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Immigration Rules Para 18:- 18. A person may resume their residence in the UK provided the Immigration Officer is satisfied that the person concerned: (i) had indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom when he last left; and (ii) has not been away from the United Kingdom for more than 2 years; and (iii) did not receive assistance from public funds towards the cost of leaving the United Kingdom; and (iv) now seeks admission for the purpose of settlement. 18A. Those who qualify to resume their residence in accordance with paragraph 18 do not need a visa to enter the UK. 19. A person who does not benefit from the preceding paragraph by reason only of having been absent from the United Kingdom for more than two consecutive years, must have applied for, and been granted indefinite leave to enter by way of entry clearance if, he can demonstrate he has strong ties to the United Kingdom and intends to make the United Kingdom his permanent home. Edit. I don't know where those numerals at the beginning of each line came from

I have used the online system with no problem for some time. In early August I returned from a trip to UK (re-entry permit). 90 days was due last week so 8 or 9 days before, I submitted an online report, which was accepted and shown as "pending". As it went a week without confirmation I cancelled it and re-submitted, again shown as "pending". On the due day it was still outstanding so I printed off the acknowledgement and went along to Immigration. I was quickly handed a receipt with the next reporting date and out of the building in less than a minute. As it was dealt with so quickly and I'm only a short drive from the office I didn't bother to query why they hadn't dealt with my online submission. However, I have since recalled that in September we had a trip to Isaan, and one of the hotels we stayed in would not accept my driving licence and insisted on copying the copy of my passport on my phone (as I wasn't carrying my passport). Presumably they submitted this to local Immigration, so that the Rayong office looked at the computer and decided that after returning from Blighty I might have gone to live in Khorat - although the online report clearly showed my address as it has been for the last 13 years. I suppose it's too much to expect hotel check-in staff to distinguish between tourists and longer-staying residents.

I clicked on this thread out of interest and was surprised to see that it was I who started it nearly 14 years ago. As an update (after 13 years living in Thailand), I was facing a small operation about 4 years ago, and the surgeon was reluctant to proceed because of my poor blood/oxygen level. I was prescribed a course of Symbicort Turbuhaler (budesonide/formateral), and the transformation from the effect of the previous steroid inhaler I was using was amazing. I have used it ever since, one puff morning and evening. I have to resort to Ventolin so infrequently that the inhaler is 3 years old.