Hello Guys ,

a bit of advice if you can, my friends thai wife is here in england on a 2 year spouse visa which been renewed once already so she has been here for about 3 1/2 years her visa is up for renewal again in feb 2011 were she will be applying for her ILR Visa.....A friend had just informed us that he thinks that a thai is not allowed to leave the UK for more than 3 months while she is on a spouse visa... my friends wife has been back in thailand since may helping to do the child settlement visa for her 2 kids ( plus the kids have been sick) and was only planning to come back here when the visas are ready for collection which could be october (if granted).....woulld she have a problem coming back into the country having been away for 6 months....any advice so i can pass it on would be great

There is no restriction on how long a spouse, or other settlement, visa holder may spend out of the UK; though when applying for ILR they will need to show that they are actually resident in the UK and not just using their spouse visa for extended visits.

Once they have ILR, again there is no restriction as such; but if they spend a continuous period of 2 years or more out of the UK then their ILR would lapse.

The three months comes from the residential qualifications for British citizenship. Which for the spouse of a British citizen are:-

1) They were legally in the UK on the exact date three years prior to applying.

2) During that 3 years they spent no more than 270 days out of the UK with a maximum of 90 days in the final year.

BTW, I've amended your topic title to show which country you are asking about.

There is no restriction on how long a spouse, or other settlement, visa holder may spend out of the UK; though when applying for ILR they will need to show that they are actually resident in the UK and not just using their spouse visa for extended visits.

Once they have ILR, again there is no restriction as such; but if they spend a continuous period of 2 years or more out of the UK then their ILR would lapse.

The three months comes from the residential qualifications for British citizenship. Which for the spouse of a British citizen are:-

1) They were legally in the UK on the exact date three years prior to applying.

2) During that 3 years they spent no more than 270 days out of the UK with a maximum of 90 days in the final year.

BTW, I've amended your topic title to show which country you are asking about.

Thanks 7 by 7 i have passed on the info to my mate....thanks very much for taking the taking the time to answer... this site is a god send

cheers bud.....jason:D