We're very close to being sorted, Mrs CM got her UK Settlement Visa back in September last year but our departure was delayed due to health reasons. We've now managed to overcome most of those problems plus we've actually managed to buy the home we'd been after for quite some time and now we're ready to book flights.

But Mrs CM is now concerned that so much time has passed between the issuance of her visa and our intended travel date, try as I may she wants reassurance so I said I'd post here to put her mind at rest.

7by7, if you will, please, thanks!

I assume she has settlement as a spouse.

The visa is valid for 27 months and she can first use it to enter the UK at any time before it expires.

However, to qualify for the next stage, Indefinite Leave to Remain, she must have been resident in the UK for at least 24 months and hold a valid Leave to Enter/Remain.

So, if the delay in traveling means that her visa will expire before she has been living in the UK for 24 months then she will need to apply for an extension, known as Further Leave to Remain.

See Applying as a husband, wife or civil partner from inside the UK and FLR(M) guidance notes.

Mrs CM thanks you for the reassurance, the settlement visa in question is as an unmarried partner and we've lived together for over seven years in Thailand, with some luck and effort she'll be through the KOL in next to no time.

An unmarried partner visa is the same in this respect as a spouse visa. She needs to be in the UK for 24 months to qualify for ILR, otherwise she will need to apply for FLR as above.