Spouse to ILR, general info
 

We spent a 'very exciting' 90 mins Saturday afternoon filling out the ILR forms for Mrs TB (which is the form called 'SETM) and gathering the 'evidence'. Due to her needing to go to Korea on Mar 11 and her visa expiring on Mar 15, a personal appt will probably be required at Croydon (which is £400 more expensive than post).

Some things to consider is you're applying anytime soon.

The postal application can take up to 6mths, but the lady on the phone said it very rarely takes that long from non HRC country applicants, but couldn't tell me how long it does take

If you apply by post, the applicant's work rights are extended until a decision is made, (but if you were looking for work in this 'decision period' then I can imagine how an employer might view that!)

The applicant must send in their passport with the application (seems obvious), but remember that the applicant won't then be able to travel if they need to. There is a box in the form to explain why you are not sending the passport in with the app. So we thought 'great we'll do that', but according to the lady at UKBA, there is no document they can give you to prove to the POE agent that you have applied. So mrs TB would essentially be coming back in as a visitor, which obviously is no good.

Like I say, not an issue if you have loads of time left on the visa and don't want to travel.

Mrs TB's Australian passport expires in Oct so I asked about the visa sticker. UKBA said that you can fill in a NTL form for a new sticker (and small fee) but she said most folks simply take their old passports as well and show that to the POE official.

On the form it says that UKBA 'may not' consider your application until there is less than 28 days left on the existing visa. Reading the form it doesn't seem to be mandatory but UKBA said there is absolutely no way we can book a personal appt before 28 days as the system won't allow it (not sure about postal). So first date for us is Feb 8th onwards.

I asked about time out of the UK counting against Mrs TB and they said that once you each 180 days out of two years they ask questions and only if she's traveled on her own. Things like holidays with me don't count. She is under that (although doesn't bloody seem like it:lol:).

Now here's something i didn't know, or had forgotten. If you are going for citizenship (not a huge issue for us), the 'clock' starts ticking from when ILR starts. I thought the two years on the Spouse Settlement counted toward it as well but she said it didn't.

We didn't find the forms complicated at all, just got to get some mug shots of myself today;)

Hope this helps anyone.

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

A Few points. I think it is wrong about the clock only starting once ILR starts, I think they misinformed you. For spouses of UKC, you only need to have ILR on the day you apply, ie if you already had enough time (Fiance visa/Visitor etc of a year) you could apply right away with the 2 years of Spouse visa and other time, if added up to three years. I'm sure you could find something online to contradict what you were told. Remember government officials are rarely held accountable for giving out false information (and hard to prove if given over the phone).

Carrying the old passport with sticker will work for one passport, ie the passport immediately after the one with ILR sticker. After that (ie 3rd passport) you have to get it transfered. We did it in person in one day at Croydon. It was £500, but God knows how much now. However, although you've been boxed into a corner yourselves with regards to applying in person, I actually think that it is much better. You can answer any questions in person and you don't risk losing important documents in the post. Imagine it did get lost for a second. That's all your proof of co-habiting, both passports, including any visas in them. If they were on the way back, your fee is wasted. In person is what we will always do if we can.

Just curious but do they give out ID cards with the same info as the ILR sticker anyone know? Do you get ID cards with LLR?

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

I thought it was wrong as well, but will check when we are there in the office. WRT to the second passport, Aussie passports are 10yrs, so in the extremely unlikely situation that were are still in the UK in 2022 she'll be UKC anyway.

I don't know what an ID card is? Don't know what LLR is either? The only ID I've seen used here is the plastic part of a driving licence. Mrs TB has a new NI card but it says 'not proof of ID' on it. There are no other cards issued, at least not to us, just the visa in the passport.

I haven't done mine yet so when I need photo ID I use my AussiE driving licence. Needed a photo ID the other day (for joining library) and they needed current address as well, so I showed them my British Cycling Racing Licence, which has photo and address and they were happy with that, which was a bit of a shock:lol:

The big question is, we have to go to Croydon for the appt. Based on the fact that we couldn't get out of Hounslow quick enough last week after her LITUK test, are we in for a bigger shock?:lol:

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

Well some people reckon Croydon is really rough, my DH is one of them! However I've never had a problem. I usually only go there shopping so am not there late at night, though I used to work P/T there and finish at 9pm. Never had a trouble at the bus station. Lunar House, the Border Agency office, is right opposite The Whitgift Centre, a good mall where you can go for a couple of hours while to wait for the visa sticker and shop/have lunch. There are vending machines in the waiting room at Lunar House.

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

Thanks, yeah we are hoping for a morning appt so we have time to do the 'come back in a couple of hours' thing. So driving/parking is no issue then?

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

Not sure as we live only 15 mins by bus. But I expect you could park in Sainsbury's carpark opposite.

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

The times we've been there we used the train, as Lunar House is very close to both East Croydon and West Croydon stations.

Not sure if going away for a couple of hours will be an option - the main sitting around is once you've gone through both the initial check of application (often after a lengthy queue) and then payment (which is in a different part of the building). You then have to wait in a 3rd area of the building until your number is called, and if you're not there then you might lose your spot altogether.

Once all that is over, and presuming they issue the visa they may tell you how long it will take for the visa label - but check if it's ok to head out of the building during that period. You would have to get through all the security when entering again (presuming they let you in of course!)

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

The time for the is not relevant in settlement to a certain extent, she will need to be resident for 3 years including time on spouse visa. just check she meets all the requirements, and if you travel a bit be careful that she was actually present 3 years before you apply - do a bit of searching to see how they work this out

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

Ah that's ok, not bothered if we have to wait in the bdg. I was thinking of when we applied for het first SV back in Canberra in 06. They do all the processing, payments, queations etc, then they tell you to leave the building and give you a time slot come back. If we have to wait inside, no biggie (that's what triathlon mags were invented for:rofl:).

Not exactly sure what this means, but the whole citizenship thing isn't a huge issue. We'll either be staying a long time or not that long at all, so the ILR is just us covering ourselves really.

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

We did leave the building and it was OK. They said we could leave for a couple of hours. Obviously ask before you try it though. It was boring enough as it was without a couple of hours out for lunch.

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

Sorry meant to say the time after ILR really relevant in your case, needs to be in the UK for 3 years from arrival on the spouse visa. The timing of the application is relevant as your spouse will need to have been in the UK three years on the date she applies for B Cit. So if shed arrive on 1 Jan 2003 she could apply for Brit cit on 1 Jan 2006 ( assuming she met all the other criteria)

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

Ah, see what you mean thanks:) In theory she could be eligible in March 2013 then ( 2yrs Spouse + 1 yr ILR which should be granted mid Feb this year).

That's what I thought all along, but like I say, the UKBA lady on the phone said otherwise. We'll check in Croydon when we go though.

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

Was that fairly recently? It's been almost 5 years since I last visited Lunar House! And I remember visiting a couple of years before that, when appointments were just beginning to be introduced, and most people waited around outside in a huge queue if they didn't have an appointment!
Yeah, definitely 3 years residence for citizenship when married to a British citizen at the time of application (not relevant in your case, but there's no need to have been married to a British citizen for the 3 years, just married at the time of application).

With current rules, there is no minimum requirement for ILR for a spouse of a British citizen (normally people need to be ILR for at least 1 year). Also, if your wife does apply for citizenship she needs to make sure she was present in the UK on the day 3 years before applying.

Of course, rules could change - and probably will, as when the spouse visa changes happen in April the 3 year residency period for citizenship as a spouse will not be possible after a few years due to needing to hold ILR.

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

I think it was April 2007 we were in Croydon.

Re: Spouse to ILR, general info
 

Well unless we did something fundamentally wrong (which I don't think we did), we won't be going to Croydon. Even though there is a number to ring for appts, the number only directs you to the online booking form for appts (Premium for SETM).

Anyway, we put in a date range from 8th Feb to 29th Feb, and the only options were Cardiff or Birmingham, absolutely nothing for Croydon at all within that range. Don't know how far in advance you'd need to be to get an appt there, but obviously more time than we have!

We're off down the M4 to Cardiff on Feb 22nd:fingerscrossed: