I seem to remember that when my ex Japanese wife got her permanent visa (back in the 1990s) there was some mention that if she left the UK for 2 years without returning, then she might, but not automatically would, have problems upon her return.

Are there any such rules currently in operation for the UK ?

Also, how soon can someone get a UK passport ?

No more than 2 years.

From Returning residents

A resident is someone who has been given permission to stay in the UK without any time limit. A returning resident is a resident who left the UK and wants to come back to live here again.

You may return to the UK as a resident if:

■you were settled in the UK when you last left; and

■you have been away for two years or less; and

■you are returning to live here permanently; and

■you were not given public funds to pay the costs of leaving the UK.

If you have been away for more than two years, you may still qualify to return to live in the UK if, for example, you have strong family ties here or have lived here most of your life.

If you have been away for more than two years, you must apply for permission to return (known as 'entry clearance').

The residential qualification for citizenship is 3 years for the spouse/civil partner of a British citizen, 5 years for others. The applicant must be free from immigration control, i.e. have ILR or the equivalent, and there are other requirements as well. See British citizenship.

As advised its no more that 2 years.

Although officially no more than 2 years, my Japanese partner was able to use his "indefinite leave to remain" stamp beyond 2 years, (up to 4). It was only not renewed after he had to change his passport (get a new - Japanese pp).

If the UK/BA picked up on this at entry you could have a problem i would advise no more than the official guide lines.

Indeed.

As the UK does not stamp passports on exit, an IO would not notice how long someone had been absent from the UK unless they went through the passport checking entry and exit stamps from other countries.

Samtam, I suspect that it's not that your partner was able to re-enter after a long absence, it's more likely that he was lucky enough to get away with it!

And if you have been away for more than 2 years, then what ?

You cannot surely go back to the beginning.

They may qualify as a returning resident, see SET9.5 Exception to the two year rule for those who have strong ties to the UK .

If not, then they would have to start all over again.

Of course, if they obtained British Citizenship and a British passport as soon as they qualified then they could leave the UK for as long as they liked as often as they liked, same as any other British citizen.

Indeed.

As the UK does not stamp passports on exit, an IO would not notice how long someone had been absent from the UK unless they went through the passport checking entry and exit stamps from other countries.

Samtam, I suspect that it's not that your partner was able to re-enter after a long absence, it's more likely that he was lucky enough to get away with it!

As a Japanese pp holder he gets 6 months anyway, but on one occasion the immigration a Heathrow said to him that he did not need to go through the non-British channel, but to use the British & EU pp channel, which we thought was rather odd, as the 2 year period had long expired.

It wasn't that relevant, as I note, because he gets 6 months anyway, and that's more than we need for UK visits at the moment. There was never any intention to deceive, and indeed we wrote to the relevant agency (twice) to ask what we should do, but received no reply.

They may qualify as a returning resident, see SET9.5 Exception to the two year rule for those who have strong ties to the UK .

If not, then they would have to start all over again.

Of course, if they obtained British Citizenship and a British passport as soon as they qualified then they could leave the UK for as long as they liked as often as they liked, same as any other British citizen.

Yes, I would advise all to take up this offer ASAP as it opens up far more than just the UK.

As a Japanese pp holder he gets 6 months anyway...........and that's more than we need for UK visits at the moment.

Ah, I get it now. I mistakenly thought your original post was saying that he was using his lapsed ILR to stay in the UK for more than 6 months at a time. Thanks for clearing that up.

I think it's worth noting that a person entering the UK as a visitor with a lapsed ILR in their passport may cause an IO to question whether they are a bona fide visitor. They could even be refused entry if the IO had reason to believe they intended to remain in the UK for longer than 6 months or otherwise breach the visit conditions, e.g. work.

Not that your husband would consider doing any such thing, I'm sure.