Time in UK to qualify for ILR

**yorkie** · 16th October 2010

Hi, My wife arrived in the UK in March on her spouse visa, however now I have been offered a relatively well paid job in Vietnam and we are thinking of jumping ship to there for what will end up being about 10 months of the year. I had read before something along the lines that my wife could only be outside of the UK for something like 90 days over the 2 year period to qualify for her ILR so I wasnt sure initially whether to go ahead with the Vietnam job, however I made a call to border agency to check and they directed me on to another department who in turn advised me that there is no qualifying period that my wife would need to remain in the UK provided that if we are spending a large amount of time outside of the UK we are doing so together and could prove we were living together whether in the UK or abroad.

That struck me as a bit odd, I know working for the government myself that some staff just give out whatever information gets the other person off the phone the quickest. Can anyone verify if that is correct? The call also did raise the question of proving she's been residing with me thus far, we've struggled to even be able to open a bank account for her so far she's been turned down a few times due to having no credit history in the UK, I'm not sure what they would consider proof...presumably just post addressed to her isnt going to be enough.

**sars_notd_virus** · 16th October 2010

I think the time needed to gain ILR is 2years,she is entitled to take some holidays and travel on business trips but try not to leave the UK for longer than a month a year ,but this amount of time excludes business trips where u have a letter from your employer) and not more than 3months for a single trip.

**rusty** · 16th October 2010

Although there does not seem to be any details of residential requirements before you apply for ILR, after you have ILR and later apply for citizenship it states that you need to :-

have not spent more than 270 days outside the United Kingdom during the three-year period; and
have not spend more than 90 days outside the United Kingdom in the last 12 months of the three-year period

**joebloggs** · 16th October 2010

yes there is no exact number of days you need to be in the uk to qualify for ILR as a spouse (unlike other types of visas) but remember the UK is suppose to be her home

and its at the discretion of the case worker if you've been outside the UK for a long period whether to grant you ILR.

but if you have a good reason , as you said your job is outside the UK and your wife joins you then her chances of getting should increase if she had been outside the UK holidaying

when it is your wives time to apply for ILR, if the case worker is not happy your wife has spent 10 months outside the UK, they might tell her to apply for FLR instead

but yes i've heard of a few people who have been granted ILR while been out of the UK for long periods.

evidence supply your contract of employment, air tickets stubs, bills in Vietnam, pics etc to show you both were together,,