ILR returning to UK after 2 years

Hi, I was looking for some advice/shared experiences. I am UK citizen and my husband is American with ILR in UK. We moved to the USA 2 years ago I have a greencard. We have a daughter with dual citizenship. I have been offered a funded doctorate at a University in the UK and we want to return this August. Which means we will be just over the 2 year period, although we did return to the UK for a family visit at Christmas for 2 weeks. I am confused about the new laws. It seems many people have been unsuccessful when applying for 'Returning Resident status' and wondering if we need to do anything, or if the ILR will still be valid.
 Thanks so much

I've been on this board for over 5 years and I have never seen a returning resident visa issued.  There have been people with much better arguments than yours.

Get him back to the UK before the two years expires or he will have to go through the entire thing again. 

As stated in your other thread, a new spousal visa is probably the way to go.  Returning resident application will be a waste of money.

If he was stamped in as a visitor on the 2-week Christmas visit, then the ILR is down the tubes anyway. I applied as a returning resident and was refused. I had been away for over 2 years, but the kicker was not being resident the last time I left the UK.

Check the stamp in the passport first, but from experience once the 2 year mark has passed, it's pretty impossible to get the returning resident visa.

Thanks - so I guess its starting from scratch. Will having a previous ILR affect the application for this? Will it be an ILR application if we are applying from over here in the States?

I have seen mention of 'new' guidelines, and am getting a little wary of messing up the application - are there any definitive links which may help?
Thanks so  much