Hi,

First off just want to say thanks to everyone who helped with information that helped my wife and I get her settlement visa this site helped me a lot and the replies really put my mind to rest.

Now my question is about the flr visa.

At the moment my wife has been in the Uk just under 1 year and things were good but now her mother has taking ill and m wife wants to return to Thailand and look after her, now this could last a long time meaning she'll not meet the requirements to apply for the ILR visa and the obvious choice would be to apply for the FLR.

The question I have is does she need to have stayed in the UK for a certain amount of time for this? also what happens if she is still in Thailand come next year when her settlement visa runs out do we basically have to start again or can an extension FLR be applied for from abroad? or how easy would another settlement visa be to get?

I know there is many questions but any help would be great.

Gunn.

Not sure why you say " the obvious choice would be to apply for the FLR."

FLR as a spouse is a two year extension of leave to remain which can be applied for if one entered the UK as a fiance and the marriage has now taken place or when one's current leave to enter or remain expires but for some reasons or other one doesn't qualify for ILR. It cannot be applied for outside the UK.

I'm not sure if she can apply for FLR at present, but I see no advantage to her doing so. Her current visa still has at least 12 months to run, possibly 15 depending on when it was issued and when she entered the UK. Does she really think she will need to be away that long?

There is no limit to the amount of time she can spend outside of the UK while she holds either a settlement visa or FLR. However two things to bear in mind:

1) When she does apply for ILR she will need to show that the UK is her main residence. This can be difficult if one has spent considerable time out of the UK, but in your wife's circumstances I don't see a problem.

2) If she is out of the UK when her current leave expires she will have to apply for a new settlement visa as your spouse and start the whole process all over again. In the circumstances you describe I don't see her having any difficulty in obtaining one; except for the cost and inconvenience.

So, she can travel to Thailand, spend some time with her mother and then return to the UK before her current visa expires. If she has satisfied the knowledge of life and language in the UK requirement for ILR she can then apply for ILR; if not then she can apply for FLR.