Ilr Advice

[cuddleypete]

Hello there all

I would like some adivce when my wife gets her ilr will she be able to come and go as she like's ie go to thailand,france spain etc without visa and the time limit,like on settlement visa ????????????????

or do rules apply?????

many thanks

scouser and gu22 will know the answer i think

all the best Pete and Som

[vinny]

When returning to the UK, an ILR holder will have to satisfy the Returning Residents requirements.

[GU22]

Basically, as far as the UK is concerned she can come and go as often as she likes, but if she were out of the UK for a continuous period of 2 years or more then her ILR would lapse and she would have to start the whole process all over again. (There are exceptions, see Vinny's link above)

Having ILR for the UK does not exempt her from the visa requirements of other countries, she will still need a Schengen visa to visit Europe, for example.

However, as the spouse of a British citizen, once she has ILR and has been legally in the UK for 3 years she can apply for British citizenship. Once she has this she will be able to leave the UK for as long as she wants and then return and also travel throughout Europe without a visa, the same as any other British citizen.

Both the UK and Thailand allow dual nationality, so becoming British wont affect her rights as a Thai citizen in any way.