Hello All,

I am married to a UK resident (holding a ILR and now applying for UK citizenshing) and I am living in the US while my wife and my daughter are in the UK. We have been married for almost 5 years (will be 5 years in June) and i just fly to the Uk almost once a month.

Now, I am planning to apply for a spouse visa BUT not sure I am going to stay there 24 months in a raw as I am a consultant and it happens that I am assigned on a project abroad for months or years.

So, my questions are:

1/ According to my situation, is the spouse visa the best / only way to joint them in the UK?

2/ If yes, what happen if i can't complete the 24 month probationary period requierement and after one year for instance i have to go abroad for a year? what happen when i return?

3/ what about the ILE? As per what I wrote on the forum, ILE apply when the couple have been living together outside the UK, which is not the case in my situation as my wife lives in the UK. Is that correct?

Thanks everyone for your answers / suggestions.

Regards.

In order to qualify for ILE the couple need to be living together outside the UK.

A visit visa only allows a maximum stay in the UK of 6 months out of any 12.

So it looks like a spouse visa is your only option.

To qualify for ILR you need to be resident in the UK with your spouse for the 24 months probationary period of the spouse visa. Trips abroad are, of course, allowed, but if you are spending large amounts of time living and working outside the UK you may have problems convincing the Home Office that the UK is your main residence. Especially if you are out of the UK but your spouse remains behind. If you are out of the UK when your spouse visa expires then it is no longer valid for entry and you would have to start all over again.

I would suggest no more than 90 days per year away from the UK.

Thanks for your answers.

Also, in case I am granted a spouse visa and move to the UK but can't complete the 24 month period required, what are the consequences? Let's say after the 24 month it appears that I have spent almost a year out of the country, what is foreseen?

ps:Knowing that in the meantime my wife will already be a UK citizen.

Thanks.

The worst case scenario is that when you applied for ILR it would be refused. You would then have to apply for Further Leave to Remain, assuming you are still in the UK, and then after another 2 years apply again for ILR; but if you had again spent lengthy amounts of time living and working outside the UK whilst you wife remained in the UK then the ILR application could again be refused.

An expensive pastime.

As already said, if you are outside the UK when your spouse visa expired you would have to apply for another one to live in the UK.

Whether your wife was by this time a citizen would make no difference.

Great, thanks for your help!