Staying In Thailand With A Uk Sv Visa

[SirPaul]

My wife has a UK settlement visa (SV). Since getting the SV visa we have now been in the UK for 6 months. Due to family problems, it has now arisen that she needs to return to Thailand next February. If she goes in February she would have been in the UK for 11 months.

How long can she stay in Thailand before her settlement visa is voided? I think she can stay in Thailand for 1 year, until one month before her sv visa expires in March 2010, then I think she can come back to England and apply for an FLR. Am I correct here or does she need to spend more time in the UK to get the FLR?

[7by7]

There is no fixed amount of time one is allowed outside the UK whilst qualifying for ILR. However, when she makes her ILR application she will need to show that she is a UK resident, which may be difficult to do if she has spent the previous year in Thailand. There is some discretion dependant on the applicants circumstances, but it may be better to avoid relying on this if you can. Obviously she will need to be in the UK when she makes her application.

Remember that she will need to pass the Life in the UK Test or an ESOL with citizenship course in order to qualify for ILR and she can only do this in the UK

If for some reason she does not qualify for ILR she can apply for FLR instead, which lasts a further 2 years, she wont need the LitUK qualification for FLR. However she will still need to show that she is definitely a UK resident.

It may be better if she is going to spend this long in Thailand to let her SV lapse and then start again with a new SV when she is ready/able to take up UK residence full time.

One other point to bear in mind is when (if) she applies for British citizenship there will be a definite residential requirement. She must have been physically in the UK on the exact day 3 years prior to them recieving her application and she must have spent no more than 270 days in the last 3 years out of the UK, with no more than 90 days in the final year.

Edited September 2, 2008 by 7by7

[SirPaul]

Thanks for the useful information.

We have estimated that her problems should take about 1 year to put right. This is why we want to return to the UK and get the FLR stamp, as she is then likely to stay here a further two years, do all the necessary tests and apply for ILR.

The web site you directed me to http://www.lifeintheuktest.gov.uk/ is excellent and I thankyou for that. Why are we not given this web site when you get the SV visa, it is an essential read

What I need to clarify is that if you are applying for an FLR stamp, do you have to sit any tests, e.g. English Tests, citizenship, etc..??

[the scouser]

No, not for the purposes of obtaining further leave to remain. Providing that your wife returns to the UK before her current visa expires, you are still married, and there continues to be sufficient maintenance and accommodation, she should be re-admitted and she can then simply make an application for an extension for another two years.

Scouse.

[SirPaul]

Thanks Scouse, most helpful.

If you get an ILR what advantage is there to further applying for citizenship. My wife wants to keep her Thai citizenship and just wants to be able to stay in the UK as and when she wants. Is ILR enough for this?

[7by7]

There are a number of advantages being a British citizen has over being a foreign national with ILR.

The main ones are:-

1) ILR will lapse if the holder spends more than 2 years continuously out of the UK. If she were to do so and then want to return to the UK after her ILR had lapsed she would need to apply for the appropriate visa.

British citizens can leave the UK as often and for as long as they wish and return at any time.

2) British citizens can travel visa free to a lot more countries than Thai citizens can. Most of the European Economic Area, for example. If she only had ILR and you wanted a romantic week-end in Paris, for example, you'd have to get her a visa first!

3) As a British citizen she would be able to vote and take a full part in the democratic processes in the UK, should so she desire, and enjoy all the other rights of a citizen.

Both Thailand and the UK allow dual nationality, so becoming a British citizen will not effect her status as a Thai citizen in any way.

Edited September 2, 2008 by 7by7

[the scouser]

Yes, the holder of ILR is perfectly entitled to live in the UK as long as they wish. However, the government is considering pushing more people towards naturalisation. If your wife were to naturalise as a British citizen, she could still keep her Thai nationality too. The principal benefit is that she could pick and choose which nationality to present herself as being; for example when travelling to Europe, she could decide to take her British passport and therefore not need a visa, but when returning to Thailand, she could enter on her Thai passport. Also, should you ever go to live permanently in Thailand, your wife, having naturalised as a Brit cit, would not lose that status, whereas she could lose ILR.

Scouse.

[SirPaul]

Thanks for the clarity concerning ILR and British Citizenship.

To become a British Citizen do you have to have an ILR first or could you just do it on an SV visa with a FLR stamp covering the extra two years?

Also, how much does it roughly cost at the moment to become a British Citizen?

[vinny]

Currently, the requirements includes being free from immigration time restrictions on the day of application.

Cost of applying.

Edited September 3, 2008 by vinny

[SirPaul]

Thanks, a great web site for all your citizenship questions.

I noticed they are trying to make citizenship into 3 stages. This will probably cost us all more money as you pay for each stage.

It si all very expensive, FLR, ILR, citizenship, learning ESOL, and getting an SV visa. This is basically all one big tax on you for chosing not to marry a UK citizen. So if you marry a Thai lady beware you will have to pay various governments and agencies a total of around £3000 and spend a lot of time form filling, attending appointments and so on.

I always thought if you were married to someone you were entitled to stay with them no matter what. Now I realise that in these PC times if you do not marry someone from the UK you will be penalised for your choice. Freedom of choice is not free. Freedom to travel is not free. They may let you do what you wish, but if you do not have the money for it, you cannot do anything.

And they can double the charges overnight. There is no watchdog over the government or their agencies that work on their behalf.

You could not make this up if you tried.

It is no wonder why we have so many illegal immigrants, they can not afford to come to the UK in the correct fashion even if they wanted to.

If you are married, your partner should be able to stay here for free once a commitment is shown.

Now I am clearer as to the procedures involved in having my wife live with me in the UK, all I can say is Rip off Britain, as per usual.

[7by7]

When I married and brought my wife to the UK 8 years ago there was a one off fee of (IIRC) £260 which covered everything up to and including ILR. Citizenship was extra, but I'm afraid I cannot remember how much.

Thank you Tony Blair and this so-called Labour government! (Although I doubt very much that the Tories will change things after they win the next election, this is too much of a cash cow for any government.)

The really annoying fact is that were you a citizen of another EEA country then your EEA Treaty rights means everything, except citizenship, would be free! The same if you were a Brit living in another EEA state.

[SirPaul]

Freedom of choice so long as you have the money to pay for things. No wonder why Thai people think Farrang have money, if you prepared to pay all this than they conclusions are justified.

The worry is, if you do not pay now, you will pay much more later as prices for all this just keep going up!