Uk: Indefinate Leave To Remain

[wayner]

My apologies in advance if this has been answered many times before but the connection here isn't too good and there isn't enough time in the world for me to trawl through everything.

My wife has a spouse visa (UK) We returned to SE Asia 4 months ago for a couple of reasons. We are planning to return to the UK in another couple of months in order to get her indefinate leave to remain.

Has she been out of the country too long in order to obtain her ILR?

How long are you able to leave the country without ruining your chances of getting ILR?

Any help would be much appreciated

Regards

[Mahout Angrit]

I dont believe there is any set time that you can be out of UK while you are on LTR in UK but in order to apply for ILR you have to prove that you are living together in the UK, you will need to show correspondance to both of you to your UK address which arrived within the 6 months prior to application and other evidence that you are actually co-habiting in the UK and intend to continue to do so.

Obviously your wife will have to present her passport too so the Home Office will see how much time she has spent in and out of the country and they will have to decide whether it looks as though your intention is to continue in the UK.

If you have genuine reasons why you returned to SE Asia, they are compasionate and you can prove it, you could always present that in support of your application.

Your wife will also have to pass the 'Life in UK test' in order to apply so will have to be in UK prior to application to prepare.

If you dont apply for ILR then you will have to apply for FLR until you are ready to apply for ILR or you will have to go through the settlement visa process all over again and pay the new fees.

Edited March 13, 2007 by Mahout Angrit

[the scouser]

The Home Office will take in to consideration any compassionate factors and that you have been living together outside of the UK. However, they do need to be satisfied that your wife intends to make the U.K. her home. Additionally, as Mahout Angrit commented, your wife will need to demonstrate either that she has sat an ESOL with Citizenship course, or that she has passed the Life in the UK test: without one of these, she won't qualify for ILR irregardless of any other factors. Instead, it is likely that they would grant her another period of leave to enable her to then pass the language/citizenship requirement.

From 1 April, the fee for an extension of your wife's current status will be £395.00 and ILR £750.00. If you believe that your wife won't qualify for the ILR, I'd solely apply for an extension. If you pay for ILR and then she then doesn't qualify, they won't refund the difference.

Scouse.

[wayner]

Thank you very much for your feedback, it's very much appreciated.

Please forgive my ignorance but I thought that the "Life in the UK test" was for people wanting UK citizenship.

My wife only requires ILR in order to be able to stay in the UK and travel with me on occasion. I guess this could be deemed as permanent residence, we only want to be there when we need or want to. We don’t want to have to re-apply every 2 years for visas.

The following is what I thought was the case; I got this from the net some time ago when we originally applied for her spouse visa. I’m pretty sure that this info was from the Government website:

Indefinite leave to remain or ILR - this is the expression confirming the fact that there is no limit to the leave period you can stay in the UK. This is also often referred to as permanent residence. This status is granted to a person on the basis that they are settled in the UK. If a holder of indefinite leave to remain spends a continuous period of two years or more outside of the UK, at any time, it will then be deemed that the person is no longer settled in the UK and the status of indefinite leave to remain could be withdrawn from them.

Indefinite leave to remain can be achieved in a number of ways. We list only some of these circumstances, as there are various ways by which this status can be obtained:

• On the basis of successfully completing the four-year ancestry visa.

• On the basis of successfully completing the two-year marriage visa to a UK citizen or four year period of marriage to a EU-national.

• On the basis of successfully completing a four year work permit.

“If a holder of indefinite leave to remain spends a continuous period of two years or more outside of the UK, at any time, it will then be deemed that the person is no longer settled in the UK and the status of indefinite leave to remain could be withdrawn from them.”

We were never planning to spend more than let’s say 15 months at a time outside of the UK, plus we may only do this occasionally.

“On the basis of successfully completing the two-year marriage visa to a UK citizen or four year period of marriage to a EU-national.”

This to me doesn’t suggest a “Life in the UK test". Have things changed? Or have I missed some relevant information? Again, my apologies for not being able to trawl the net but the connection here is glacial plus I’m working all hours.

Basically what we want is for her to be able to live in the UK and travel with me when my work dictates, without re-applying for visas all the time. We have a child together who is a UK citizen, if I were to die whilst overseas how would my son return to the UK? And what rights would my wife have to be with him there?

In your opinion, what would be the course of action?

We returned to SE Asia for my work, plus my wife’s father is quite sick and may die soon, we wanted him to meet his grandson who was born in the UK several months ago, we can provide proof of this with hospital documents.

My wife’s spouse visa is still valid so I’m assuming she can return to the UK with no problem.

Again, any help would be appreciated. I’m very grateful for ALL the help I’ve had from this site over the last few years which has been priceless. Especially after living in a place where people enjoy ignorance of facts so that they can “run papers” for you.

Regards

Wayner

[Mahout Angrit]

Please forgive my ignorance but I thought that the "Life in the UK test" was for people wanting UK citizenship.

It is but from April 1st 2007 passing this test will be a requirement to apply for ILR. However you only have to pass the test once and if your wife eventually goes on to get British Citizenship she wont have to pass any more tests (as the law is currently).

Indefinite leave to remain or ILR - this is the expression confirming the fact that there is no limit to the leave period you can stay in the UK. This is also often referred to as permanent residence. This status is granted to a person on the basis that they are settled in the UK. If a holder of indefinite leave to remain spends a continuous period of two years or more outside of the UK, at any time, it will then be deemed that the person is no longer settled in the UK and the status of indefinite leave to remain could be withdrawn from them.

Indefinite leave to remain can be achieved in a number of ways. We list only some of these circumstances, as there are various ways by which this status can be obtained:

• On the basis of successfully completing the four-year ancestry visa.

• On the basis of successfully completing the two-year marriage visa to a UK citizen or four year period of marriage to a EU-national.

• On the basis of successfully completing a four year work permit.

This is correct

“On the basis of successfully completing the two-year marriage visa to a UK citizen or four year period of marriage to a EU-national.”

This to me doesn’t suggest a “Life in the UK test". Have things changed? Or have I missed some relevant information?

As said above, yes you missed the new requirement which is that she can complete and pass an ESOL with citizenship course at level 3 or if her English is satisfactory can simply sit the test as described in the link above which would also satisfy the language proficiency requirements.

You also missed this from your quote above

This is also often referred to as permanent residence. This status is granted to a person on the basis that they are settled in the UK.

You may wish to read the notes on the application form with particular reference to supporting documents

We have a child together who is a UK citizen, if I were to die whilst overseas how would my son return to the UK? And what rights would my wife have to be with him there?

In your opinion, what would be the course of action?

If that was unfortunate enough to be the case, your son and your wife would have no problem returning to UK as long as her visa was still current. In such circumstances the home office would probably grant her ILR (but she would still have to pass the Life in UK test to get it) if she could prove that their home was in the UK and she wished to continue to live in UK with your son.

Edited March 15, 2007 by Mahout Angrit

[the scouser]

I would advise some caution with regard to ILR when the holder does not intend to settle in the UK, and is using possession of it as a means of avoiding having to apply for visas afresh.

Yes, ILR lapses after 2 years' absence. However, upon each entry to the UK, the holder is required to satisfy the immigration officer that they are returning to the U.K. for the purposes of settlement, and if it is evident that they are solely "topping up" their ILR status in order to avoid the two-year rule, the I.O. might otherwise withdraw the ILR by landing the holder as a visitor. In the worst case scenario refusal of entry could ensue.

Para 18 of the Immigration Rules refers:-

Returning Residents

18. A person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom as a returning resident may be admitted for settlement 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.

Additionally, should Wayner prematurely shuffle off, his wife would have no automatic entitlement for admission to the UK through being either a widow of a British citizen or having a British child. Her qualification would depend upon which leave she held at the time, if any. If she were in the U.K. at the time, matters would be eased somewhat, as if she were on her two-year spouse visa, there is a facility to apply for ILR on the basis that the spouse has died, but there is no such facility to apply for ILE.

Scouse.

[Mahout Angrit]

In view of the knowledgable advice of Scouse above if you are living and working overseas and intend to continue to do so it may be advisable to let the LTR lapse and apply for a 5 year visitors visa which would allow your wife unlimited visits to UK for a 5 year period provided no visit was longer than 6 months and she didn't spend more than 6 months in any 12 months on average in the UK.

You could always re-apply to settle if your intentions changed in the future

[wayner]

So it seems the wife won't have enough time to wise up on the test.........

Could we return a couple of months before her spouse visa expires and apply for extended leave to remain? How would this be viewed after being out of the UK for several months? Plus, what would I have to provide for ELR? All those documents again? How much is ELR and for how long is it valid?

Again

Thanks

[topdjdel]

Please forgive me if I'm wrong here.

I was led to believe that in order to obtain ILR the applicant must have completed the 2 year prison sentance(sorry 2 year probation period).

Perhaps its changed again,or I've simply misunderstood.

Once again sorry if I'm wrong.

delboy

[Mahout Angrit]

So it seems the wife won't have enough time to wise up on the test.........

Clearly your wife will not be able to do an ESOL course if she is not in UK, you can, however buy the book of the syllabus at WH Smith or Amazon.co.uk and she can study wherever she is. You will then just have to book a test for whenever she is in the UK.

Could we return a couple of months before her spouse visa expires and apply for extended leave to remain? How would this be viewed after being out of the UK for several months?

I think this has been answered pretty extensively above

what would I have to provide for ELR? All those documents again? How much is ELR and for how long is it valid?

See Application form for FLR and pay attention to the supporting documents you will be expected to supply and decide for yourself if you think you can. It will be valid for another 2 years and will cost £395.

[wayner]

Thanks again for your help and I’ve obtained and read the documents suggested.

Like I’ve mentioned before my wife and I have been out of the UK for 4 months, but when we left the UK her passport wasn’t stamped. If they stamp her on re-entry I’m assuming that this means they wouldn’t know how long she’d been away by examining her passport in the future when applying for ILR/FLR. I’m not saying we want to be dishonest about the length of time spent away but I’m interested if it would be at all obvious or if it would indeed raise questions.

[the scouser]

On the assumption that the authorities of your wife's country will have endorsed her passport upon her entry there, the date she left the UK can be identified from that.

Scouse.