Hi, Robbie.

1. If the original visa was for 2 years as your spouse, then you can apply for ILR from the date she arrived in the UK. (Which means that if you got the visa and came straight over, you can apply for ILR; if you got the visa and waited a while before entering the UK, you may need to make up some time with Further Leave to Remain.) **However**, the loss of the original passport complicates things, obviously. I would strongly recommend you check with an immigration advisor about what you'll need to prove.

2. ILR is permanent life-long residence for as long as you remain in the UK. If you leave, she will have 2 years in which to return for settlement and if she does not within those two years, then you have to start all over. However, after 3 years, she can apply for citizenship, and that's permanent wherever in the world you are.

3. A Life in the UK test pass is now required for ILR.

4. Depending on where you are, you may have to book your Life in the UK test appointment a few weeks in advance. Plus, you'll have to have study time in order for her to pass. This website is an *excellent* free resource, and I passed the test easily, based on its study material. The test itself is in the neighbourhood of £40 last time I checked. The ILR application is £750 if you apply by post, £950 if you apply in person. You can send in an ILR application up to 28 days before the 2nd-year anniversary of your wife's arrival in the UK. If a case is straightforward, it usually only takes a couple or three weeks to process. But in your wife's case, it may take longer whilst enquiries are made about the lost passport. If it takes longer than her current visa will last, her stay in the UK will still be legal, provided she got the application in before her current visa runs out.

Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Will

Will, many thanks for your prompt and detailed answer. the next step then clearly is to get on the Life in the UK test and speak with an immigration advisor. are they employed by the home office or independant of government offices?

robbie.

http://www.ukresident.com/  and ask for Victoria, she herself is an immigration advisor and may be able to point you in the right direction.

good luck.

Hello,

Just signed in this site to prepare myself for the test and came accross your post. I am peruvian myself  and I have been in a similar situation ,  your wife should have insisted on getting a new passport from the Peruvian Consulate  or done the relevant paperwork - the Embassy does not deal with it. I recently got a new passport, it takes at least 2 months to get one because they send the applicant's picture on the internet and the new passports have the bearers photo printed in the sticker along with the relevant personal data but nowadays ALL of them come from Peru.

A new passport is not issued by the Consulate in London for security reasons. she may need to prove she had lost her passport, she will know what a denuncia policial is, attach her DNI , fill up a form and pay the consular fees. She can call the consulate and ask to talk to a lady called Luisa, she is realy pleasant and very helpful.

If her visa in the UK is about to expire and she has no passport, William's suggestion to call the Immigration Office is the best, however they will ask  her to get a passport anyway...

Good luck to both of you

Elizabeth

Good afternoon all, I'd like some advice on a soon to be submitted application. although to be honest, I'm not even sure what we should be applying for. (ILR?) My Peruvian wife's visa is about to expire, it was initially issued at the British embassy in Peru, however shortly after we arrived in the UK the passport was lost. A new one was supplied by the Peruvian embassy in London, and a new visa was issued by the home office. This visa will expire next April and we want to get the wheels rolling on the application. So the questions are thus;

1, what application do we need to make?

2, will it be final, or will we have more hoops to jump through in a few years again?

3, will she need to do the Life in the UK test? Or indeed any other tests?

4, how much and how long does all this take?

I appreciate these have most likely been asked ad nauseam, but I’m starting to get nervous about all of this, and I don’t want to run out of time.

Many thanks in advance.

robbie.