wifes ilr application

can anyone advise please

my wife has almost reached her 2 years in the uk and we thought we could apply for her ilr in april However

i called to get an appointment at the PEO and was told that because she left the country alone for 4 months she could not apply in person , she would have to apply by post.

she left the country after 1 year so that she could bring her son to the uk from africa, the british embassy in sierra leone made her wait for 3 and 1/2 months before granting our son the visa and she returned to the uk with him immediately.

does this absence mean that we will first have to apply for FLR until this four month has been made up or should we just go ahead and aply for ilr by post now

If she didn't delay her initial entry into the UK by more than 3 months, then she may apply for settlement before her visa expires. KOL required.

she did not delay her arrival to the uk but she did leave the uk for 4 months in the middle of her 2 years.

so do you think we should only apply by post and not the 1 day service at a PEO

Hi Najaf1

I guess she is applying as a Dependent ILR, whats her current visa status? are you in HSMP or Tier 1?

najaf1 wrote:she did not delay her arrival to the uk but she did leave the uk for 4 months in the middle of her 2 years.

so do you think we should only apply by post and not the 1 day service at a PEO

najaf1, you may have to apply by post for her ILR. You will need to

1. state the dates she travelled to the S\Leone to bring your son
2. date she applied for your son's EC
3. date when the EC visa was approved
4. evidence(s) of the event(s) above, you may which to reference the stamps on your passports and EC stamps on her or her son's passports.

And then you will need to write a detail cover letter stating all the events that led to her over staying in S\Leone.

I think you should not have any problem if it is as you described it above.

Best of luck.

najaf1 wrote:she did not delay her arrival to the uk but she did leave the uk for 4 months in the middle of her 2 years.

so do you think we should only apply by post and not the 1 day service at a PEO

I think she can still apply now, the only thing is that you might have to do it via post because the person you spoke to at the call centre considers it to be 'complex issue'. Just a question did they specifically ask you about her absences or did you volunteer the information. i say this cause on the form Set M it does not ask for absences and there is no mention in the Guide Set M either

thanks for all your responses

to answer a couple of questions from above

her current status is spouse of a british citizen she is 1 month away from completing her 2 year spouse visa


the peo appointment line did not ask if she had had any abscenses, i volunteered that information because i did not want to book the appointment and then turn up and be told that they could not deal with her case, i also asked them if her son wld hav to apply at the same time as her or would he have to wait another year because he has only been in the uk for 1 year ....and to my great surprise i was told that my son never needs to apply because he was given ILE at the embassy in Sierra leone when he first came ....does anyone else think this cant be true??????

your son is good to go. As soon as he entered UK his ILE became 'indefinite'. ILE is more or less the same as ILR main difference being one is issued in UK and the other outside UK