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Hi,
My question is regarding ILR validity.

I am British citizen and my wife is on ILR.
My wife went to India for delivery in Jan 2015.

Dates in and out of UK as below
Left UK : 7th January 2015
Back in UK : June 2016
Left UK: July 2016

Query below:
1. If my wife travels back to UK after 7th January 2017, is she losing her ILR and need to apply for a new dependent visa?
2. If my wife travels to UK before 7th January 2017, can she come back to UK on the same ILR Visa?
3. Is the 2 year period is reset because she travelled to UK in June 2016?

Please advice.

Thanks in Advance

ravib1729 wrote:3. Is the 2 year period is reset because she travelled to UK in June 2016?

Short visits do not reset the ILR counter. The idea of ILR is that you are resident in the UK, that the center of your life is in the UK. Such a long absence would suggest that she has no intention of settling in the UK.

If you wife has been absent for so long, she can be stopped at the border/airport and potentially be stamped in as a visitor.

Remember that an absence of about two years would trigger suspicion. Some people have been questioned at a year and a half and some have returned without a hitch after two and a half years. Here is an old thread for somebody whose ILR was revoked at 1 year and 8 months.

Beyond two years, she should apply for a Returning Resident visa. But after that, she would be expected to be resident in the UK.

I would suggest getting your wife to return as soon as possible and stay in the UK (barring short breaks - a couple of weeks at the most) for atleast two-three years before having any more longish breaks.

What is the reason for such a long absence?

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your quick reply.

the reason why my wife is out of UK for 2 years is as below

My wife went to India for delivery in Jan 2015. Baby boy was born on 1st August 2015.
We applied for the British passport for my son and waiting for an update.

My wife was in UK In the month of June 2016 for a month along with my elder daughter as my daughter was missing me very badly. My son was not able to travel as he didn't receive his British passport yet. He was taken care by his grandparents.

Dates in and out of UK as below
Left UK : 7th January 2015
Back in UK for a month: June 2016
Left UK: July 2016

She left UK because to take of my son who is in india.
Is this a valid reason for being out of UK for such a long time.?

Regards

Have you been waiting for over a year for your son's passport?

yeah. My boy was born in August 2015 and we applied in November 2015.
We recently got in British passport interview appointment in October. We are still waiting for the Update from liverpool office.

You may be able to justify your wife's absence due to the delay in issuing your son's passport.

Thanks Casa for your reply. However I will try to bring my family to UK by end of December 2016.

You may want to get your MP involved. The issue of a British passport abroad should not take such a long time.

Yeah reported to my local MP and she contacted them and got the same reply "going through standard security checks"