How Long Can My Wife Stay In Thailand For Before Returning To Uk On Her Ilr Visa

[stevefancy1]

Hi there

hope someone can help us with some useful advice?

I am a British citizen with a full u.k. passport 39 years old. my wife (married in England) is Thai, 35, she first got a holiday visa for 6 months, then a spouse visa for 2 years, now after a lot of hard work she has a indefinite leave to remain visa issued on the 19th feb 2010.

the question is how long can she stay in thailand for if we go on holiday? and not get in trouble with the u.k immigration on our return?

I have booked myself up for a tefol course in Thailand to teach English and will get a 1 year teaching visa.

My wife is going back to collage in thailand to learn new skills for the business we are going to open in England on our return..

we were just going for 6 months because (i think )i remember reading that she could leave england and return again after that long but i would like to try to do my full year teaching, and maybe we might stay there longer as we have land and business in Thailand already . Are we going to have problems on our return to England and will we have to go thru all the hard work (and money) again for a new visa for my wife?

thanks.......Steve&Bee..

[7by7]

Obviously ILR holders can spend time out of the UK, however ILR is, as the name indicates, indefinite, not permanent. It will lapse if the holder spends a continuous period of 2 years or more outside the UK. If it does lapse then she would need to obtain the appropriate visa in order to travel to the UK; and if you were to return to live then this would mean a new settlement visa and then ILR again.

Also, if it becomes apparent to an immigration officer at a UK port of entry that an ILR holder is not currently resident in the UK and using their ILR just for visits then, although they would be allowed in on that occasion as a visitor, their ILR would be canceled and they would have to apply for the appropriate visa the next time they traveled to the UK.

If she is going to be out of the UK for a long period, but less than two years, when returning to the UK to live she could apply for a visa as a returning resident, but I'm not sure that it is compulsory as her ILR wont have lapsed. Hopefully someone will be able to confirm if this is so.

As the spouse of a UK citizen, once she has been in the UK for three years and has ILR then she can apply for British citizenship. She must have been in the UK on the exact date three years prior to applying and during the last three years have spent no more than 270 days out of the UK with no more than 90 days in the final year. Time spent in the UK as a visitor does count toward this residency requirement, so depending on how long there was between the end of her visit and her return with her settlement visa she may be able to apply in another 6 months. Once she is a British citizen then she can come and go as often and for as long as she wishes, just as you can.

So, it may be worth putting your plans on hold for a short while; but the fee for naturalisation is currently a whopping £735 and from November will be £780!.

See Requirements for naturalisation if you are married to or the civil partner of a British citizen