Once I receive a family visa for my South African wife (I'm British), she has 30 days from her chosen date of entry, to enter the UK and then 10 days to collect the Biometric Residence Permit.

 

My question:

 

Can we choose an entry date a few months before our approximate date of leaving Thailand, fly into the UK, collect the BRP and fly back to Thailand, then return a few months later on a date that suits us, with no time pressure?

 

I can't find an answer to this anywhere.

 

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I think that once your wife has her settlement visa, has travelled to her declared address in the UK and collected her biometric resident permit, she would be free to visit Thailand to her hearts content, to sort out her affairs.
She would in essence be resident in the UK and only be on holiday in Thailand.
She would of course need to have an address in the UK to get her settlement visa.
This is my opinion, I don’t have anything to point you to.


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@theoldgit

 

Thank you.
That's what makes sense to me.
As you say, you can't point me to something official saying that it would be OK.

 

I just don't want to find that she should have remained in the UK at the designated address, and then there's some immigration cluster****!

 

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Update:

 

Thinking that it will be very difficult to get an answer to my question, on which I will be basing a significant move, I have paid the enormous sum of 5.48 GBP to ask the question by email, to the UK.gov official portal. It took a bit of finding!

 

I wrote:

 

"I will be applying for a Family Visa for my South African wife. I am British.

 

We need to sell our house in Thailand before we can move to the UK. That may take some time, so we won't know what our date of entry to the UK will be; that is, the date when we take up long-term residence.

 

For the visa application, will it be OK to select an entry date, dated before we move to the UK long-term? Thus, my wife can enter on our chosen date, collect her Biometric Residence Card, and then return to Thailand to sell our house. Once the house is sold, we will enter the UK to stay for good.

 

If we cannot do this it will be virtually impossible to give an accurate entry date on my wife's visa application."

 

 

 

I will report back with the answer.

 

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Definitive answer, should anyone ever ask this question:

 

Thank you for contacting UK Visas and Immigration International Contact Centre.

 

With regards to your enquiry, yes, of course, your wife could enter the UK for BRP collection and then go back to Thailand to solve your personal issue.

 

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