my wife got the FLR(M) visa yesterday at last. We received all the docs and biometric card through two separate posts.

I'd like to share our experience with all the forum members so it may help anyone who is called for FLR(M) interview.So we went to Sheffield Office on 11th of March and had our interview. Initially we (me,my wife and our son) went in the interview room together and got briefed what to expect during the interview. The officer also advised the she is not the case worker and that all information gathered from us will be passed onto the case worker who will review our answers before making any decision. The immigration officer took our basic details i.e name, address, d.o.b etc and then asked my wife to go outside in the waiting hall and wait there. I was first to be questioned. After few questions such as what is my annual pay, how long we have been living at our current address, did we celebrate our son's last birthday or not, How does he go to his nursery, what gift did I give to my wife on our last wedding anniversary etc. I was then told to wait outside and my wife was called in. She was asked the same questions as me however she was asked additional questions about her English A1 certificate i.e. where did she go for test, what was the name of institute where she passed her A1 test from, how long did the test last, what type of questions were there in the test,how much we paid towards the test fee, does she know what TOEIC is, has she ever given a TOEIC test (FYI, my wife passed A1 from City and Guilds so she had no clue what TOEIC was ).Her interview lasted for about 20 minutes. Later I was called in and was given a chance to ask questions if I had any. I asked why we were called for the interview. The officer advised that from May 2014 HO has become strict and is calling almost everyone who applies for marriage visa (I suppose she meant any dependant who is moving towards settlement ). I asked how long will it take for the case worker to decide the outcome of our application. She advised she was not sure about that but it could possibly take between 2 to 4 weeks (max mid April). That was it and then we left.

My advise for anyone in similar situation would be to stay in a local B&B in Sheffield a night before the interview (if you need to travel from another city, London in my case) so you are fresh when you appear for your interview the next day.

I hope our experience helps others.

Last but not least I'd like to thank everyone who provided guidance in this thread.

[Umarralamgir]

Hi I went for interview in Sheffield on 17 March still not get any decision even I was told that it's gonna take 4 weeks

[Umarralamgir]

I made application on 1st dec 2014 and I switched from tier 4 can any one guide me