Vergine uk, you appear to have skimmed over the most crucial step in your plans - getting the spouse visa...

Your husband cannot switch from a visitor visa to a spouse visa within the UK. In fact it may well cause problems for him if he attempts to do this.

I'm not ignoring your other queries but they're kind of counting chickens without having an idea of your preparations. Have you got all your documents ready for the spouse visa? (Have a look at some of my other posts) .

Hi June A,

Apologies if my post was not clear... We have all the documentrs ready for the application, in fact all we need to do is submit it.  But I wanted to see if someone could help me with the other questions, before doing so. 

Thanks

1. There is no maximum time that you can be absent from UK after your entry. There is no limit as such.

2. Not at all, if the intention is to settle in UK.

3. Not at all. But do keep the proof that your have been travelling together and submitt it with ILR and also explain in a covering letter that you have been away on an extended honeymoon and meeting family and now going to live together in UK. Do check the standard requirements too.

4. ILR wont be denied due to your travel abroad.

5. Not allowed to apply from within UK on a visit visa.

After 24 months have passed from his initial entry in UK, he will be eligible to apply for ILR (or whichever categoy is going to exist when he applies). It is of paramount importance that you have 6 official documents spread evenly over 24 months period, either in joint names or in your individual names but coming to the same address. When he enters UK, its of utmost importance that he opens a bank account etc and statements keep coming to your address to show his ties and future intention to live in UK with you. Some other official documents should be arranged in a way I mentioned before.
Hope this helps.

Vergine, I agree with mrlookforward for the most part.

One of the key requirements is that your relationship must be genuine and subsisting. However if you're spending 7 months together on an extended honeymoon this kind of speaks for itself..

Another key factor is maintenance and accomodation, ie the ability to support and maintain yourselves (and any dependants) without recourse to public funds. Make sure that your travels won't impact on your finances in this aspect on your return.

In terms of absences from the UK when applying for ILR, the rules are very opaque. Where the 7 months might have an impact is setting back your husband's qualifying residence period when he applies for naturalisation.

For naturalisation purpose (which should'nt be discussed this early anyways) this absence will not set the clock back, but it would be counted as 7 months (210 days approx) absence instead.

No reason not to discuss naturalisation at this stage, particularly since Vergine UK is (quite sensibly) trying to pre-empt the "if only's" that tend to arise later.

An absence of 210 days in the first year is a bit risky (if they intend to travel a similar amount in year two); even more so in year three.

An absence of 7 straight months could affect the residential qualifying period for naturalisation in terms of being physically present in the UK.

Thank you very much for all your help on this.  I also did further research and can add to my questions and your replies (just in case anyone else out there requires this information):

I finally got through to Home Office on the phone and they confirmed-

1. There is no max amount of time you can be out of the country on a UK spouse visa.  They have advised us to keep all the details of our travels together which includes tickets, invoices, photos etc.

2. We won't encounter any problems with Passport Control / Immigration Officers when re-entering the UK, after our travels as we will be returning together.

3.  Home Office could not advise if the 7 months would affect our ILR application and stated that this would be down to the caseworkers discretion.  They proceeded to say that as it is a UK spouse visa, the caseworker will be more interested in the state of our relationship rather than the amount of time we have been away. 

I also asked if we needed to apply for FLR(M) to make up the time he was abroad.  Home Office said not necessarily but recognised this may strengthen our ILR application.

4.  If my partner's ILR application is rejected they will tell us why and if we are illegible to appeal.  If the visa has not already expired by the time we receive the response (you can only apply for the ILR a month before the visa expires) then they said we can always apply for the FLR(M) and the re-apply for the ILR after the extension has been exhausted.  However if you think about it, this method could potentially end up costing a further GBP 1075 (FLR(M) costs GBP 475, and you would have to submit another ILR application which costs approx GBP 600).  If the ILR is rejected and the visa has expired by the time they have replied then my partner will have to leave the UK.

5. No, you need to apply in your home country and have the paperwork sorted before arriving in the UK.  It was just a very hopeful question lol!

I also read the following from: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/partnersandfamilies/partners/indefiniteleavetoremain/

----

Time spent outside the UK

The Immigration Rules do not say that you must have been in the UK for the entire two years of your permission to stay as a husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried/same-sex partner. Your application to settle here will be judged on its merits, taking into account your reasons for travel, the length of your absences, and whether you and your partner travelled and lived together while you were outside the UK. If you have spent a limited time abroad in connection with your job, for example, this should not count against you.

However, time spent outside the UK does make a difference to applications for British citizenship. If you apply to be naturalised as the husband, wife or civil partner of a British citizen, you must show that you have been living in the UK for the last three years (the 'residential qualifying period'), and that you have spent no more than 270 days outside the UK during those three years. Also, you must have spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months of the three-year period. (We have discretion to allow absences above the normal limits in some circumstances.) There are different requirements if you want to be naturalised and you are not a husband, wife or civil partner, but there is still a limit on the amount of time you can spend outside the UK.

----

Just to add to this- the three years they are referring to doesn't necessarily need to be the first 3 years your spouse is in the UK.  I.e, in our case, we could always apply for this (if he is interested that is) 4 years after he arrives in the UK so that it doesn't count our 7 month travels as part of the 270 days.

Home Office than gave me details of an independent Advisory Service - www.iasuk.org and advised my partner to speak with the British Embassy in his home country. 

Thanks again for all your help and advise on the matter.  We still haven't made a decision as to whether to apply now or after our travels, but this forum will certainly assist in making an informed decision. 

Thanks :)

MrLookford and June A- thank you for taking the time to respond.  As you both seem to know quite a lot about immigration, I would like to ask you both:

What would you do in my case?  Would you:

A) Higher Risk, Faster Outcomes:

- Apply for the Spouse Visa prior to travels as you are pretty confident there will be no problems in the ILR being granted, but also keeping in mind that you can potentially be a further GBP1075 out of pocket (please note, we are not made of money, nor are we struggling to feed ourselves.  We could budget for this problem… it’s more of the stress of him having to leave that concerns me).

Or Lower Risk, Slower Outcomes:

B) Apply for the Spouse Visa after travels and accept that the ILR will be pushed back further, and you could both potentially be waiting around in the US for up to 3 months, doing nothing whilst waiting for the visa to be issued!

THANKS AGAIN!

PS I do have some questions about the benefits of becoming a British Citizenship and dual nationality but I will open a new discussion for this.

Hi Vergine,

Re your conversation with the Home Office:

1. Agreed. There is nothing in the requirements for ILR on a spouse visa that says you have to be in the UK for the duration of the 24/27 months granted. To reassure yourself, look at your own link to the info you posted on time spent outside the UK.

2. Your husband shouldn’t encounter any problems in returning with you. I’d be very surprised if that happens.

3. It shouldn’t be down to the caseworker’s discretion because the rules for ILR do not specify that you need to be in the UK. Seems the Home Office are contradicting themselves in their own response to question 1.

“Oh, yes - of course apply for FLR(M) unnecessarily and give us even more money, Mrs Enquirer”.

4. If the ILR application is rejected it shouldn’t be on the grounds of absence. Unless things change, you would have at the very least grounds for appeal under the Humans Rights Act, Article 8 (Right to Family Life).

Not sure what they are telling you here. Provided that your husband submits his application in time, under section 3c of the 1971 Immigration Act he would retain his rights until a decision is made.

This means it doesn’t matter if the visa expires while it’s in the Home Office; he can still work, study, or whatever he was allowed to do under the visa. Should they refuse his ILR application the right of appeal would kick in, extending his rights until a decision was made. He would not have to leave the UK during this time.

5. Nothing like pushing the envelope . At least now you know.

If you’re worried you could play it safe by waiting 4 years. But you don’t actually need to wait a full 7 months more before applying for naturalization. Just make sure that your husband doesn’t average more than 270 days outside the UK in the 3 year period that he does apply, and no more than 90 days in the last 12 months of that period.

(Unfortunately most applicants do tend rush their citizenship application, focus on the absences and completely overlook the qualifying residential period. Two entirely different issues….)

In relation to your questions about Option A and Option B, I’m wondering if the Home Office’s response has confused you.

To clarify, the whole process for your husband should be as follows:

1. Apply for spousal visa from US.

2. If successful enter UK on 27 months spousal visa.

3. Leave the UK for extended 7month honeymoon.

4. Re-enter UK and apply for ILR before spousal visa expires.

5. All visa rights retained until a decision (hopefully settlement) is made.

6. Apply for naturalization when appropriate.

Hope that clarifies things for you. Although I'd still concentrate on getting that spouse visa first...

Hi all!

My husband (US citizen) and I (UK citizen) have been legally wed since our civil ceremony in Feb 2009.   My husband is looking to apply for his UK spouse visa this month, with the hope that he can join me here in September 2010. 

Here is where it get's complicated...

We are currently preparing for our catholic wedding ceremony abroad this coming Jan 2011 and planning to go travelling as part of our "extended honeymoon" straight after, which means we may potentially be out of the UK for 7 months in one go. 

My questions are:

1.  What is the maximum amount of time my husband can be out of the country under a UK spouse visa? Is there a limit? 

- I have contacted several agencies including Home Office and I still don't have a clear answer.  Does anyone know where I can find the answer?  Preferably referencing a policy or immigration law?  The best answer I can find so far is at this website: http://firstmigration.com/visas/uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain-ilr

2. Will we encounter any problems with Passport Control / Immigration Officers when re-entering the UK, after our travels?

- My husband and I will be travelling and returning together.  We do not have intentions to return to his home country and we hope to come back to the UK following our travels, to work and settle.

3.  Will the potential 7 months travel affect our ILR application?

- Please also note that my husband will more than likely visit his family in the US, potentially for 2 weeks or so?  And we have a wedding to attend in Mexico in December 2011, again for 2 weeks.

4.  If our ILR application is denied, can we appeal?  Will he be deported?  Can he re-apply for his visa?  In other words, what happens??

Our plan right now is for my husband to apply for the spouse visa now, husband comes over in Sept 10, we leave for our catholic wedding abroad at the end of Nov 10, travel Jan 11 to June 11 (max).  One may argue that my husband should look to apply for his spouse visa AFTER our travels, but I would ideally like to avoid this options because

a, I don't want to have to separate again after our catholic wedding- we've had enough of being apart! 

b, We don't want to have to wait around in the US for 3+ months whilst the visa is being processed.

But this does lead me onto my last question:

5.  Can my husband apply for the UK spouse visa, when he is in the UK?

Sorry it's super long...I hope someone out there is able to help???

Thanks very much in advance :)