Hi,

I've tried to find the info on the web, no luck, hence the question here. At the moment, me, my thai wife and 2 children ( have dual passports ) are living in thailand, but are seriously thinking about moving to the uk. If we did, we would be applying for a settlement visa. My question is, once in the uk, on a settlement visa, will my thai wife be allowed to go back to thailand for a holiday during this period ( 33 months i believe ) or is she bound to stay in the uk until she can stay here indefinitely, and granted that visa. Hope that is understandable.

Cheers.

There is no actual limit on the amount of time a person living in the UK is allowed out of the UK before they have Indefinite Leave to Remain (it's actually 5 years, not 30 months, to qualify for ILR).

However, when applying to extend their stay after 30 months and again when applying for ILR 30 months later, they will need to show that they are a UK resident. Which may be difficult to do if they have spent more time out of the UK than in!

There is, however, a limit when it comes to applying for British citizenship. As the spouse of a British citizen she must have been physically present in the UK on the exact day three years prior to submitting the application and during the those three years have spent no more than 270 days in total out of the UK with a maximum of 90 days in the final year.

You may find UK Settlement Visa Basics and British Citizenship Basics useful.

Thanks for that. I've had a look at the links you placed on here, and there is some good info on there, as I said, I just couldn't find the answer to my question.

I think we should be ok, by the sounds of it, as we would probably only visit thailand for 1 month each year, just so she can see her family.

Thanks again.

Thanks for that i had the same question.

Cheers 7