ILR granted early?

[juliajules1979]

I am a British Citizen from birth. My husband came to the UK in Nov 2000 and claimed asylum. His case was refused. We married in the UK in Jan 2003 (my husbands appeal for asylum was refused shortly after). We never made a claim for settlement as my husband always wished to return to Iran so we lived together until March 2006 when my husband returned to his country. I went to Iran in May 2006 two months after him but found that living in Iran was so difficult that I returned to the UK in Aug 2006. We wanted to apply for settlement but the Iranian passport office would not give him his passport as he had lost the previous one outside of the UK, therefore my husband could not apply to return to the UK. Therefore I stayed in the UK and we maintained continuous contact. I moved back to Iran in Nov 2007 and we began living there. We bought a house and had joint finances and savings. Unfortunately again it was too hard so we applied for Entry clearance and were granted it in Jan 2009. We came to the UK in Feb 2009. I have since heard that we should have asked to be considered for ILE as we have been married for over 4 years and have lived outside of the UK during this time. All documents were made avaliable to the ECO and there was no information missing from our case.

I have since spoken to a Home Office helpline advisor who informed me that we could make a claim for indefinate leave to remain now, based on our long marriage as long as my husband passes the life in the UK test.

Could somebody please give me some advice as I am confused.

Thanks.

[John]

Correct me if I am wrong but it appears that whilst the two of you have been married for over 4 years, the two of you have not lived together outside the UK for at least 4 years.

Accordingly I don't see how ILE is due to your husband. Regretfully!

[juliajules1979]

Thanks for your reply. Home Office give such conflicting advice, one advisor told me that it didnt matter that we had not lived outside of the UK for 4 years what mattered was that we were married for over 4 years and that at the time of the application we had been living outside of the UK. Could you explain to me what the rules are regarding ILE?

Thankyou.

[John]

Have a look at this part of the Immigration Rules, and para 281(i)(b)(i) in particular.

[juliajules1979]

Thanks John. So basically you must be married for over four years and have lived outside of the UK for at least a 4 year period. That explains it much better than the homeoffice advisors!!!

Thanks so much for your time.