Expiring 'Leave to remain' question

[South]

My wife has a 'Leave to remain' sticker in one of her passports and she has had that for coming up to 30 years now. There is a requirement that she is not allowed out of the UK for more than 2 years at a time. We have lived here in Thailand (apart from 2 and a half years) for pretty much all of that time returning to the UK for a week or so every 2 years. Her predicament now is that it is nearly time to go back as it is getting very close to the '2 years' but with all this carry on with this virus etc, she doesn't think it would be safe.

Any ideas/suggestions from people who may be in a similar situation?

[Denim]

Given how difficult it would now be to get another ' leave to remain ' visa I would go back before it expires. Provided there is no block on leaving get two direct flights and the best mask protection you can and fly out. Aircraft will likely have many empty seats so might not be too crowded.

[maxcorrigan]

My wife has exactly the same problem as the opener South, her UK ILR expires on the 6th June we were aiming to return to the UK before that date, in the event of a complete UK shut down on account of covid 19 which seems very likely at the moment, would the UK extend her ILR remain for the length of the shutdown, is there an email address i could send too with this enquiry would anyone know?

Have tried googling but can only seem to get UK entry visa's/work permits etc. hope someone can help we would hate for her to lose this ILR permit!

[AussieBob18]

Call UK Immigration and ask what rules applies - can she be entended due to the travel ban.  If entry from Thailand is banned or not recommended then I would assume she could apply for an extension.  

[mfd101]

There is a British Embassy in Bangkok. It presumably has consular assistance functions ...

[maxcorrigan]

38 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

There is a British Embassy in Bangkok. It presumably has consular assistance functions ...

Thanks for your answer i had thought of that, but from Sattahip to Bangkok 2hr+ trip at least is quite a jaunt for me at 80 plus and it seems you have to make an appointment in their limited opening hours, i was hoping for an address or preferably an email where i simply could get a reply about my request, and what to do, plus the UK Embassy from what i hear are not the most helpful to us expats for something to them would seem to be trivial, thanks for your suggestion though!

[maxcorrigan]

1 hour ago, AussieBob18 said:

Call UK Immigration and ask what rules applies - can she be entended due to the travel ban.  If entry from Thailand is banned or not recommended then I would assume she could apply for an extension.  

Yes Bob that's a suggestion but would be pretty costly from Thailand, unless the UK embassy in Bangkok has a number have'nt seen anything by googling for enquiring though, was hoping to try other simpler email avenues first!

 

Edited March 15, 2020 by maxcorrigan

[puchooay]

There are currently no travel restrictions from Thailand to UK. Get back quickly. That would be the simplest way to do things. Flights are very cheap right now too.

 

 

[AussieBob18]

8 hours ago, maxcorrigan said:

Yes Bob that's a suggestion but would be pretty costly from Thailand, unless the UK embassy in Bangkok has a number have'nt seen anything by googling for enquiring though, was hoping to try other simpler email avenues first!

 

Have you got Skype? Very inexpensive way to call any landline and most mobile numbers anywhere in the world. I use it all the time when in Thailand or anywhere else overseas.  Good luck with emails - Governments all over the world are avoiding email - they dont want to actually have to do what they are supposed to do - help people. Sorry to get political, but all they want to do is control people and run programs and services the way they want. 

 

[maxcorrigan]

11 hours ago, puchooay said:

There are currently no travel restrictions from Thailand to UK. Get back quickly. That would be the simplest way to do things. Flights are very cheap right now too.

 

 

That's exactly what she plans on doing now, ie go before end of the march which as you say the easiest way, thanks for your reply!

[maxcorrigan]

2 hours ago, AussieBob18 said:

Have you got Skype? Very inexpensive way to call any landline and most mobile numbers anywhere in the world. I use it all the time when in Thailand or anywhere else overseas.  Good luck with emails - Governments all over the world are avoiding email - they dont want to actually have to do what they are supposed to do - help people. Sorry to get political, but all they want to do is control people and run programs and services the way they want. 

 

I agree Bob the UK home office kindly provides an email address which i thought was great, only to find it returns to exactly the same page as i'm on ie. goes round in circles, we have decided now for her to go back before the end March which is the easiest way out, saying that they have extended Chinese nationals ILR to the end of March so far, presumably on account of Chinese ban on travel!

[South]

Max, we were looking at going at the end of this month and returning a week or so later. The major worry is that this situation is changing on a daily basis and I/we certainly don't want to be stuck in the UK because of self-isolation or whatever it's called. Another worry is that the situation in Thailand could very well change while we are away - The UK is already on the 'danger' list here and there's a possibility that Thailand could go into lock-down and refuse me re-entry. That's the frustrating thing, nobody knows what is happening on a daily basis.

 

I have spent all morning trying to find more info on the net but there really isn't a lot. The couple of links below might be of some help.

 

Email address: [email protected]

 

https://www.facebook.com/ukinthailand/ 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/indefinite-leave-to-remain-in-the-uk#travelling-outside-the-uk

https://www.freemovement.org.uk/case-irene-clennell-rules-returning-residents-ilr/

Edited March 16, 2020 by South

[South]

A little more info - 

 

Contact UK Visas and Immigration in English

You can call or email English-speaking staff with a question about your application. Contact centre staff cannot give you advice about your personal circumstances.

By phone
Telephone: 00 44 203 481 1736
Monday to Friday, 24 hours
Calls cost £1.37 per minute on top of your standard network charges.

By email
Email UK Visas and Immigration.
Emails enquiries cost £5.48. You will not be charged for any follow-up emails about the same enquiry.

You’ll get a reply to your email within 2 days, except on Saturdays, Sundays and UK public holidays.

[maxcorrigan]

On 3/16/2020 at 11:57 AM, South said:

Max, we were looking at going at the end of this month and returning a week or so later. The major worry is that this situation is changing on a daily basis and I/we certainly don't want to be stuck in the UK because of self-isolation or whatever it's called. Another worry is that the situation in Thailand could very well change while we are away - The UK is already on the 'danger' list here and there's a possibility that Thailand could go into lock-down and refuse me re-entry. That's the frustrating thing, nobody knows what is happening on a daily basis.

 

I have spent all morning trying to find more info on the net but there really isn't a lot. The couple of links below might be of some help.

 

Email address: [email protected]

 

https://www.facebook.com/ukinthailand/ 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/indefinite-leave-to-remain-in-the-uk#travelling-outside-the-uk

https://www.freemovement.org.uk/case-irene-clennell-rules-returning-residents-ilr/

Thanks for the info virtually sums up my understanding of the ILR, i saw a Home Office memo that i assume was at the beginning of this virus outbreak concerning Chinese people with ILR where because of shutdowns in China people with UK ILR visa would be extended until the 31st March not sure when the original report came out though as i can't seem to pick up the original posting, so hoping a similar stance might be adopted for Thailand (won't be holding my breath though) my Thai wife has got until the 6th June so we'll have to wait and see!

Thanks for your answer, and sorry about delay in answering TV can be so depressing at times i have to leave it alone for while!

Good luck with your trip, as you say at the moment it's a double edge sword leaving Thailand possible self imposed quarantine in the UK, and refused ticket or entry coming back with another quarantine when you get back!

Edited March 21, 2020 by maxcorrigan

[maxcorrigan]

On 3/16/2020 at 10:52 PM, South said:

A little more info - 

 

Contact UK Visas and Immigration in English

You can call or email English-speaking staff with a question about your application. Contact centre staff cannot give you advice about your personal circumstances.

By phone
Telephone: 00 44 203 481 1736
Monday to Friday, 24 hours
Calls cost £1.37 per minute on top of your standard network charges.

By email
Email UK Visas and Immigration.
Emails enquiries cost £5.48. You will not be charged for any follow-up emails about the same enquiry.

You’ll get a reply to your email within 2 days, except on Saturdays, Sundays and UK public holidays.

£5.48 for an email they don't miss a trick do they?

[theoldgit]

Have a read of the Returning Resident option though I’m assuming you are not actually intending to return full time.

https://www.gov.uk/returning-resident-visa

[maxcorrigan]

2 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

Have a read of the Returning Resident option though I’m assuming you are not actually intending to return full time.

https://www.gov.uk/returning-resident-visa

Thanks i had already read that earlier, there seems to be nothing very definite at the moment regarding Thailand/UK shutdowns we're hoping things might be clearer before 6th June that's the last UK stamp in her passport!