UK returning residency Visa

[oporhatch]

Has anybody applied or have any information about the returning residency visa .  We have been out of the UK for nearly 2 years and will be forced to return so that my wife's definite leave to remain visa does not become invalid.   

I wrote to the CIH  email address and they responded 

 

There are changes at the UK border because of coronavirus (COVID-19). If you are planning to travel to the UK, you will need to make sure you comply with all travel restrictions including pre-departure testing. Please check the travel advice issued by your carrier and check what you need to do before you travel. It is also recommended that you check the border control guidance as well as information on travel bans.

Your Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK (ILR) or Indefinite Leave to Enter the UK (ILE) will lapse if you are absent from the UK for over 2 years.

If your ILR/ILE lapsed on or after 24 January 2020, and you have been unable to return to the UK due to travel restrictions in place relating to coronavirus, you may apply under the Returning Resident visa route to return to the UK and get indefinite leave.

You need to complete the online Returning Resident application form and pay the fee. As part of your application you will need to explain how coronavirus restrictions prevented your return to the UK.

You will receive a refund of the application fee and, where applicable, a refund of £55 if you submitted your application at a Mandatory User Pay Visa Application Centre. Confirmation of your refund will be sent to you by email once we have made a decision on your application.

 

 

 The problem I have it says pay the fee which is £500+ , but then talks about a refund !!  Is that suggesting that if your returning visa application is successful you get your money back. They also state you need to get fingerprints etc done at a biometric centre, are there legitimate centre's in Thailand that will satisfy UK immigration .  Or is it just going to be easier to return  
??

 

Trying to contact them for info is a nightmare 

 

 

   

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by oporhatch

[7by7]

The Home Office guidance to decision makers says 

Quote

Extended absence from the UK due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions

Some applicants will have been prevented from returning to the UK in 2020 and 2021, due to travel restrictions in place relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. In some cases this will have resulted in their indefinite leave lapsing. You should consider whether travel restrictions after 24 January 2020 resulted in unintended absences from the UK. Where you assess someone had intended to return to the UK before their leave lapsed but were prevented from returning by travel restrictions, you should consider this as an additional factor supporting a grant of entry clearance.

 

This, together with the reply you received, indicates that if you can demonstrate that her return to the UK was delayed beyond two years because of the travel restrictions then she'll be granted leave.

 

But you'll need to actually demonstrate why this is so; simply saying it is not enough. Although few and far between, flights from Thailand to the UK were available at the start of the pandemic and more have become available since.

 

I imagine that payment in advance is required as the UKVI online systems will not accept an application without it. If they say that it will be refunded, then I have no reason to doubt them.

 

All UK entry clearance applications are submitted online, see here, but the applicant then needs to attend a UK visa application centre to have their biometrics taken. See here for those in Thailand. The basic service is free; but as you'll see there are various premium services your wife can pay for. I don't know if this is covered by the £55; maybe it's a standard amount to cover the cost of travelling etc.

 

As she will have been out of the UK for more than two years she'll need a TB test.

 

I don't think she'll need to pay the health surcharge; you can check here once she's started her online application.

 

Of course, all this can be avoided if you ensure she returns to the UK before the two years are up. But only if you are actually returning to resume residence.

 

If UK Border Force have reason to believe that she is returning for a visit only and not to resume residence then, although she'll be allowed in as a visitor this time, her ILR will be cancelled and she'll need to apply, and pay, for the appropriate visa next time she wants to enter the UK.

 

If she does not return to the UK within the two years then in her returning residents application she'll need to satisfy the decision maker that she actually is such, not just a visitor.