How long it takes to apply FLR M – Spouse Visa?

In this blog, we will give you a breakdown of the steps required to process an FLR M – Further Leave to Remain (Marriage) visa.

In our video Harry Yu, a Trainee Solicitor in Gherson’s immigration team, talks through some of the logistics of this visa application.

If you instruct us for an FLR M visa application, the process will generally be as follows:

Once you have formally instructed us to assist with your FLR M visa application, we will take instructions from you and advise you on what documents are required. We will then work with you to collate the necessary documents for your application and draft your application form. Depending on how quickly you are able to provide the required documents, this process can take from few days to a few weeks.

Once all documents are collated, we will submit your application online and book a biometric appointment for you. Depending on the biometric centre, it is usually possible to book an appointment in 1-2 weeks after the submission of your application. Alternatively, you may be eligible to use a mobile application to submit biometrics, or you may choose to purchase the visa application centre’s VIP appointment service, in which case the waiting time for an appointment is likely to be minimal.

Once you attend your biometric appointment, the Home Office will begin processing your application. The Home Office publishes standard processing times, which serve as a guidance. These timeframes are not definitive and in recent times, we have seen delays due to the Home Office committing its resources to dealing with Ukrainian applications. In general, if you are applying as a spouse via the 5-year FLR M application route, the Home Office takes 8 weeks to process your application. Where one is applying under the 10-year route, on the basis of private life or as a parent, the Home Office’s stated processing time is 11 months. In certain cases, there may be a super priority service available which has a published timeframe of 1-2 working days (depending on availability). This timeframe, again, is not guaranteed.

Once your application is approved, it usually takes another 7-10 working days for your BRP to be delivered to our offices (courier delays do occur sometimes), at which point we will arrange for you to pick it up. From then on, you will be able to travel freely with your new BRP card.

How Gherson can assist

Gherson’s Immigration Team are highly experienced in dealing with all aspects of Further Leave to Remain applications. If you have any questions arising from this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

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