UK PEO Solihull office - fiancee visa to a spouse visa - Bangladeshi citizen

[pinkbubbles]

Spouse citizenship: Bangladeshi
Service required: Convert from fiancee visa to 2-year spouse visa
Cost: GBP850
Requirement: Spouse needs to be there with you!

Public Enquiry Office: Solihull, Birmingham (We live in another city but this was the only city where we could get an appointment).

PEO appointment time: 9am (When we made the appointment, we were requested to come 30mins early to go through security)

Documents submitted: [All documents were originals]
- Completed FLR(M) form and payment form.
- 2x applicant's pictures and 1x spouse's picture
- Applicant's and spouse's passport
- Marriage certificate
- IELTS Test Report Form (English Language Evidence]
- Bank statements for applicant and spouse
- UK Employment letter for spouse
- Council tax bill with both our names on it


Appointment breakdown:-

On arriving: 8:30am

There were a number of people waiting outside the office as they had not opened it to the public yet. Its a good idea to get in first when they open the doors as they make you line up according to whoever gets in the doors first and you get your waiting numbers accordingly. Therefore, if you are first in, you get called up first! (We were second in line)

We went through security where they ask you your appointment time and name. They also ask for your form and the method of payment for the day. Once checked, they look through all your bags and make you walk through a scanner. We did not have any problems on going through the scanner but a lady after us had the buzzer beeping on her turn so a male security officer used one of those magnetic (?) rods to scan her. So therefore, if you are female and not comfortable with a man scanning you (not sure if its always going to be a man) then make sure you leave your bling at home.

There was a notice on the wall that stated that they would endeavour to process all applications in 2:20hours on that day.

The usage of cellphones is not tolerated in the building.

8:40 am

Called up to an interview counter where a very nice lady looked through our application.

She basically looked at our bank statements and was satisfied that we had enough money, she looked at the marriage certificate, she looked at the IELTS English test results and then she returned everything else we put in there except for the form, my IELTS results, the marriage certificate and my spouse's British passport. Therefore! Make sure you have a good bank balance, English test results and marriage certificate.

Caution: For an FLR(M) application, the 'Life in the UK' test is not sufficient proof of English Language ability. The interview area is not very private and we overheard another case officer rejecting someone else's application as they tried to use their 'Life in the UK' test as proof of English language ability.

She then proceeded to check our status on her computer. She used our passports for this. She then excused herself and came back after a while with photocopies of the applicants passport and she returned the applicants passport and the payment form to us and told us that everything was in order and the spouse visa was granted. DONE! All completed in 10 mins.

So she kept: The form, my IELTS results, the marriage certificate and my spouse's British passport.

She then asked us to go to the payment booth and we paid GBP850 and went back to the waiting room to be called for the biometrics registration. Time on returning to waiting room: 8:50am

All in all, the application was approved and granted 10mins before the actual time of my appointment!

9:10am

Called for the biometrics registration. The lady was very polite and made lots of small talk. She requested my passport which she scanned. I was then given a piece of paper with 2 questions on it and a space to sign a declaration that I was telling the truth and that it was a criminal offence to lie on these forms.

The questions were:
Were you known by any previous names?
If you have given biometric information for any other UK visa application, where was this done?

She then proceeded to take my fingerprints and photo and she said she would check them with what they had on record. We were then asked to wait at the waiting room.

Note on Biometrics Card delivery:

When we asked, the lady stated that none of the PEO's actually issue these cards. They come from a facility in Swansea where they process the biometrics cards and send them out via courier. Therefore, they are not affected by the mail system. She said to expect 7-10 working days delivery time although the website said 5-7 working days. She mentioned that at the end of the appointment on the day, I will be given a confirmation letter which has a phone number that can be used to call to inquire about the card. It is not possible to request for a quick delivery but they might be able to give a date of expected delivery.

9:15am

We went back to the waiting room and just waited. Meanwhile, the computers broke down so they were having a crises.

9:44am

A lady came up to us in the waiting room and let us know that everything was dandy and we could leave and come back to get our remaining documents and tadaa it was done!

Documents received:

- Confirmation letter
- IELTS Test form
- Marriage certificate
- Spouse's passport

_________________________________
Notice the speed of the process? Probably cause we were second in line and so we were on top of the list! Imagine if we had complicated cases before us? We would be there forever! Also, if there was no computer issues, the procedure would have been much faster.

We did take a little bag with other documents to prove our relationship... etc if it was needed. However, it was unnecessary. Basically, most of that was proven in the application for fiancee visa. A fiancee visa is granted based on relationship and intention of marriage. Once it is granted, it is expected that you will get married and change visa. Since that is already expected, they don't ask many questions or require too much evidence since all they really want to know is 'have you gotten married.'

Travel on a fiancee visa:

Basically I went through the PEO cause of travel requirements. I needed to travel and there would be hassle at the borders if I came back in on a fiancee visa, after the marriage has taken place. This is because the fiancee visa, although multiple entry, is granted as a settlement visa and you are meant to come to the UK, get married and change visa as an indication that you are serious about staying here with your spouse. The visa is basically meant for you to get married and change to the spouse visa. Therefore, after the civil ceremony, you should not travel overseas on a fiancee visa without getting a spouse visa as there will be issues at immigration when you return. All travel should be BEFORE the marriage ceremony.

[Joppa]

Many thanks for your informative post on your experience. It's always good to hear from a first-hand experience. Yes, FLR(M) is a pretty fast procedure as most of the scrutiny has been done when applying for fiancé(e) visa, and they just want confirmation of marriage and adequate maintenance. Interesting comment about English ability. It's true that Life in the UK test alone isn't sufficient, but it's all stated on the website so it's no excuse.

Solihull is one of the two busiest PEOs in UK (the other is Sheffield), but available appointment slots vary by the type of application (FLR, ILR, single or multi-application with dependants etc).

Wise words about travel restriction on fiancé(e) visa! In fact, you have no right of (re)entry on your fiancé(e) visa if marriage has already taken place, and you can be denied entry and put on the next flight back to where you came from. So don't leave UK for honeymoon etc without FLR plus biometric residence permit.