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.