Returning resident & spousal visa?

optimystic · Post by **optimystic** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:16 am

Hi all! I am new to this forum & have been searching all over various sites for info and was hoping that some of you may me able to point me in the right direction.

A little background of our situation. I am a US citizen hubby is a UK citizen we are currently living in the US he is a greencard holder. We have been married for 5 yrs (in aug), and his passport is still in date for the UK.

We have now decided to make the move over to the UK and settle there perm. From what we have read since he has been out of the country for over 2 yrs he needs to apply for an entry permit and then a returning resident visa?
I would need to apply for a spousal visa.

My question is are we able to do this at the same time, or do we first need to have him apply as a returning resident and once approved then apply for me to come over as his spouse?

I'm unsure where to begin. We have looked at both applications and they seem pretty simple but not sure where to begin since we are both living in the US and would be traveling over together once all visas have been approved.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance

Post by **vinny** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:45 am

A UK citizen has the right of abode. Having a valid British passport is sufficient for him.

When is he eligible for US citizenship? Doesn't he want to get that first in case you want to move back to the States later on.

optimystic · Post by **optimystic** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:00 am

He is not eligible for US citizenship for another year. Although he has been here in the states legally for 5 yrs (entered on a K1) he only obtained his greencard 2 yrs ago and it is clear that you need to hold your greencard for 3 yrs before becoming a citizen.

Yes it would be nice if he could go the dual citizen route just in case we ever decided to come back but haveing to wait another yr to even apply and then wait for approval knowing full well that we plan to settle in the UK just makes no sense.

Post by **vinny** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:09 am

See also 4+yrs married & living overseas - ILE and KOL, before the rules changes.

optimystic · Post by **optimystic** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 11:33 pm

Thank you so much vinny for clarifying. I had gotten a bit confused as I had read that since he had been out of the country for over 2 yrs he needed to apply for re-entry but reviewing the info again it seems this is not the case since his passport is still in date.

This makes things much easier as we only need to apply for the spousal visa and it looks like since we have been married for 5 yrs I would be eligible to settle almost immediately pending passing my life in the UK test.

I do have another question, say everything goes well and I get my visa and I pass my test is there any time that I would not be able to travel outside the UK? it would be nice to know that I can come home to visit & pick up additional belongings.

Post by **vinny** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:05 am

No problem.

optimystic · Post by **optimystic** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:24 pm

thank you once again. Just when I think I have it all figured out I keep finding info that contradicts what ive already read and it makes me a bit crazy.

I'm a planner for worst case scenario and at times tend to overthink things. this is just so different from when we applied for hubby to come to the states it was crazy but in a way for me it was easier it was all black and white and now im seeing shades of grey lol.

just waiting for my new passport in my married name and then we are going to go ahead with the spousal visa. I have loads of links saved and think we will be okay, drives me crazy that the app has to be done online and then i have to wait for them to request evidence but i guess it is what it is and im just gonna roll with it.

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Returning resident & spousal visa?

Returning resident & spousal visa?