Returning to UK with Non-EEA/EU wife

[DavidSWP]

Hi, I wasn't sure which section to post in so apologies if I got the wrong one.

My wife is Russian, I am a UK Citizen and we were married in October 2011 in the UK and lived in the UK until 3 months ago, she originally came in on a settlement 'Fiance' visa. My Wife has a UK 'Leave to Remain' residence card now which is valid for 2 years after we got married. The original intention was to get UK Indefinite Leave to Remain after 2 years.

3 months ago we moved to Sweden, I was travelling there and back each week for the past year and got tired of it and we wanted to be together. So we are here now for however long the company I am working for wants me (could be 3 months, could be 3 years). Initially my wife wanted to go back to the UK after only a few months so would still probably be eligible to get ILR in the UK in a year and a bit, but that's not really feasible anymore if my work is extended. My wife likes it here and we don't even have a place to stay in the UK anymore (gave up my rented place). For her to live in the Uk would cost about £1000 per month and ofcourse we would not be together except at weekends.

My wife now has a Swedish Residence card including the right to work valid for five years, this cost us nothing and was very easy to get. The thing is we are likely to need to return to the UK at some point and I don't know what we need to do. Would we just apply for another UK further leave to remain residence card? My wife is now resigned to maybe having to wait 5 years to get Indefinite Leave to Remain but I am not sure if she can even get that now in 5 years - If she lives 5 years in a EU country does that mean she can get ILR in the UK, or does she actually have to live in the UK for 5 years and not leave for any significant length of time? That's not really feasible because of my job.

I know that the chances of getting ILR after 2 years on the UK specific immigration route are reduced a lot if you are out of the country for over 6 months (less unless you have a good excuse) but could my wife end up never getting ILR if we move between countries?

If we tried to go to the UK in say 1 year could they say her UK residence card is now not valid because we were out of the UK a long time? And what about after the UK residence card expires?

Greatly appreciate any help

[Lucapooka]

She has and will have residence rights under both UK and EU rules, but which route is the most appropriate really depends on the date of your intended return.

[DavidSWP]

Sorry, I just noticed this section isn't for family related topics. Please could a mod move it?