My wife has a ten year indefinite leave to remain card . what happens when that date is up is it automatically renewed or do we have to pay a large fee again or a minimal fee

Forgot to say ...its in the uk I always thought it lasted forever but thought I'd better check

Moved to the visas for other countries forum.

As long as you meet the requirements your ILR never expires, It is the photo that will need to be updated on your BRP bit the same as your driving licence photo needs to renewed every 10 years the current fee for a replacement BRP is £37 but who knows how much it will be in 10 years time

When she meets the requirements, which she may already do, why not apply for naturalisation as British?

It's not cheap, currently £1236, but once she is British she wont need a BRP any more and, like all British citizens, will be able to leave the UK as often and for as long as she wishes and always be allowed to return.

ILR, on the other hand, lapses if the holder spends a continuous period of 2 years or more outside the UK. It can also be cancelled on entry to the UK if UK Border Force believe the holder lives outside the UK and is just using their ILR for visits, though they would be allowed in as a visitor on that occasion.

There are other advantages, too. The most obvious one being that a British passport allows visa free travel to far more destinations than a Thai one does.

Both the UK and Thailand allow dual nationality, so becoming British wont effect her rights as a Thai citizen in any way.

Thanks you 2 ...7 by 7 you give me loafs of good advice over the years ..I do want to the passports but am confused with test they have to do...plus I would have to do my eldest daughter at the same time so £2472 ...Thanks again guys

As your wife has already, I assume, passed the LitUK test and obtained at least level B1 in English speaking and listening for her ILR, she can use those same passes for a naturalisation application; she does not have to take them again.

If she obtained her ILR before one or both of those requirements were introduced then she will have to pass the one(s) she hasn't yet done.

By 'daughter' I assume you mean step daughter (I also refer to my step daughter as my daughter).

If she is under 18 she cannot apply for naturalisation; instead she applies for registration. She doesn't need to have passed the LitUK test nor any English speaking and listening test. If she is under 13 there is also no residency requirement, as long as she has ILR or the equivalent. If she is 13 or over in addition to holding ILR or the equivalent she needs to have lived in the UK for at least the past 2 years.

See Registration as a British citizen– A guide about the registration of children under 18

Basically, as with my daughter, if her mother is granted citizenship then she will be too.

The current fee for an application to register a child is £936; so the total for her and your wife would be £2172.

If she is 18 or over then she does not qualify for registration as a child and will have to apply as an adult in her own right and meet all the requirements, including passing the LitUK and speaking and listening tests, to do so.

You may find British citizenship basics helpful; some of the links therein are out of date, but the essentials haven't changed.