I wish to draw upon the collective knowledge & experience of this community to seek your opinions regarding the fastest route to getting ILR status for my spouse.
Here is her immigration/visa history in the UK:
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- Dependent (PBS Tier 4) first entry to the UK on September 29, 2014, and lived in the UK on this status until Dec 22, 2018 (60 days absence in total from Sep 29, 2014 - Dec 22, 2018)
- Switched to PBS Tier 4 student visa (made entry clearance application from outside the UK, got visa sticker on passport, and collected her current PBS Tier 4 BRP after landing in the UK). Visa valid from 12-Jan-2019 to 01-Mar-2023). (Total absence: for 462 days at a stretch in one single trip)
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Just before the pandemic began, around Jan 2020, my wife had a miscarriage, and she decided to travel to her home country, India with an original plan of spending 59 days outside the UK so as not to affect her immigration status. We possess the UK GP's sick note confirming this. She travelled out of India on Feb 5, 2020, and then suddenly the pandemic caused first set of lockdowns in both india and UK. India suspended all international flights until late July 2020 and started flying rescue missions. My wife didn't want to use them due to the unknown nature of the pandemic back then and the question of flying alone during uncertain times.
In the meantime, I was trying to return to India, but could not leave the UK, since my initial Global Talent Visa application was pending. I was informed by UKVI that leaving the UK means voluntarily aborting any pending immigration application. I finally got my GTV visa in September 2020, and managed to get a long leave arranged from Nov 2020. After spending couple of months in India, towards early 2021, the second wave caused disruptions and the UK putting India on red list etc.
We both managed to return to the UK on May 9, 2021, which implied that my wife had a single long break in continuous residence from Feb 05, 2020 through May 9, 2021, a total of 462 days!).
I am wondering what is the best option for applying for ILR for my wife?
Questions:
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I intend to get my ILR under super priority case around Sep 2022. (My GTV visa expires on 04 Sep 2023).
For the fastest ILR route for my wife:
- should I just let her continue her PBS Tier 4 student status until 01 March 2023, and then switch her to a family visa?
- Will switching to a family/spouse visa reset the settlement clock to zero on the date of switching?
- I wonder if her PBS Tier 4 visa can be counted towards that 5 years (in combination with GTV dependent)?
- If so, will the absence period be a problem?
- If she applies for GTV dependent for 5 years, will it continue to be valid after I switch to ILR? Can she travel into and out of the UK with that GTV dependent visa?