Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) question

I am an American who has been married to a UK citizen for more than 4 years, and we've been living in the US the entire time. Now we're planning on moving to the UK.

I had heard that because we have been married for more than 4 years I qualify to apply for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE) immediately, skipping the 2-year probationary period. I have looked and looked for information about how to apply for ILE, but it seems that at every turn a "spouse visa" is interpreted as the probationary 2-year visa rather than ILE.

Where can I find information about ILE and how to apply for it? What form do I need to use? If anyone has been through this process I would love to hear from you.

Thank you!

1. You won't find anything mentioning ILE specfically on most sites, as it is a concession (not built into the immigration rules.)  If you were expecting to get the concession, you'd just apply for a normal spouse visa and ILE would be granted automatically once the ECO's saw how long you've been married.

HOWEVER....

2.  The ILE concession for long-term partners is being eliminated, as of 2 April 2007 (rule change was announced about a month and a half ago.)  If your visa application is processed after April 2, then you will not get ILE and will get the regular 2-year spousal visa, regardless of how long you've been married/living together.  So depending on when you're planning to move, you might not even have to worry about it.

The programme you refer to has been scheduled to become obsolete on 2 April 2007.  After that date, all spouses will need to undergo a probationary period regardless of the time they have been married.

ILPA and the JCWI are making a last-ditch emotive appeal to defer this date until the full impact can be assessed.  If it fails, we have to take it to Lords and that could take a good long while.

So for your purposes, unless you can complete the application so that it can be issued prior to 2 April, then the opportunity to receive ILE is gone.

In either case, you would submit a VAF2 form.

Sorry Andz, posted simultaneously...

Picky Vicky...

..it's not a concession, it is in the rules....

Good luck with the lobbying, Garry.

Vicky

Thank you for the information. This is bad - I was hoping to be able to skip the probationary period because it means less paperwork, less hassle, less money, and citizenship sooner.

As I understand it, the clock starts ticking for the ability to apply for UK citizenship when ILR or ILE is granted, not when a spouse visa is granted - so this rule change means that instead of being eligible to apply for citizenship in summer 2010 I won't be able to apply until 2012 - is that correct?

So the real question is: Supposing that I apply before 2 April 2007 and ILE is granted, how long can I stay here in the US before I actually have to move to the UK? Is it the usual 28 days or do I have a longer period to work with?

You've got it rather jumbled up I'm afraid.

There are no short-cuts to citizenship, it requires 3 years residence on UK soil and it's been like that for a long time. 

The clock starts ticking on your start date, which is any date you actually are domiciled in the UK (note I said 'domiciled', not necessarily resident).  If you have no bookable time in the UK, your start date is your arrival date as a spouse.

I didn't think that the 3-year waiting period for citizenship started if you had LLE - thanks for clearing that up.

Does anyone know about my other question?: Supposing that I apply before 2 April 2007 and ILE is granted, how long can I stay here in the US before I actually have to move to the UK? Is it the usual 28 days or do I have a longer period to work with?

Many thanks!
CS

Good luck with the lobbying, Garry.

What really bugs me is that the people affected by this are spouses who are overseas.  And because they are overseas they are not around to defend themselves against a change which makes absolutely no sense.

And because nobody is here looking after their interests, they are going to get stuffed.  How British is that?  

What really bugs me is that the people affected by this are spouses who are overseas.  And because they are overseas they are not around to defend themselves against a change which makes absolutely no sense.

And because nobody is here looking after their interests, they are going to get stuffed.  How British is that? 

Can I just say, YEAH FOR THE WELSH! As they will tell you, there IS a difference.

Does anyone know about my other question?: Supposing that I apply before 2 April 2007 and ILE is granted, how long can I stay here in the US before I actually have to move to the UK? Is it the usual 28 days or do I have a longer period to work with?

You have two years from the issue date to use an ILE to enter the UK.   If your passport expires before two years from the issue date, then you have until the expiry of your passport.

I feel your pain CS.

Additionally we are not ready to file yet, irrespective of when we move, so we will have to try and file mid march and hope to be dealt with prior to April 2nd.

We are in a very similar boat, in our case married for just under 7 years and have resided in the US all that time.

Good luck

Mick

If I have 2 years after being granted ILE to actually enter the UK, how does that effect what type of evidence I need to provide in my application?

For instance, for my application do I have to have a specific entry date/have airline tickets booked? Do I have to demonstrate an appropriate amount of savings in my account NOW? Job prospects NOW? etc.... Is there any reason why I shouldn't or can't apply in March for ILE but not actually move until August or September? That route seems to make most sense, considering that it would save not only hassle but 500 pounds in 2 years' time (for the ILR application in the UK), but I wonder if my application would be denied based on the lack of solid travel plans right now. Anyone have any thoughts on this dilemma?

The application for ILE for long term spouses is exactly the same thing as the regular spousal visa application, so I strongly suspect that accommodation arrangements and finances would need to be in order at the time of application (even though you're not planning to move right away.)  You don't need to have airline tickets booked though (in fact it's advised not to get them until after the visa is granted) and if you have enough savings, you don't necessarily need a firm job offer.

Actually, there is a small difference in the application.  If you are going for ILE you have to provide evidence that you have been living together for the last four years.

You will need to show at the time of application that accommodation and finances etc will be in place at the time you wish to enter, so if you apply in March to enter in June then you can show an agreement showing an apartment available in June.


Vicky

Once ILE is granted, is the visa holder grandfathered from all of the new Life in the UK tests (until they apply for naturalisation)?