This is one of the most frequently asked questions, which I get a lot. I do agree that it may be quite confusing. There are a number of various forms. You can quite easily get confused when deciding which form is appropriate for your particular application.

Which form to complete as a spouse of a British Citizen?

I promise that after reading this article and/or watching the video all confusion will despair and you will be crystal clear on which form you need.

Which form do I need to complete as a Spouse of a British Citizen?

Only Three Types of Applications

In order to answer the question about the appropriate form, the first thing you need to establish is your type of application. Generally there are 3 types of applications for spouses of British citizens or someone who is settled in the UK.

1. The first one is when you are applying from outside the UK. This application is known as entry clearance application. This is just a legal term for making an application from outside the UK to enter the UK;
2. The second type of application is  further leave to remain application – that is when you are applying to remain as a spouse of a BC in the UK.
3. And the last, 3^rd type of application is a settlement application. In legal terms it is known as Indefinite Leave to Remain application. That is when you are applying to remain in the UK indefinitely. In most cases it will be after 5 years of remaining in the UK on a spouse visa.

Entry Clearance Applications

When you applying to enter the UK from outside, when entry clearance application, in addition to showing that you meet all the necessary requirements, you need to complete two form.

The 1^st form is the online form. Unless you are from North Korea. Those who are from North Korea need to complete form VAF4A, which is just a paper version of the online form.

The 2^nd form is called Appendix 2 of VAF4A form. VAF4A form is the online form, which I just mentioned.

Which form to complete as a spouse of a British Citizen?

The forms in the video are the current versions of the forms, valid at the date of creating this. One very important thing for you to remember is the fact that the Home Office updates their forms on very regular basis, which is not a problem if you are completing the online.

However if you are completing the paper version of the form, for example Appendix 2, you have to always check if the form you are completing is the most up to date one. This is because according to law, if you are submitting the form, which became out of date more than 21 days ago, your application will be automatically invalid.

This applies to all the forms, which I mention in my articles.

Which form do I need to complete as a Spouse of a British Citizen?

Further Leave to Remain Form

There are two possible case scenarios here:

If you know that you meet all the necessary rules of your application, than you need to complete form FLR (M) form.

If you do not meet the requirement than it will be FLR(FP)form, where ‘FP’ stands for family and private life. For example this may happen when you do not meet the minimum income requirement (financial requirement of the application).

You have a choice here. You can either use the paper or online form. I always go for the paper version. This is because it is much for flexible, which you need especially if your circumstances are not standard ones. Ones again, please always make sure that you use the up to date version.

Indefinite Leave to Remain Form

And finally, if you want to make a settlement application (known as ILR), then you need to use SET (M) form. ‘M’ which stands for Settlement, marriage form.

You are not given any choice here and have to complete the online form.

I hope you are question: ‘Which form to complete as a spouse of a British Citizen?’ is now fully clarified.

The post Which form do I need to complete as a Spouse of a British Citizen? first appeared on UK VISA SUCCESS with Svitlana Shlapak.

My husband is a British citizen. He is employed in the UK. What documents do we need to submit with my spouse visa application to prove that he can support me?

Factors to Consider

Before I start answering this question, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that before analysing what documents you need to gather it is very important to establish the following:

1. Whether or not the spouse of a British citizen is in the UK or outside the UK. If they are outside – this will be an entry clearance application. This is a legal term for a visa application made outside the UK. If a spouse of a British citizen is in the UK – then it will most likely be further leave to remain application. This is a legal term for making an application in the UK.

From the question we know that the person is outside the UK.

2. The second thing we need to establish is the source of British spouse’s income. There only 5 permitted sources of income which you can rely on when submitting your application.

From the question we know that a British citizen spouse is employed. This source of income is recognised by the Home Office.

3. Thirdly, we need to know whether the person in question was the same employer for more than 6 months. If they were not, they will need to submit documents covering the last 12 months. However if they were with the same employer for more than 6 months, they will only need to submit documents covering the last 6 months only.

It is not clear from the question  and therefore I’ll explain both case scenarios.

In order for a spouse of a British citizen to prove that they meet the financial requirement of the application they need to submit three key documents:

Key Document No1

a) Payslips covering:
(i) a period of 6 months prior to the date of application if the person has been employed by their current employer for at least 6 months; or
(ii) any period of salaried employment in the period of 12 months prior to the date of application if the person has been employed by their current employer for less than 6 months, or in the financial year(s) relied upon by a self-employed person.

Key Document No2

(b) A letter from the employer(s) who issued the payslips confirming:
(i) the person’s employment and gross annual salary;
(ii) the length of their employment;
(iii) the period over which they have been or were paid the level of salary relied upon in the application; and
(iv) the type of employment (permanent, fixed-term contract or agency).

Key Document No3

(c) Personal bank statements corresponding to the same period(s) as the payslips at paragraph 2(a), showing that the salary has been paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly.

Please remember that all the documents you are submitting must be original documents and English language.

Further Help

And finally, if you want to get a UK visa of any type, you need to understand the rules of the game. You also need to understand how to apply them correctly. UKVisaSuccess.com online courses help you do exactly that. After watching the course you need, you’ll dramatically reduce the chances of refusal of your visa application. It is because you’ll understand the application process and the requirements.

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Entry Clearance = 33 months

If you are applying from outside the UK and you meet all the necessary requirements of your entry clearance application than your spouse entry clearance application will be granted for 33 months. Entry clearance is a legal term. It means visa applications made outside the UK.

Further Leave to Remain = 30 months

Once you are in the UK you can submit your further leave to remain application. This means a visa application made in the UK. You should submit this application before your previous visa is about to expire. If you meet all the necessary requirements, than your further leave to remain application will be granted for another 30 months.

Indefinite Leave to Remain = after 60 months

After having your spouse visa for 60 months, you will become eligible to make a settlement application. It is also known as Indefinite leave to remain application. As in previous case, you should submit this application before your further leave to remain expires.

Naturalisation

After your ILR application is granted you can make your naturalisation application straightaway. Naturalisation application is a legal term for making your British citizenship application. This can be on the basis of being a spouse of a British citizen.  There is no need for you to wait for 12 months before you can make your naturalisation application. This requirement was removed for spouse of British citizens. For this reason you can apply on the same day of receiving your ILR, provided, of course, you meet all the necessary requirements.

Your Journey in Pictures

Here is how your journey will look like visually:

If you are abroad, you’ll start right here with an entry clearance application. Then you’ll need to take 5 steps to get your British passport.

If you meet all the necessary requirements, your entry clearance application will be granted for 33 months.

Then, once you are in the UK, you can make your Further Leave to Remain application. You need to do it before the expiry of your previous spouse visa. If you meet all the necessary requirements, it will be granted for another 30 months.

After holding your spouse visa for 60 months, you may become eligible to make our ILR application. That is

provided, of course, you meet all the necessary requirements.

And once your ILR application, you can make a Naturalisation application.

Once it is granted, you can apply for your British passport.

The post Can I get a British passport if I am married to a British Citizen? first appeared on UK VISA SUCCESS with Svitlana Shlapak.

Calculating periods of residence When Making Your Permanent Residence Application: Why should you calculate period of residence in the UK? or, rather, why you need to concentrate on calculating all your absences from the UK?

This is important for the purpose of making your Permanent Residence application.

In today’s blog post I’ll explain a number of things:

1. the definition of continuity;
2. I’ll explain what evidence must be provided to prove this continuity of residence;
3. you’ll find out when this continuity of residence will be considered as to be broken;
4. I’ll give examples of permitted absences; and finally
5. I’ll explain the rules about periods of imprisonment;

OK, let me begin with giving you the definition of continuity of residence in the UK:

By law, you will be living continuously in the UK if you have not spent out of the UK 6 months or more in total in any year.

However, when calculating periods of residence when making your permanent residence application the decision maker will disregard these absences, if

• time spent outside the UK was on compulsory military service
• or there was any single period of time that you spent outside the UK for less than 12 months. If it was for an important reason including pregnancy, childbirth, serious illness, study, vocational training or an overseas posting

Broken continuity of residence

Continuity of residence is broken when a:

• person serves a sentence of imprisonment
• person gets a deportation or exclusion order
• or s/he is removed from the UK

Periods of imprisonment

The UKVI will not taken into consideration periods of imprisonment by EEA nationals or their family members for the purposes of gaining a right of permanent residence. Also, periods of residence both before and after prison cannot be aggregated and counted towards the 5 year qualifying period for permanent residence. For example, a person who resided in the UK for 3 years, spent one year in prison and then a further 2 years following their release from prison, cannot aggregate the periods before and after prison to count towards the 5 year qualifying period for permanent residence. Any qualifying period would, therefore, effectively re-start at the point they leave prison and start residing in accordance with the EEA Regulations.

The 3-months initial period would not come into play following release from prison. Therefore the person would need to evidence that they began exercising Treaty rights immediately after their prison sentence.

Calculating Periods of Residence When Making Your Permanent Residence Application

Evidence  of a continuous 5 year period of residence in the UK can include:

• tenancy agreements
• utility bills
• bank statements
• school or nursery letters or immunisation records in support of applications for children

This is not a complete list of evidence that you can submit with the application. So, if there is any doubt whether you’ve gathered enough evidence – gather more documents from the official sources.

And I would like to finish this blog post by showing you how you should calculate your days of absences from the UK.

Suppose you were absent for a weekend in France. You left on Friday, 1^st September and returned on Sunday, 3^rd September. How many days were you absent from the UK? The correct answer is 1 day because the decision maker will not count your date of departure and your date of arrival towards your absence periods.

The post Calculating Periods of Residence When Making Your Permanent Residence Application first appeared on UK VISA SUCCESS with Svitlana Shlapak.

I’ve created this blog post to help you understand the most common misconception that number of EEA nationals and their family members have with regards to their rights of residence in the UK.

A number of EEA nationals think the following: well, am I not a British citizen and therefore I do not have a permanent rights of residence in the UK. However, I am not a visa national either and I do not need a visa to enter the UK, so I can live in the UK for as long as I choose to.

Let, me tell you where the misconceptions are:

There are actually 5 types of residence that EEA nationals and their family members may have in the UK.

The first one is called an

Rights of Residence of EEA Nationals and Their Family Members

Initial Right of Residence.

This is where the confusions actually begins. All EEA nationals and their family members can reside in the UK for a period not exceeding 3 months. This period begins on the date of admission to the United Kingdom. Because of this right all EU nationals can travel to the UK freely.

It gets more complicated when it comes to the 2^nd right of residence. By law, only those EEA nationals, who became qualified persons can remain in the UK beyond this 3-month’s period of time. These EEA nationals and their family members acquire an

Extended Right of Residence.

Who is a Qualified Person?

Well I’ve created a series of detailed videos and blog posts explaining this term. However, in very simple terms, only those EEA nationals who are working, are self-employed, self-sufficient, students or jobseekers for less than 91 days can become qualified persons. Their family members get the same rights of residence as EEA nationals. This is provided the EEA national remains a qualified person.

If an EEA national did not become a qualified person after his/her 3 months of residence in the UK, technically, he has not acquired an extended right of residence. In this case neither he nor any of his family members can remain in the UK.

Then we have a

Retained Right of Residence

for Family Members or Former Family members of EEA nationals.

This is quite a complex one. So what I did, I’ve created a series of videos explaining all types of situations where former members can claim that they have retained their rights of residence.

The next one is called a

Rights of Residence of EEA Nationals and Their Family Members

Derivative Right of Residence.

This right is also given to Family Members of EEA nationals. As with previous rights, I’ve created a series of blog posts and videos explaining various types of family members who can enjoy this rights. However, in very simple terms, as the name suggests, your right has been derived from someone else’s rights to remain in the UK. Usually this situation is relevant where we have a visa national parent and the EEA national’s child. Or, in certain cases, it can be even a British citizen.

The last right is a

Permanent Right to Reside.

EEA nationals and their family members will this right when they meet certain conditions. A lot of people misunderstand this rights as well. The majority think that only those EEA nationals who have been working for the past 5 years can claim Permanent Residence. There are actually 6 Permanent Residence categories. In certain circumstances you can live in the UK for a short period of time but still be entitled in the UK. Check my blog posts for a very detailed clarification of this right.

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Comprehensive Sickness Insurance for EEA Nationals and their family members. I would like to start by explaining to you, guys, why I’ve created this blog post. This is to help you understand and avoid one of the most common mistakes, which a number of EEA nationals and their family members make when living in the UK.

It is not uncommon for EEA nationals to assume that they have a free right of movement in the UK. In other words that they can reside here for as long as they choose to. This is absolutely right, but only for the first 3 months. By law, all EEA nationals and their family members can reside in the UK without any conditions attached for the first three months. This is known as the initial right of residence.

However if an EEA national wants to stay in the UK after 3 months s/he should become ‘a qualified person’. In other words s/he should either become: a worker, a self-employed or a self-sufficient person or a student. Jobseekers will maintain their ‘qualified persons’ status, but only for a short period of time.

With workers and self-employed people the situation is very clear. They can remain in the UK as long as work. Jobseekers can only look for a job for a maximum of 91 days.

However the situation with students and self-sufficient persons is not as straightforward. This is because in addition to proving that they have enough money to support themselves while in the UK and in case EEA nationals students that they also study, they also have to prove that they have

comprehensive sickness insurance.

Also those, who have derivative rights of residence in the UK, should also have a comprehensive sickness insurance.

I’ve had EEA national clients who told me that: ‘I’ve been studying here for several years, without this comprehensive sickness insurance and I am doing just fine’. A number of EEA nationals even received treatments under NHS.

The truth is, my friends, that you are likely to discover the fact that you were supposed to have this insurance only when you make your permanent residence application. And it will be too late at that point. This is because without this comprehensive sickness insurance all years, which you’ve spent in the UK, will not be counted when calculating the duration of residence in the UK for the purposes of your Permanent Residence application.

So, I hope you I’ve convinced you that you should get this comprehensive sickness insurance.

The second mistake, which I’ll help you avoid is by explaining what type of comprehensive sickens insurance (CSI) is accepted because not all of them are.

Generally the Home Office accepts an EEA national or their family members as having a valid CSI if they hold any form of insurance that will cover the costs of the majority of medical treatment they may receive in the UK.

Please take a proportionate approach when considering if an insurance policy is comprehensive. For example, a policy may contain certain exemptions. However if the policy covers you for medical treatment in the majority of circumstances then the UKVI will accept it.

The definition of CSI does not include:

• cash back health schemes, such as dental, optical care or prescription charges
• travel insurance policies
• access to the UK’s NHS

In order to prove that you have a valid insurance, you should provide one of the following documents:

• a comprehensive private medical insurance policy document
• a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This document should be issued by an EEA member state. (other than the UK). The UKVI will also accept its predecessor: form E111 .
• form S1 (or its predecessor forms E109 or E121)
• also form S2 (or its predecessor form E112)
• form S3

European Health Insurance Card

You have to be really careful with European Health Insurance Card. Why? Because the decision maker they will only accept it if it is clear from the information you’ve provided that you are going to be in the UK on a temporary basis. For example, if you are student and applied for a 1-year long course. Or you are a self-sufficient person and have a job offer in another member state.

If it is not clear what your intentions are, then the decision maker may ask you to sign a statement of intent. This is a document confirming that you will be living in the UK on a temporary basis. However, this will not be necessary if you are making a permanent residence application.

The post Comprehensive Sickness Insurance for EEA Nationals and Their Family Members first appeared on UK VISA SUCCESS with Svitlana Shlapak.

Accession States: EU1 Country, Croatia (Part 3 of 3): Today is my last blog post explaining the rights of Accession Member States. In my last two blog posts I’ve given you an overview of rights of all Accessions States and explained the importance of complying with all the rules imposed by the UK on these members states.

Today’s post is dedicated to the third wave known as EU1 wave. It consists of nationals of Croatia. This is the only country among all other accession states, which remains in transitional period to date.

Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013.

From this date Croatian citizens became European Economic Area (EEA) nationals and like all EEA and Swiss nationals can enter and live in the UK. However if Croatian nationals wish to reside in the UK for longer than 3 months as workers, they will need to get a permission from the Home Office. In other words they will have the same restrictions to work as all other visa nationals in this country.

Croations will be exempt from such a requirements if they wish to continue residing in the UK as:

• self-employed persons
• self-sufficient persons or
• students

It is important to note that all EEA students will need to prove that they are self-sufficient. There is no legal distinction between self-sufficient and student. That is only apart from the fact that students will need to also provide evidence confirming that they are studying and they can only bring their spouses and dependent children as their family members to the UK. Whereas self-sufficient persons can invite direct and extended family members to join them in the UK.

Also, in the judgment in the case of Lassal (C-162/09) it was confirmed that time spent in a host member state by nationals of an accession state can count towards the qualifying period for a right of permanent residence provided the residence:

• was in line with domestic (UK) law
• satisfied the conditions of the relevant European law

What does this judgement means for all nationals of accession member states? It means that if they resided in the UK before their country joined the EU and resided lawfully, all time spent in the UK maybe counted for the purposes of acquiring Permanent Right to Reside in the UK, which is a fantastic news for many people in this situation.

The post Accession States: EU1 Country, Croatia (Part 3 of 3) first appeared on UK VISA SUCCESS with Svitlana Shlapak.

Accession States: EU2 Countries:  In my previous overview blogs posts and videos I’ve explained that there were three accession member states waves in the UK.  Understanding the rules behind the acceptance of these Accession states into the UK is of crucial importance. This is particularly important when you make your Permanent Residence application.

If you have not complied with all the rules, which the UKVI imposed at the time when the Accessions states joined the UK, Home Office will disregard that transitional period of time for the purposes of making your Permanent application.

Today I’ll explain the rules about the 2^nd wave of Accessions states EU2.

Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007 (known as EU2 nationals).

The transitional period for nationals of these countries lasted for exactly 7 years. From 1 January 2014, nationals of these countries no longer needed permission to work before taking employment.

If you are a national of one the above countries and are thinking of making your Permanent Residence Application and you will be relying on a period of residence as a worker, you must prove that you were authorised to work or were exempt during your initial 12 month period in the UK as a worker.

Normally the Home Office will expect you to provide them with the following evidence:

• any accession worker authorisation documents that you held
• a letter from any relevant employers confirming the dates you worked for them
• evidence they are or were exempt from worker authorisation, such as:

o a blue registration certificate confirming you had no restrictions on your right to work

or some other documents

o other evidence. For example: documents confirming that they are or were married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen

Exemptions

If you do not have a blue registration certificate  as a highly skilled person, are there any other circumstances, which will help you join the exempt persons club? The answer is ‘yes’. You will be exempt if during the transitional period you were either self-employed, self-sufficient or a student.

In this case all you have to do is to provide several documents. They should confirm that you resided in the UK at that period of time in one of the categories, which I mentioned above.

Also you could be exempt if you were the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen. This exemption also applies if you are/were a  family member of an EEA national (other than a Bulgarian or Romanian national) who had a right to reside in the UK during the transitional period of time.

The post Accession States: EU2 Countries (Part 2 of 3) first appeared on UK VISA SUCCESS with Svitlana Shlapak.

Accession States: EU8 Countries: In my previous overview blog post and video I’ve explained that there were three accession member states waves in the UK.

If you are an EEA national from one of the Accession states or a family member of such an EEA national, it is absolutely crucial for you to make sure that you understand the rules behind the acceptance of these Accession states into the UK. This is particularly important when you make your Permanent Residence application. This is because if you have not complied with all the rules the UKVI will disregard the transitional period of time for the purposes of making your Permanent Residence Application. Tiny details like this do make a difference between allowing and refusing permanent residence applications.

Today I’ll explain the rules about the 1^st wave of Accessions states EU8.

On 1 May 2004 a group of Eastern European nations joined the European Union (EU).

These comprised of citizens from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. When these ‘EU8’ countries joined, the UK introduced restrictions on their nationals’ ability to work in the UK. These lasted until 30 April 2011. The restrictions meant that in order to work lawfully in the UK, EU8 nationals had to register their employment under the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS). Once they had completed a continuous 12 months period of employment under the scheme, they could work freely and no longer needed authorisation from the Home Office in order to take up a post.

If you are an EU8 national and claim to have acquired permanent residence by relying on any period of employment between 1 May 2004 to 30 April 2011, you will need to show that:

• your employment during that period was registered under the WRS and therefore it is lawful; or
• you were exempt from the requirements of the WRS during that period of employment.

If you rely on employment that does not come under either of the conditions above, it will be deemed as unauthorised. For this reason it will not be counted towards the 5-year qualifying period you will need to acquire permanent residence.

Exemptions:

You would be exempt from the WRC requirements if you were:

• self-employed
• students
• if you were working legally in the UK on 30 April 2004 and continued in your employment
• you will also be exempt if you were in continuous employment. This should be for a period of at least 12 months. It should fall partly or wholly on or after 30 April 2004
• if you had left to enter on the SAWS scheme (Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme ( SAWS ). In order to qualify, you need to prove that you got your leave under SAWS before 1 May 2004. Also you need to prove that you started working in the UK under the SAWS scheme on or after 1 May 2004; and finally
• if were providing services in the UK on behalf of an employer. This is provided your employer was not established in the UK.

The post Accession States: EU8 Countries (Part 1 of 3) first appeared on UK VISA SUCCESS with Svitlana Shlapak.

I would like to start by explaining the term ‘Accessions States’.

These are the EU countries that joined the European Union (EU) after 2004. When these countries joined the EU, the UK placed certain conditions on their rights to work in the UK.

There were three Accession state waves in the UK:

• The 1^st one was created by what is known ‘EU8 countries’ in 2004.
• The 2^nd one in 2007 by ‘EU2 countries’; and
• the last small 3rd wave was created by Croatia in 2013.

Apart from Croatia, the transitional periods for EU8 and EU2 countries ended in 2011 and 2013 accordingly.  These

periods are of crucial importance when making your Permanent Residence application. This is because if you belong to one of the Accession States but have not followed the rules, which the UK placed at that time the Accession States joined the EU, that transitional period of time will not be included for the purpose of your PR application.

Let me give you an example:

Suppose, you are a national of Poland and came to the UK in April 2010 and started working in this country. However, you did not follow the rules and have not applied for a Worker Registration Scheme (WRC).

You were working in the UK for the next 5 years from April 2010 until June 2015 and then left the UK. You came back to the UK only in 2017.

If you were to apply for a WRC in April 2010, you would have acquired a right to apply for Permanent Residence in May 2015. This is because you would have a proof of the fact that you were living and working in the UK for at least 5 years: from April 2010 to May 2015. However, if you have not applied for a WRC, the UKVI will disregard 1 year (from April 2010 until 30 April 2011, when the transition period ended) for the PR application purposes. This is because without a WRC you would have spent only 4 years of lawful residence the UK from 1 June 2011 until June 2015. Therefore you will not qualify for your PR application. Your PR application period will start from 2017 when you re-entered the country.

The post Accession States, OVERVIEW first appeared on UK VISA SUCCESS with Svitlana Shlapak.