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I would really appreciate your advice regarding my husband’s eligibility to apply for ILR under the 5-year spouse route (SET M).

Here are some key details:
• My husband arrived in the UK on a spouse visa on 19th September 2020.
• He extended his FLR(M) in May 2023, and his current leave is due to expire on 9th December 2025.
• Based on the 5-year residency route, he will complete 5 years on 19th September 2025.

We understand that ILR applications can be submitted within 28 days before the completion of the 5-year period. Therefore, we are considering submitting the ILR (SET M) application in late August 2025.

Could anyone kindly confirm if this is the correct approach? Or would we need to wait until closer to the current visa expiry date in December 2025 to apply?

Your guidance and input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time and support.

Visa expiry is irrelevant for ILR. Your husband is eligible for ILR within 28 days of completing his 5 years in the UK.

zimba wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 03, 2025 3:40 pm

Visa expiry is irrelevant for ILR. Your husband is eligible for ILR within 28 days of completing his 5 years in the UK.

Thank you Zimba. We will apply based on 5 year anniversary from my husband landed date.

Another question in SEt M application, do your partner lived with your permanently in the uk since you granted temporary leave?

In 2023, my husband and I (sponsor) travelled to India for holiday/family visit. He returned after one month, but I remained for five more months ( total of 178 days in india, 30 days we were together in india) due to the birth of our child and to spend time with our family.

Can I state this as “5 months away from my partner due to family reasons” in the application? Will this reason alone enough to satisfy Home office?

Will it affect my husband’s ILR, given we were temporarily apart for five months?

Thank you for your guidance.

This has no effect on the ILR

zimba wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 27, 2025 6:05 pm

This has no effect on the ILR

Thank you,Zimba.

In the SET (M) application, under the Finance section, there’s a question that asks:

“What do they earn?”

There are four options, below will apply for us and I’m unsure whether to select:
1. “The same amount continuously, above financial requirement amount”
or
2. “Not the same amount, above financial requirement amount.”

My husband has a fixed gross annual salary, but he received a pay rise in April. Additionally, he occasionally does overtime, which means his net income on monthly payslips varies. The gross salary is consistent (aside from the recent hike), but the net pay differs slightly each month.

Given this, should I choose Option 2 because his net salary is not the same every month, even though his gross base salary is fixed?

Could you pls advise which option to select? Thank you in advance.

If he has a fixed basic salary (salaried income), option 1 should be chosen. Any other pay, overtime, etc does not mean they are on variable pay. Option 2 is for people who do not have a fixed basic salary (non-salaried income).

zimba wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 03, 2025 2:13 am

If he has a fixed basic salary (salaried income), option 1 should be chosen. Any other pay, overtime, etc does not mean they are on variable pay. Option 2 is for people who do not have a fixed basic salary (non-salaried income).

Thanks Zimba. We would like to seek clarification and confirm the accuracy of our responses to a few questions on the application form. Kindly find our drafted responses below, and please advise if any corrections or improvements are needed.

1. Are you part of any social groups or do you have other cultural ties in your country of birth, nationality or any other country where you have lived for more than 5 years?
My husband is not in any social group or cultural ties, can we reply " I am not currently part of any social or cultural groups in my country of birth because I have been living in the UK for an extended period and my life is now fully established here. I maintain personal contact with my immediate family in India, but I am not actively involved in any formal organisations or groups there." Is this fine?
2. Do you have a previous visa, entry clearance or leave to remain where you had to prove your knowledge of English? Tell us the previous visa, entry clearance or leave to remain you had? - we said yes and mentioned he was granted a Family/Partner visa FLR (M) on May 2023. Is it fine?

3. How Long your Partner (Sponsor) living in the UK with address ? - I have been living in the UK since 2007. However, I was outside the UK from July 2014 and returned in June 2019. I have been continuously living in the UK since then.
Could you please advise how to correctly complete the address section in light of this 5-year absence?

4. How long applicant lived in UK- My partner landed in UK 09/2020. He lives in the uk now 4 years and 11 months at time of application. Should we put 5 years now or 4 years 11 months? As he not completed 5 years, will this affect this ILR?

Thank you for your time and assistance.

1. This is an unimportant question. Provide minimal information
2. Yes, assuming you used an English language evidence at level B1 or above in a previous application
3. Only the last 5 years matter
4. This question has no bearing on the ILR decision. Put the total years they lived in the UK

zimba wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 04, 2025 12:36 am

1. This is an unimportant question. Provide minimal information
2. Yes, assuming you used an English language evidence at level B1 or above in a previous application
3. Only the last 5 years matter
4. This question has no bearing on the ILR decision. Put the total years they lived in the UK

Thank you Zimba. For question 2, we used A2 level for extension visa and he just passed B1 level for ILR. We will mention this in the application against that question. Hope this is ok.

Hi Zimba,

We have another question, need you advise please.

“Have you lived with your partner permanently in the UK since being granted temporary leave as a partner?”

Should I select “Yes” and explain the 5-month absence in the cover letter, or select “No” and also mention the absence in the cover letter?

I was away from the UK for 5 months due to a holiday to see family.

Your advice would be much appreciated.

This is about residence in the UK if your partner had temporary residence here. Nothing to do with any absences from the UK

Hi Zimba,

We have another question, need you advise please.

“Have you lived with your partner permanently in the UK since being granted temporary leave as a partner?”

Should I select “Yes” and explain the reason of 5-month absence in the cover letter, or select “No” and give them the reason in application itself?

I was away from the UK for 5 months due to a holiday to see family.

Your advice would be much appreciated.

zimba wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 11, 2025 12:16 am

This is about residence in the UK if your partner had temporary residence here. Nothing to do with any absences from the UK

Thanks Zimba. We will say yes and proceed.
Regarding my 5 month absence from UK and my partner ( Applicant) was in the UK away from me, Do we need to keep home office informed about this? if yes, can we add a line about my reason of absence in the cover letter?

There is no absence limit under the family route at all

zimba wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 11, 2025 12:45 am

There is no absence limit under the family route at all

Thank you again for your help. We are not mentioning in our ILR application that the sponsor was away from the partner for five months (from October 2023 to February 2024).

We were just concerned whether not including this information might raise a red flag for his ILR

That is not an issue

zimba wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 3:15 am

That is not an issue

Dear Zimba,

Thank you very much for your guidance and support.

We have submitted the SET(M) application ( Super priority) today under the 5 years - 28 days rule. My husband first entered the UK on 19 September 2020, which makes him eligible to apply for ILR from 23 August 2025.

We have booked the biometrics appointment for the morning of 19 September 2025.

Our concern is whether, if the Home Office makes a decision on the same day as the biometrics, this might affect the outcome since he technically not completed is 5 years.

Could you kindly advise whether this would have any impact on the decision? Or we need to amend the biometric date after 19th sep?

Thank you once again for your continued support.

All ILR applications benefit from a 28-day concession. This means you become eligible within 28 days of completing your ILR qualifying period and your ILR can be granted from that point onwards.