FLR (M) Question

[zaref]

Hi guys, this is my first time applying for the FLR (M) visa as a spouse of a British National/Citizen (my wife).

We have a marriage certificate from May 2019, which is when we had our marriage registered at Manchester City Council.

We are including a few photos and supporting letters to prove our relationship has been and is genuine as husband and wife (as this is our first visa applying for a visa as a married couple). I am not sure if this is required but it was strongly recommended from reading most of the other threads online.

My concern however is the following:

In the supporting letters, I mention that I came to England in August 2017 from Canada where me and my partner performed Nikkah (which is a religious marriage in Islam that isn't recognized by UK law). My question is: will this be an issue in our application as the visa I came on during this time was a standard visitor visa, and not a marriage visa?

I had no intention of living there and me and my wife moved to Canada to live there for 4 months until we decided that settling in England was the best way forward for the both of us as a couple. I came on a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme Visa as I did not want to make any long term commitment until I experienced living in England.

Technically, Nikkah (religious marriages/ceremonies) are not recognized under British law. Which is also why we had our marriage registered in May 2019 so that we could apply for this visa as a married couple.

I would greatly appreciate your advice, thank you.

[seagul]

My concern however is the following:

In the supporting letters, I mention that I came to England in August 2017 from Canada where me and my partner performed Nikkah (which is a religious marriage in Islam that isn't recognized by UK law). My question is: will this be an issue in our application as the visa I came on during this time was a standard visitor visa, and not a marriage visa?

No issue. Since it is not recognised so better to not declare it. If you are youth mobility visa is still valid and you can meet the requirements of spouse visa then you can apply from within UK.

[zaref]

Hi Seagul, thanks for your reply.

When you say don’t declare it, do you mean we shouldn’t write we had the religious ceremony/marriage in August 2017? If it isn’t an issue then don’t see what difference it’d make. I do know what you mean though, prolly to be on the safe side?

Thanks.

[seagul]

Hi Seagul, thanks for your reply.

When you say don’t declare it, do you mean we shouldn’t write we had the religious ceremony/marriage in August 2017? If it isn’t an issue then don’t see what difference it’d make. I do know what you mean though, prolly to be on the safe side?

Thanks.

You are legally married now not before. So why you need to declare it since it is/will not be recognised and make the case more complex. However, if you still wish then declare it but only for your own mind satisfaction.

[zaref]

Hi guys, had a follow up question.

We have submitted the application and this whole time we were under the impression that we would have to mail our application and all of the documents out by post.

Only until when the application was submitted, were we told that everything is now done online. Meaning all the documents need uploading, which is fine.

My questions are the following:

- the correspondence documents, do they need all pages of the documents or will the first page only suffice showing the correspondence details, address and dates?

- same with the bank statements to show the payslip deposits. Do I need to upload every page of the bank statement, or is the first page and the page where the pay is being deposited into my account enough?

Thank you.

[geoeng]

Probably worth including all the pages just to be on the safe side, that's certainly what I did anyway.