ILR granted for US hubby!

Last week his biometric card came through and he has ior under old rules application. It took 3 and a half months from when we applied. It says on the card that it's valid for ten years so do we have to apply all over again or just renew? Obviously we are happy and ten years is a long time, was just wondering.

Congratulations !

ILR is indefinite so the actual visa status does not need to be renewed... It's just that you have to update the photo and biometrics on the BRP card every 10 years, like you do with a driving licence.

However, if he applies for UK citizenship in that time, his ILR BRP will be cancelled anyway so he won't need to bother renewing it.


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Thanks Ksand24! Ok, that's cool, and I am thrilled he got it. Is the renewal cost a lot like the visa?

Is the renewal cost a lot like the visa?

Wouldn't it be better to go for UK citizenship, instead of renewing his ILR?

Yeah, with citizenship, he wouldn't ever need to worry about a UK visa again and would never need to renew the card.

But with only ILR, if he leaves the UK for more than 2 years he will lose his ILR status completely and will need to start from scratch again with spousal visas, meaning thousands of pounds in visa fees, tough financial requirements and at least 5 more years to gain back ILR.


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He can apply for citizenship as soon as he has been in the UK for 3 years in total as long as he meets the requirements.


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Hmmm ok, we may do that. Thanks to all on this forum who helped us through every stage of this whole process. Xx

Yeah, with citizenship, he wouldn't ever need to worry about a UK visa again and would never need to renew the card.

But with only ILR, if he leaves the UK for more than 2 years he will lose his ILR status completely and will need to start from scratch again with spousal visas, meaning thousands of pounds in visa fees, tough financial requirements and at least 5 more years to gain back ILR.


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I'm a US citizen and will be moving to UK soon. But me and my hubby only planned on staying in the UK for 5yrs max. He just got a job promotion and would want to have some experience so it'll look good on his CV once we moved to the U.S. we planned on visiting the UK at least once a year after that. Will I lose my ILR because I don't live in UK? Or as long as I come back at least once every 2 years, will I be able to keep it? With US green cards, you can't stay out of the country no longer than 6 months or risk abandoning the Permanent Resident status. So basicly, I'm wondering if it's a different case in the UK.

But me and my hubby only planned on staying in the UK for 5yrs max. He just got a job promotion and would want to have some experience so it'll look good on his CV once we moved to the U.S. we planned on visiting the UK at least once a year after that. Will I lose my ILR because I don't live in UK? Or as long as I come back at least once every 2 years, will I be able to keep it? With US green cards, you can't stay out of the country no longer than 6 months or risk abandoning the Permanent Resident status. So basicly, I'm wondering if it's a different case in the UK.

Just visiting will not count I'm afraid.  If you have ILR and leave the UK to live elsewhere, visiting the UK at regular intervals will not allow you to keep it.  You will lose it after 2 years of living outside the UK, and if you wanted to return, you would need to begin anew with whatever rules are in place at the time.  As the UK citizenship rules stand now, the nice thing is that once you get ILR in 5 years, you can immediately apply for citizenship.  Under the old rules, you needed 3 years UK residency and ILR to apply for citizenship.  Since spouse visas were issued for 2 years, most applicants would need to wait a year after getting ILR to accumulate the 3 years UK residency.  But since it now takes 5 years to get ILR, you could apply for UK citizenship immediately without additional waiting.

With US green cards, you can't stay out of the country no longer than 6 months or risk abandoning the Permanent Resident status.

I'm not sure if this will affect your husband (if he's currently on a green card) but just in case he'll be travelling back and forth with you, you might want to be careful when dealing with US immigration control... I'm not 100% but I think even if you're gone for less than 6 months, if someone tells them they were living in another country, they might have an issue with that.

http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/maintaining-permanent-residence

I'm not sure if this will affect your husband (if he's currently on a green card) but just in case he'll be travelling back and forth with you, you might want to be careful when dealing with US immigration control... I'm not 100% but I think even if you're gone for less than 6 months, if someone tells them they were living in another country, they might have an issue with that.

http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/after-green-card-granted/maintaining-permanent-residence

oh no, he's a British citizen. But obviously, once we move back to the U.S. He'll be a green card holder. We'll only be in the UK for 2 weeks at a time whenever we visit.

Just visiting will not count I'm afraid.  If you have ILR and leave the UK to live elsewhere, visiting the UK at regular intervals will not allow you to keep it.  You will lose it after 2 years of living outside the UK, and if you wanted to return, you would need to begin anew with whatever rules are in place at the time.  As the UK citizenship rules stand now, the nice thing is that once you get ILR in 5 years, you can immediately apply for citizenship.  Under the old rules, you needed 3 years UK residency and ILR to apply for citizenship.  Since spouse visas were issued for 2 years, most applicants would need to wait a year after getting ILR to accumulate the 3 years UK residency.  But since it now takes 5 years to get ILR, you could apply for UK citizenship immediately without additional waiting.

A good to know. I don't think I'll relinquish my US citizen for a UK unless we're dead certain that we want to retire to the UK. We're still fairly young so we just have so much plans in the future and I want to know how all it'll work out. Guess there's no escaping the hassle of applying and paying the fee. If only US becomes part of the EU lol (wishful thinking)

We'll only be in the UK for 2 weeks at a time whenever we visit.
 A good to know.

Just be careful, because if you are stamped in as a visitor, your ILR could become invalid and then if you wanted to move back to the UK, you would have to start all over again with a spousal visa.

If you're planning to stay in the UK for the full 5 years, I would strongly advise to apply for citizenship as soon as you can.

It's 5 years to ILR and then you can apply for citizenship immediately after you get ILR. If you do that, you won't have to worry about visas ever again - you can leave the UK as often as you like, you can live in the UK at any time you want for the rest of your life and you can live and work in any EU country (as long as the UK stays in the EU).

I don't think I'll relinquish my US citizen for a UK unless we're dead certain that we want to retire to the UK.

No need to relinquish your US citizenship at all - you can become a UK citizen without losing your US citizenship... you just end up holding dual citizenship.

The only thing is that the US 'does not recognise' dual citizenship, which means that to them you are a US citizen and a US citizen only - they will pretend that your UK citizenship does not exist... which just means you can only enter and leave the US on your US passport, because as a US citizen, it's illegal to enter the US on a foreign passport.

The only way to lose your US citizenship is if you formally renounce it in front of a US government official... and it now costs $2,350 to do it (it just increased from $450)!