ILR: Cohabitation period calculation (for spouse)

[crystal.01]

Dear all,
It seems its been discussed before, but I am not able to find the right topic today. I have a query regarding the cohabitation period.

I arrived in the UK as a WP holder. My wife joined me as a dependent in July 2008. In Jan 2010, I changed my VISA category to Tier-1 and my wife subsequently moved to Tier-1 dependent. She has been away from the UK for a period of about eight months (SEP 2011 - March 2012) for maternity reasons. Now that I am about to qualify for ILR, I was wondering if my wife's absence for a period of about eight months could be an issue for us. Some of the interpretations (from members comments) of rules relating to cohabitation seem to suggest that the continuos period "has to be" latest two years or it "could be" continuous two years in last five years. Does it consider the last date of visa extension? I am bit confused. Can anybody suggest or share their experiences? or point to relevant discussion?

Many thanks.

[Smam]

Hi

First of all absences from UK immigration rules doesn't apply to any dependants as long as they've completed 2 years period in total remember in total not continous so according to your post your wife is already living with you from 2008 to 2010 and even if she stayed out of UK for a period of 8 months and if she came back to UK in 2011 so still from 2011 to 2012 I think your wife definitely would have completed that 2 years time period with you in UK.

Hope this will answer your question.

Please do kindly share your PEO experience with us on the forum.

Good luck for yours and your family ILR.

[crystal.01]

Hello all,
first of all thank to every other person who is contributing to this discussion board. Its a great forum. And kudos to moderators for their efforts in running this excellent forum. I have been visiting this site for a while before I started to prepare my application.
My case was prety straightforward, five years with a single employer, same job. It was a combination of WP, Tier-2, except that dependent was out of UK for more than six months for maternity resons. Main applicants days of absence were 178 in five years, Got case result in about an hour at Crydon. Case worker was very polite but thorough in examining papers. No questions asked. Received BRP's for myself, my spouse and our baby in five days. Service cant get better than this. Thanks to everyone again helping run this forum and sharing their understanding.