Stuck outside UK on ILR

I have had ILR since 2010. In 2019, I visited the US and my family for Christmas. I had a return flight for 2 Jan 2020. The night before I was due to return, my daughter was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. I cancelled my flight in order to be here with her. Then Covid hit! Flights were restricted, isolation and quarantine  times required. With my daughters health so fragile, I have felt that it is too dangerous for me to expose myself unnecessarily and risk exposing her as well. I have been here just over a year now.
I know that if I am out of the UK for 2 years, I will loose my visa.
If I can manage to fly back this summer, can anyone tell me how long I need to be back in the UK in order to reset the 2 years? Can I come for a short while or do I have to actually be there long term before I can leave for up to 2 years again?

I have had ILR since 2010. In 2019, I visited the US and my family for Christmas. I had a return flight for 2 Jan 2020. The night before I was due to return, my daughter was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer. I cancelled my flight in order to be here with her. Then Covid hit! Flights were restricted, isolation and quarantine  times required. With my daughters health so fragile, I have felt that it is too dangerous for me to expose myself unnecessarily and risk exposing her as well. I have been here just over a year now.
I know that if I am out of the UK for 2 years, I will loose my visa.
If I can manage to fly back this summer, can anyone tell me how long I need to be back in the UK in order to reset the 2 years? Can I come for a short while or do I have to actually be there long term before I can leave for up to 2 years again?

You need to reestablish permanent residence in the UK.  A visit won’t cut the mustard. 

So sorry to hear of your situation.

Circumstances like this are exactly why we always recommend obtaining citizenship at the first possible opportunity. There is just no way of knowing what life has in store for us.

I have established residence there. I have a place to live, a job, drivers license, bank accounts and indefinite leave to remain.
However, that all sits there waiting for it to be safe for me to travel back and forth as long as my daughter needs me.
What I need to know is how long can I come back for in order to retain my residence?

I had actually planned on applying for citizenship in 2020. I previously had too many days out of the country in order to apply so had to wait.
Like you said though, “ you never know what life throws your way”

I have established residence there. I have a place to live, a job, drivers license, bank accounts and indefinite leave to remain.
However, that all sits there waiting for it to be safe for me to travel back and forth as long as my daughter needs me.
What I need to know is how long can I come back for in order to retain my residence?

You have indefinite leave to REMAIN. That is the key word

To reestabliash yourself you would need not to spend more than 90 days outside of the U.K. in your first year back and no more than 270 days outside of the U.K. in the first three years back.

Otherwise you have to start again.

Sounds like the USA is your home now?  Are you not happy?  If you want to return, you MUST and stay. It’s hard. Big hugs!

The US is not my home now. I am only here to help my daughter through her chemo treatments and to transport her back and forth to hospital. My HOME is in the UK. If it wasn’t for Covid, I would simply travel back and forth.
Everything I own is still there. I came here for a two week holiday.
Most of what you wrote sounds like requirements for citizenship. I’m not looking for that at this time. I just want to be able to come back long enough to ensure the “two years outside of the UK” doesn’t happen.

There are guides on the internet about how various UK government departments / NHS determine ordinary residence in the UK.   In your situation, I would ask the Home Office and probably get legal advice as it is a complex issue.

The US is not my home now. I am only here to help my daughter through her chemo treatments and to transport her back and forth to hospital. My HOME is in the UK. If it wasn’t for Covid, I would simply travel back and forth.
Everything I own is still there. I came here for a two week holiday.
Most of what you wrote sounds like requirements for citizenship. I’m not looking for that at this time. I just want to be able to come back long enough to ensure the “two years outside of the UK” doesn’t happen.

Basically, when you return to the U.K., you need to be able to show that you are coming back to live here permanently, and that you are NOT just coming back long enough to ensure the 2 years outside the U.K. doesn’t happen.

Even though all your belongings are in the UK, the fact that you have been in the US since late 2019 means that you are not currently ‘living’ in the UK (you have, for all intents and purposes, been living in the US for the last year), so you need to be able to show that this is not just a quick trip back to make sure you maintain your residency, but that the U.K. is where you will be residing permanently, that you will be spending the majority of your time here from now on, and that you aren’t just going to return to the US again as soon as you can.

So, you should be able to show connections to the U.K. to prove you intend to reside here permanently from now on, such as:
- property ownership here
- a U.K. job/business.
- family members living in the U.K.
- any other commitments you must be here for


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The reason I put the dates for citizenship is because that’s what is considered to be an acceptable amount of time outside the U.K. for a U.K. resident.

My heart goes out to you.  But if you want to not have to start the visa process from scratch, you need to move back.

I understand that you feel the US isn’t home, but is IS where you live.

I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter.  My mom was diagnosed with late stage breast cancer earlier this year, and due to Covid I was never able to visit her at all.  Cancer is difficult enough without Covid making things more complicated.  Many many hugs.

With regards to the visa situation, unfortunately, repeated short visits are not sufficient to retain ILR status.  As has been mentioned, the key word is "remain" and the validity of the visa is dependent on continuing to live in the UK.  Having strong ties to the UK (such as property, bank accounts, and so on) and popping back once in a while are not sufficient to maintain ILR validity.  You may consider the UK your home, but you are currently not continuously residing in the UK - which is what the issue is.

I suspect a good general rule of thumb is similar to what we advise US visitors, but in reverse.  For however long you spend outside the UK, spend as long or longer back in the UK to demonstrate you are still actually living here. 

I'm sorry it's not better news; it's a horrible situation on all fronts during the best of times. 

I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter.  My mom was diagnosed with late stage breast cancer earlier this year, and due to Covid I was never able to visit her at all.  Cancer is difficult enough without Covid making things more complicated.  Many many hugs.

With regards to the visa situation, unfortunately, repeated short visits are not sufficient to retain ILR status.  As has been mentioned, the key word is "remain" and the validity of the visa is dependent on continuing to live in the UK.  Having strong ties to the UK (such as property, bank accounts, and so on) and popping back once in a while are not sufficient to maintain ILR validity.  You may consider the UK your home, but you are currently not continuously residing in the UK - which is what the issue is.

I suspect a good general rule of thumb is similar to what we advise US visitors, but in reverse.  For however long you spend outside the UK, spend as long or longer back in the UK to demonstrate you are still actually living here. 

I'm sorry it's not better news; it's a horrible situation on all fronts during the best of times. 

Aquila put it much more eloquently than me. 

The reality is the Home Office doesn’t have emotions.  They have boxes they have to tick.  You have to tick those boxes.