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My Journey for my first FLR(M) Version 11/2015 at the Liverpool Premium Service Center.

Discussion in 'UK Visa and Immigration Help' started by Mana Taylor, Apr 6, 2016.

  1. Mana Taylor
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    Mana Taylor Member

    I am writing this post to share with you my personal experience for my FLR (1st) journey.First and foremost, I think the key of every success is having a very supportive,patient,understanding, tampo tolerant husband who is my partner all throughout the journey.Secondly,a proper research,gathering of informations,completion of documents and careful filling out of form.It should be a team work between the applicant and the sponsor:). The journey begins when my husband and I booked an on line Appointment,that took us an approximately 15 to 20 minutes infront of the computer,sorting it out,we paid the IHS,the Visa fee and additional fee for Premium Services, all online transactions.Here's the cost breakdown: IHS-500,fee for one applicant-649,Premium Service-400.Total:£1,549.00( please take note that we made the booking on the last week of February 2016,amount of fees may change),we chose the date of an appointment and that's one week before the expiration of my Entry visa.Upon booking,I received an email showing Appointment Booking Checklist which indicates my details,my IHS number,Instructions,etc.I had printed that out.My husband already downloaded the form FLR (M) Version 11/15 prior to the booking,which gave us ample time to study the contents of the form and did thorough research,which includes advises from Timmer:). We also had a spare set of form(74pages),as a rough draft.I had encountered one confusing circumstance when we came across the booking,my title,is it Miss,Mrs or Ms.? I used Ms. because I am now married but I'm still using my Maiden Name:rolleyes:.So,here comes the filling out of form,phew:frust:.As we went on with the details in the form,there's a Payment Guidance,pages 3,4,5.We did not fill out this part of the form since we already paid on line.So,we left it blank.We have a straightforward application,I am a sole applicant,my husband(sponsor)is employed so we completed the 7.3 A Income from Salaried Employment.I got confused about the joint Financial Responsibilities (obviously,my husband shoulder all the financial responsibilities since I am not yet employed by the time we applied).This actually refers to all the documents under the sponsor and applicant names that involved currency such as Bank Account,Council Taxes,and Tenancy Agreement regardless of who shoulder the bills.
    Here is the list of the documents that we had submitted:
    Appointment Booking Checklist
    Complete FLR(M) form
    Marriage Certificate
    Photos (UK Passport size),2 for the applicant,1 for the sponsor
    2 passports (applicant and sponsor)
    Employment Letter of the Sponsor
    Bank Statement(joint correspondence)
    Council Tax Bill (joint correspondence)
    Tenancy Agreement(in both our names)
    6 months payslips (sponsor)
    P60(sponsor)
    Letter from the Church Minister
    Letter from the City Council Registrar which confirms our wedding appointment(serves as joint correspondence)
    10 correspondence(sponsor),such as Phone Bills,Dentist Appointment,Car Insurance,Water Bill,SpecSavers,Tescos,Heritage,Sainsburys.
    7 Correspondence (applicant),letters from GP,Tesco,Boots,Iceland,personal letter from family abroad,letter from the Bank.
    A letter from DHL addressed both in our names(A box of my wedding gown and wedding accessories from the Philippines)(Joint Correspondence)
    Birth Certificates (Sponsor and Applicant)
    IELTS Test Result
    Wedding Photos.

    We photocopied each of the above documents but we didn't use those copies actually:rolleyes:.Take note also that for the correspondence,we only submitted the front page that shows the name and address.

    We arrived at Liverpool Premium Service Center,30 minutes before the booking time.The Security man checked the Appointment Booking Checklist and passport before allowing us to pass through an Airport Security type check, gave us a ticket number and waited till my number was called.
    The desk officer was nice and approachable,apart from having a strong scouse accent:)luckily, my husband love the accent and we live in Liverpool:D.We submitted all original documents,then the officer asked us to return to our seat and wait for the next call.For the next call,the officer handed me my passport and a document to be given to the Biometric Officer.
    Once I was infront of the Biometric Officer,he asked me two questions.First,do I have any other name aside from the name written in my passport.Second question,when and where did I had a fingerprinting and photo taking(referring to the Entry Visa Processing abroad).So,after I had my fingerprinting and photo taking done(still,no smiling for the photo:erm:) the Biometric officer asked me to handed back the passport and a document to the desk officer.And advised us to wait.. wait..wait:rolleyes:.We waited for approximately 45 minutes before calling my number.And there we went:).It was all successfully done:like:.They advised us that the BRP card will arrived by post within 7 days,I should received it personally as I need to sign it and show my passport to the postman.The Officer asked me to sign a document stating that they returned all the original documents back to us(just to discover later,that the Employment Certificate of my Sponsor stating his income and length of service wasn't returned:rolleyes:).They gave us a 3 pages letter that states,"GRANT OF LEAVE TO REMAIN,FIVE YEAR PARTNER ROUTE.I am writing to inform you that you have been granted a period of 30 months limited leave to remain....":).Please take note,there is no visa stamp in the passport. The BRP card shows the condition and restrictions for the visa type.So,after a long and successful journey there was something to celebrate about;):D.The BRP card arrived within 7 working days.:like:.I was supposed to post a new thread yesterday as I have mentioned it in the other thread posted by Timmer but I was busy yesterday and was very excited for today's event.I just had my Induction this morning and just got my very first UK Working Uniform:).Goodluck to me:rolleyes:he-he.Cheeersss...
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2016
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  2. bigmac
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    bigmac Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    excellent--thank you very much.

    just to remind others--the fees have now gone up--FLR fee £810-----same day service £500---IHS unchanged.
  3. PaddyJoh
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    PaddyJoh Active Member

    Well that was very comprehensive! Thanks for sharing your experience in such detail .. Its posts like these that can really give a person a good idea of what is involved in the application process, and when I say person I mean me because I knew nothing about FLR o_O ... Oh and congratulations too :like:
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  4. Anne
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    Anne Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Thanks for sharing your visa journey. Enjoy 30 months of visa-free bliss ;-)
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  5. Dav3&Ai5a
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    Dav3&Ai5a Active Member

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  6. deanobeano
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    deanobeano Active Member

    Thank you for sharing that Mana Taylor.
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  7. Swan_007
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    Swan_007 New Member

    Just to add a little colour / context to the visit to the premium centre, they operate a two-person system. A ‘receptionist’ role, (they receive, log and initially check the paperwork package) and a separate case officer (who we didn’t meet) that sits in the back and actually decides your case.

    Our receptionist did indeed have a strong local accent and looked very much like ‘Jim Royale’ (albeit a younger version), and was equally helpful, friendly and thorough. One thing I did notice, was that in quite a few other cases, the ‘case officer’ came to an empty front desk and called the applicant forward to review / question / verify details, which is good as it would allow for some level of interaction and may help in your application, but we were fortunate enough to not need it. But it was a worry watching all these other applicants get called up and sent away (often more than once) while we just sat there waiting.

    But as Anna says, its done now so no more stresses, well not for a year or so…. And of course the next decision is whether to go via the postal route as we’ll have more lead time; however I’m already collecting ‘evidence’ so that we can cover the full 2.5years of this FLR o_O :geek:
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  8. bigmac
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    bigmac Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    why " for a year or so ? the FLR is for 2 & 1/2 years.
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  9. Swan_007
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    Swan_007 New Member

    I meant that I probably shouldn't worry to much until a year away from the renewal date, which seems ages compared to the 6-months to marry and then renew.
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  10. Nickel
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    Nickel Active Member

    Thanks for this post @Mana Taylor ..now I'll have this as a checklist for my FLR as my fiance visa will expire in over a month.
    Btw, you listed IELTS (knowing that it is only good for 2 years)..I took my English test last July of 2014.. will this be still okay?
    Can anyone give me any thought about this?thanks a lot. . Cheers!
  11. Mana Taylor
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    Mana Taylor Member

    Hello there,I read this paragraph in the FLR(M) form of 11/2015 under Section 8,English Language Requirement page 42
    "If you sat an English language test before 6 April 2015 you will not have a SELT unique electronic reference number. You may still be able to use your test with this application but only if it was accepted as part of a successful previous partner or parent application. See section 21e) of the FLR(M) guidance notes."
    I hope,this could help a bit:)However,I suggest you should do more research about your inquiries:)Goodluck:like:
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  12. Nickel
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    Nickel Active Member

    Yes you're right ..and thanks a lot.Just that we wanted things done the best way..watertight it. ☺☺
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