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Hi,

I am a british citizen, my wife is Japanese and has held ILR for the last 3 years and we have a 2.5 year old little boy (with a british passport)

I have just been offered a job in New Zealand and we are considering to go, on a residents visa.

Our plan is to live there for 3 - 4 years, then return back to the UK to live.


Are there going to be complications when we come to return to the uk?

(Thanks in advance for any advice and help with this)

jandk wrote:Hi,

I am a british citizen, my wife is Japanese and has held ILR for the last 3 years and we have a 2.5 year old little boy (with a british passport)

I have just been offered a job in New Zealand and we are considering to go, on a residents visa.

Our plan is to live there for 3 - 4 years, then return back to the UK to live.


Are there going to be complications when we come to return to the uk?

(Thanks in advance for any advice and help with this)

Yes if she lives oversea for more then 2 years then she will loose ILR.

If your wife has held ILR for 3 years, why hasn't she applied for British Citizenship?

Casa wrote:If your wife has held ILR for 3 years, why hasn't she applied for British Citizenship?

why she has to be British? She may proud of being Japanese!!!

Unfortunately, when you return to the UK in three or four years time, your wife's ILR will have lapsed. As others have mentioned, this happens when she hasn't been living in the UK for two years.

When you do wish to return, you will be applying for a new spouse visa. You won't get any "credit" for time already in the UK. Moreover, you will be subject to the new rules that just came into force on the 9th of July.

To return, your wife will apply for her first spouse visa overseas at a cost of more than a thousand pounds. This will be valid for 30 months. At the end of those thirty months, she will have to extend that spousal visa for another 30 months. Again at a cost of more than a thousand pounds, and the fees go up all the time.

After those 60 months are up (or 5 years), then she can apply for ILR again, also at a cost of more than a thousand pounds. Note that the qualifying period for the spousal ILR route has increased from two years to five.

I understand that Japan doesn't easily tolerate dual citizenship. If she becomes British, she will likely have to give up her Japanese nationality. But I guess this is something that the OP has to balance against the hassle and cost of starting the settlement process all over again.

See this:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... spouse-cp/

And particularly this:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... family-mig

temuujin wrote:

Casa wrote:If your wife has held ILR for 3 years, why hasn't she applied for British Citizenship?

why she has to be British? She may proud of being Japanese!!!

I'm not suggesting she has to take British Citizenship, simply that it would solve the problem of her re-entry to the UK the family are currently facing.

jandk: You will have to be careful as your wife could lose her Japanese Citizenship as Japan does not allow dual citizenship except to those having acquired dual citizenship prior to January 1, 1985.

I am not solicitor, so double check it. But as far as I understand ILR will be removed if she will be out of UK for 2 years non-stop. If you visit UK during this time, she will have airport stamps in passport that she was here and ILR should be Ok.

I am not solicitor, but this was always my understanding of this rule.

Visiting briefly doesn't count. More than 2 years residence outside of the UK will result in loss of ILR.

JohnM wrote:I am not solicitor, so double check it. But as far as I understand ILR will be removed if she will be out of UK for 2 years non-stop. If you visit UK during this time, she will have airport stamps in passport that she was here and ILR should be Ok.

I am not solicitor, but this was always my understanding of this rule.

Sorry, but bad advice. Very bad. :-/

I would agree with Casa. There is a general perception that if you visit the UK for a short period of time, your ILR remains valid (which is not true). As Casa advised, it can still be revoked, especially when you have no ties with the UK.

This is passage from instructions to border staff:
a person resident overseas cannot maintain their settled status in the UK by paying short visits to the UK before resuming residence overseas.

newperson wrote:

JohnM wrote:I am not solicitor, so double check it. But as far as I understand ILR will be removed if she will be out of UK for 2 years non-stop. If you visit UK during this time, she will have airport stamps in passport that she was here and ILR should be Ok.

I am not solicitor, but this was always my understanding of this rule.

Sorry, but bad advice. Very bad. :-/

But then we should define what is considered short periods. If you have ILR but you decided to spend 10 months outside, then returned for 2 months, then again decided to go on business trip for another 10 months. At the same time you have ties with the UK, then will it revoke?

I think very bad advice is not to discuss things but categorically say - you will loose it. Well, if you want to give good advice, give it in full then with all details. What would be considered short periods of visit. What will demonstrate no ties with the UK, etc. Because I can't believe laws in this country can be THAT categorical. They genuinely lived in UK and want to continue to live here.

I think it can depend on different things. For example, if they have home here, can they demonstrate ties with the UK, how they pay taxes, etc.

I was under the impression that you could regain you ILR if your were a previous permanent resident with the intention of re-establishing your life back in the UK and had strong family ties. I would think her husband and children count as strong family ties, but perhaps that is my own interpretation. Would this be up to any sort of discretion due to obviousness? Or is this one of those specific cases where there is no discretion?

Link to UKBA page on returning residents.

UKBA wrote:If you have been away for more than 2 years, you may still qualify to return to live in the UK if, for example, you have strong family ties here or have lived here most of your life.

If you have been away for more than 2 years, you must apply for a visa or an entry clearance certificate before you can return here. For more information, see the How to apply page.

Anything with 'may' is a high risk proposition, esp with respect to UKBA.

JohnM wrote:

newperson wrote:

JohnM wrote:I am not solicitor, so double check it. But as far as I understand ILR will be removed if she will be out of UK for 2 years non-stop. If you visit UK during this time, she will have airport stamps in passport that she was here and ILR should be Ok.

I am not solicitor, but this was always my understanding of this rule.

Sorry, but bad advice. Very bad. :-/

But then we should define what is considered short periods. If you have ILR but you decided to spend 10 months outside, then returned for 2 months, then again decided to go on business trip for another 10 months. At the same time you have ties with the UK, then will it revoke?

I think very bad advice is not to discuss things but categorically say - you will loose it. Well, if you want to give good advice, give it in full then with all details. What would be considered short periods of visit. What will demonstrate no ties with the UK, etc. Because I can't believe laws in this country can be THAT categorical. They genuinely lived in UK and want to continue to live here.

I think it can depend on different things. For example, if they have home here, can they demonstrate ties with the UK, how they pay taxes, etc.

Did you read my post with the passage from the UKBA website about visiting?

wpilr_nov12 wrote:Anything with 'may' is a high risk proposition, esp with respect to UKBA.

Agreed. But it is better than no possibility and it is specifically mentioned on their website. I just wonder what the real possibilities are. Could she come back with her family in tow and get ILR back right then?

wpilr_nov12 wrote:Anything with 'may' is a high risk proposition, esp with respect to UKBA.

May, when used in legal texts, refers to permission rather than possibility (because being vague is not desirable with rules and guidance). May I borrow your umbrella? Yes, you may. This treatment of that modal verb is standard throughout UKBA guidance. Were it otherwise, the decision would depend on whether the caseworker was in a good mood that day rather than if the applicant met the particular condition that may (is permitted to) be applied.

So, to help your understanding you can interpret:

If you have been away for more than 2 years, you may still qualify to return to live in the UK if, for example, you have strong family ties here or have lived here most of your life.

as meaning

If you have been away for more than 2 years, you can still qualify to return to live in the UK if, for example, you have strong family ties here or have lived here most of your life.