Travel and absences when on spouse visa

[rani22]

hi my husband has been in the uk for a year now on spouse visa and we wish to go to bangladesh to visit his parents so we were wondering if someone is able to asnwer some questions pls. first off all i would like to know is it possible for him to travel on spouse visa and if so does he need to get any permission or anything from uk home office before booking ticket etc? also how long can he stay and will it effect his application for indefinite leave to remain? also i will be going there first and he will join me later so we can come back together,will that be a problem?

thankyou

[geriatrix]

Yes.
No.
See also Time spent outside the UK.
No.

[rani22]

thankyou for replying but I just wanted to clarify are you sure no permission is needed from UK home office etc because I was told by an immigration advisor that he will need permission.?? very confused.

[harv]

Well to make things clearer:

- Your husband has a valid UK VISA (Spouse VISA is a valid UK VISA)
- Your husband has Bangladeshi Passport (I would assume), so no VISA required to go back to Bangladesh for a visit

As long as your husband comes back to the UK before his VISA expires, there is no need to ask for permission from the Home Office of any such travels to his home country. I would imagine he would ask for your persmission though

[rani22]

thankyou so much.

[rani22]

Hi I need to just check one last thing please can some one help. I have read the 'time spent outside of uk' section but I am not able to understand it. It says the 90days rule applies to the last 12mnths of the 3years so how long can someone stay outside of u.k in the two years of spouse visa before applying for ILR?

[rani22]

Hi I need to just check one last thing please can some one help. I have read the 'time spent outside of uk' section but I am not able to understand it. It says the 90days rule applies to the last 12mnths of the 3years so how long can someone stay outside of u.k in the two years of spouse visa before applying for ILR?

[Isaac01]

My understanding is.
You can only be absent from the UK in the past 3 years by 270 days.
However in the past year you can only be absent for 90 days.
If you detail your husband's absences further someone may be able to help.

[rani22]

My husband will b going to Bangladesh on the 10th march and we r looking to stay for a month or two month's depending on how long he can stay. Hes two year spouse visa will expire on November 2013.

[Isaac01]

What other absences has he had in the past 3 years?

[rani22]

He has not had any other absences in the past. Also he has not been in u.k for 3 years it has only been 1 full year and going to b 2 years this year in November.

[Isaac01]

Your Husband will be unable to apply for ILR come this December because he has not spent 3 years in the UK.
If he wants to apply for ILR he will need to extend his spouse visa and then in Nov 14 apply for ILR.
So in regard to absences 1-2 months now will not affect his ILR application in Nov 14

That is my understanding of it, I would double check this to make sure tho.

[CR001]

The absence should not cause a problem for ILR in November 2013. You are quoting the absence requirements for naturalisation as BC.

Isaac01 - you are incorrect that the spouse needs to spend 3 years to qualify for ILR. Spouse only needs 2 years residence based on the old rules, then ILR can be applied for.

3 years again, is relevant to citizenship application as spouse of BC, per the link that Sushdmehta has already provided :

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 3 years (the 'residential qualifying period'), and that you have spent no more than 270 days outside the UK during those 3 years. Also, you must have spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months of the 3-year period. (We have discretion to allow absences above the normal limits in some circumstances.)

[Isaac01]

Sorry, yes upon looking further I got confused between BC and ILR. My apologies.

[rani22]

Hi first off all I would like to say thankyou to everyone who has helped me regarding the matter I posted before. It has helped me so much. And now that me and my husband are back from holiday (came back in may 10th 2013) I need some more help regarding ILR. my husbands 2years spouse visa comes to an end on the 14th November 2013 but he has been out of the country for 2 months which means he has not spent 2full years in u.k. does that mean we cant apply for his ILR In November? If thats the case what do we have to do? Or can he apply?

Very confused

[Casa]

No problem, he can apply. The 2 months absence definitely won't affect the qualification of his residency. He can submit his SET(M) application 28 days before the 2nd anniversary of the date he arrived here on his spouse visa. If you're unsure, post the date of arrival and either myself or one of the other members will calculate it for you.

[rani22]

Brilliant. Thankyou for your help. But I would also like to tell you that I went on holiday before my husband did so that means we were apart from each other for that time. He joined me in Bangladesh 1month and 15days later. So will that effect the application? Also he came to the u.k on 14th November 2011.

[Casa]

Relax, it really doesn't matter...it's not relevant. Your husband can submit his application at the earliest 18th October this year or any time from then before the visa expiry date.

[vinny]

Hi all. Im looking at getting things ready to apply for my husbands ILR application but there is one thing im not sure about. Can someone help please. Does he need to complete an esol course or something similar before we apply. Hr came to u.k on 14th November 2011 and I know we can apply sometime around October this year as his visa runs out in November 2013.

Thanks in advance

[vinny]

See also KOL and Statement of intent outlines new requirements for settlement and naturalisation.

[rani22]

Thankyou I have found out that he needs to complete an esol course or life in uk test. But looking at the uk home office website I can not find anything that tells me what documents we need to provide except that he needs to do esol/life in uk. Please can someone tell me the documents needed or give me link to where I can find them.

Thanks