Hello all,

my wife and I are planning on building a house on a piece of land she bought earlier this year.

The land has been filled and should be ready to start work on in aprox March next year.

The plan is for her to go to Thailand and oversee the build in March next year and for myself and the two kids to follow a few months later when the English school holidays start. We could then stay for a month before all returning to london together.

Now something has just occurred to me, my wife has had the ILR stamp in her passport since 1990 and has come and gone out of the country for holidays only every other year or so, for 4/5 weeks at a time.

Is it going to be possible for her to leave England for a 4/5 month period and return with no problems.

It would be great to hear from some of you guys out there who have been through a similar situation.

Thanks in advance,

Sean.

In a word----yes, as long as she isn't out of the UK for more than 2 years continuously, she will still keep her ILR.

Edited June 25, 201016 yr by chongam

Just a thought, why dosen't your wife apply for citizenship, that would solve all your problems.

Thanks Chonhgam, thats what I thought but I wasnt certain.

Sean.

Thanks Chonhgam, thats what I thought but I wasnt certain.

Sean.

To qualify for citizenship one must have spent not more than 450 days out of the UK in last 5yrs + no more than 6 months in the last year before applying, Correct me if I'm wrong someone...?

Not quite right, Jason.

For the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen the residential requirement is:

They must have been physically present in the UK on the exact date three years prior to submitting the application.

During the three years prior to applying they must have spent no more than 270 days out of the UK in total, with no more than 90 days in the last year.

For all others, it's:

They must have been physically present in the UK on the exact date five years prior to applying.

During the five years prior to applying they must have spent no more than 450 days out of the UK, with no more than 90 days in the final year.

In both situations it doesn't matter what type of visa or combination of visas they held during this period; visit, student, settlement etc.; as long as when they apply they have no time limit on their stay in the UK, i.e. ILR or the equivalent.

So if on an ILR, what are the rules regarding days spent outside of the UK?

If the husband needs to spend considerably more time abroad throughout an ILR visa, is this taken into account or is only the wife's entry/exit passport dates really looked at?

If one holds ILR then the purpose of that leave to remain is to allow one to reside in the UK.

There is no limit on the amount of time one can spend out of the UK, except, as chongam says, that ILR will lapse if the holder spends a continuous period of 2 years or more out of the UK.

However, if the holder actually resides outside the UK and is only using their ILR for visits and an Immigration Officer at a port of entry noticed this, then that IO would cancel the ILR and allow entry as a visitor, with the usual restrictions on visitors, on that occasion. This means that the next time that person wanted to enter the UK they would need to obtain the appropriate visa.

Remember that ILR is indefinite, not permanent.

As already said, if one wants to ensure permanent right of access to or residence in the UK, no matter how long one is absent for, then one needs to become naturalised as British.

It is also worth remembering that both ILR and naturalisation can be removed if the person concerned is convicted of a serious criminal offence; although for naturalisation to be removed the offence would have to be very serious indeed; terrorism for example.