Dear all,
I hold a spouse visa / leave to remain valid for 2 years, which runs out in July , so in a month time.
My husband who is British and I have been together for many years, out of which we have been married for more than two. I was residing on a work permit in the UK for more than three years, following which I switched to spouse visa from inside the UK in July 2011 (which allowed me to change my job).
Since then, I have been working as a consultant, going often on missions, but we have kept the same residence, I have always returned to him from missions, and when my missions were long he joined me on them.
In february 2013, my mum who lives in my country of origin was diagnosed with metastatic cancer, and at first the diagnosis was very grim, that she had weeks to live and not treatment was possible. I felt I needed to be there, whatever the cost. So I started going back home for a few weeks, and then returning to the UK to my husband. In May 2013, a consultancy I was doing got renewed for a almost a year, allowing me to retain my home base, which at the time was the UK. I was now travelling on mission, coming back home to the UK, and in between trying to squeeze a short trip to see my mum who started treatment. Things soon became unmanageable and so my (very supportive) husband suggested we go to my home country and stay there for a period of time, until either my mom got better or we knew what things looked like, this way I go on mission and come back to one destination instead of two.
So in July 2012, we moved to my home country together, rented a place there, and I continued to travel for my work while he worked as a freelancer. We kept an address at his parents' house in the UK, so we can return at any point, and so we continued to have a residence while out of the country. We had no idea at the time of what would happen, but had to make a decision and see what happens.
In december 2012, we found out I was pregnant. We since started considering our return to the UK, trying to time it with my mum's recovery (she has been responding to treatment), because we would like our child, who in any case will be born British, to get the best life possible and have a good education and access to everything. We returned to the UK in May.
I am due in July , and my visa expires in July also.
I am faced with two options: either applying for a FLR(M) and trying to renew my visa for another two years, or applying directly for the ILR.
I have been reading a lot about it, and there seems to be no straight forward answer as to whether my absence (specifically 10 months I have spent outside the UK between July 2012 and May 2013) will make it impossible for me to obtain the ILR.
I personally am tempted to still apply (maybe my sense of fairness rather than pragmatism) because:
- my husband and I have been together for a long time,
-I had family circumstances that made us leave the country, and we always in mind it was temporary and kept an address to return to
-we are now expecting a child who will be british and whom we want to raise here
-I lived in the UK as a tax payer since 2008 and for more than three years before we got married
- we remained together and living in one address during our period of absence from the UK
- we have sufficient funds to support ourselves without needing any public funds
- We are now back so our child is born here and in order to live here and together permanently.
Having said all of this, I have no idea of whether that is my own perception of things or whether these are enough grounds indeed for me to obtain the ILR. Of course, I could always try to apply for both the ILR and the FLR(M) at the same time , but that raises the costs. On another hand, I don't want to pay the fee of the ILR if it is a desperate cause (it is over 1000 GBP).
I would like someone's advice as to whether:
a. the time I have spent abroad would not stop me qualifying for the ILR?
(I know for the naturalisation I would have to wait longer, but that is not a problem since we are back and intend to stay here)
b. Whether you think I should start with the ILR, or whether it is possible to apply for the ILR and FLR(M) at the same time, or other options I have not thought of?
c. Should I apply for the ILR and if rejected, would I need to appeal or try the FLR(M) instead? What if my expiry date for being in the UK passed meanwhile?
The risk is that if the baby is very young and I have to leave the UK quickly, it will be a logistic nightmare and risk for the baby as it will have to come with me.
c. I have all the supporting documentation that shows my mom's illness, her treatment, and improvement, going from how hopeless we were in the beginning to where she stands today; whether immigration would use its discretion and take our circumstances into consideration.
Sorry for the long post, tried to explain our circumstances as much as possible.
Thank you all!
L
