After receiving Spouse Visa, some advice!!

[Eljohno]

Hey guys,

i am sure what i am about to say is somewhere on the site but thought i would mention it as it will save people money.

My wife and i were out of the country for 7 months during the 2 year period that Rhea had the spouse visa so when it came time to get the ILR i knew we had to apply for an FLR instead but it turned out because we had proof that we were out of the country together we did not need the FLR for that.

Were we went wrong was that Rhea got her visa on 1st March 2006 but because she never arrived in the UK til 29th April then we had to pay for an FLR just for that 2 month period. Because we are hoping to go to the Philippines this April we went over in person so including flights, hotel and FLR fees it cost us about £900 so i am just writing this to save people money and not making the mistake we did....

[joebloggs]

mentioned many times on here, if you've just got your spouse visa, arrive in the uk within 28 days of it start date, or you risk having to apply for FLR, waste of money, time and paper filling..

infact you had to pay because your wife was 4wks late, as she could have applied for ILR upto 28 days before she was in the uk 2 years