Uk Settlement Visa Question

[chrisoary]

Hello,

I know that there is a long thread about the changes being made to the UK settlement visa requirements, but I have quite a specific question and dont want to drag the thread off topic.

We currently live in Thailand and have a son in nursery, we have another child on the way. Our plan is to move back to the UK so that my son can start compulsary eduction (age 4) in 2 1/2 years time.

I am confident that my wife would qualify for the settlement visa but my question is -

Once the visa has been issued is there a minimum amount of time per year that we will have to spend in the UK?

Can we get the settlement visa now even though we dont plan to move there yet?

The main reason I ask is because things are getting harder (ie take longer for my wife to get UK passport etc).

sorry if this is a silly question I would just be interested to know.

Thanks

Chris

[7by7]

There is no minimum time she must spend in the UK whilst qualifying for Indefinite Leave to Remain. However, when she applies for ILR she will need to show that she is a UK resident which may be difficult to do if she has spent more time out of the UK than in.

There is, though, a limit on time spent out of the UK were she to apply for British citizenship. As the spouse of a British citizen she must have been in the UK on the exact day 3 years prior to submitting the application and during the intervening 3 years have spent no more than 270 days out of the UK with no more than 90 days in the final year. This qualifying period is not at the moment being changed, but as you must have ILR or the equivalent to apply for citizenship and the qualifying period for ILR is being increased to 5 years it effectively means she will need to have been living in the UK for at least 5 years before she could apply for citizenship.

She can apply for a settlement visa at any time she wants to; but it will be dated from the day it is issued. So unless you intend to move the UK within the next 3 months it will have expired before she is time qualified for ILR and she will need an expensive extension known as Further Leave to Remain.

[chrisoary]

Thanks for the information, this covers pretty much everything I wanted to know.

suppose we will have to wait until we are ready to move, I was hoping we could cut some corners!