ILE/ILR?

Just got my Spousal Visa back from the Consulate in New York with an entry clearance marked "Indefinite leave to enter the U.K".......valid for ten years. I take it that this is the same as Indefinite Leave to Remain? I take it that I was granted this because my wife and I have been married for over 4 years? BTW...I must have just got in under the $455 wire, cause I see the fee is now $495......wow how things change from year to year

ILE is granted before entering the UK

ILR is granted from within the UK

So, yup, they're about the same thing.

Although I don't understand why there's an expiry on your ILE?

New rules?

I've e-mailed the UK Visa website and asked them.  We'll see what they say!

OK.....got it sorted finally .....What I was issued was a Settlement Visa. I've got 10 years to implement it. Weird......U.S Immigration should be this easy.

Thanks for that Peedal.........we'll see if its the same thing that I was told.......fingers crossed

Question Celtic..how long do you have to actually enter the country?

Or does it matter? and how long do you have to be married before you get the ILR/ILE for that long?
and
and and..

Pam all this stuff has changed so much in the last twenty years that it's a little confusing at times. What I was issued was a Settlement Visa, last time I did this it was'nt for Spousal Settlement so it's all kinda new to me. This is what I got from the Home Office website:
2.5. Granting leave to enter  
.
All passengers who have an entry clearance endorsed "Husband" or "Wife/WYR" should be granted leave to enter for 2 years on Code 1 and advised that, provided the marriage is still subsisting, they should apply to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate for indefinite leave to remain not earlier than one month before their leave is due to expire.  

Only spouses who have completed a period of 4 years as the husband/wife of a person who has a right of abode in the United Kingdom or indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom and who is on the same occasion seeking admission to the United Kingdom for the purposes of settlement, having lived together abroad with their spouse throughout that 4 year period should be issued with an entry clearance endorsed "settlement".  These endorsements are rare.

Spouses in possession of an entry clearance endorsed "settlement" should be granted indefinite leave to enter

So from what I can gather is if you've been married to a U.K citizen for 4 or more years and living in the States and then both decide to return to the U.K for settlement then you bypass all the FLR/ILR procedures and enter on a Settlement Visa with automatic ILR with no restrictions, although they claim that this is rare, but that seems to be exactly what I got. Some are issued with various restrictions such as "No Recourse to Public Funds", etc.
Maybe they take into account your financial situation and other variables taken off the 16 page application...to be honest, I do'nt know. I do know that years ago you needed to implement any visa you got within 90 days from the date of issuance but this one says "Indefinite Leave to enter the U.K" and is good until 2014. Like I said, this is the first Spousal Settlement Visa I've ever been issued. I've had two others, one issued by the miltary which allowed me to go back and forth and another was a family sponsorship visa because my oldest natural daughter is a U.K citizen but that was over twenty years ago and they've changed probably a hundred times since then, so in a way, this is all new to me.

OK.....got it sorted finally .....What I was issued was a Settlement Visa. I've got 10 years to implement it. Weird......U.S Immigration should be this easy.

Thanks for that Peedal.........we'll see if its the same thing that I was told.......fingers crossed

That makes sense.  No response yet, but I'll let you know.

Thanks John you are a doll.   Guess I will have to wait as we will be just a few months short of four years if we go....grumble grumble....  Hopefully though they will let me speed up the whole thing a bit.... I want my dual citizenship!

Okay - here was my question:

I am just curious as to why someone would be granted an Indefinite Leave to Enter (based on Marriage longer than 4 years to a UK Citizen) with an expiry of 10 years?  It was my understanding that the Indefinite Leave to Remain would be just that, indefinite, with no expiry.  So why does the relative equavalent visa/entry clearance have an expiry?

Thank you

And here is my "answer":

Thank you for your enquiry.

Before I can proceed further, I need the following information:

-  Full name of the visa applicant:
-  Date of birth of applicant:
-  Nationality:
-  Where applied for the visa:
-  Any reference number given by the Visa Section:

I will then arrange for enquiries to be made.

Please attach this exchange of messages to your reply for ease of
reference.

Sent by:
Public Enquiries (I), UKvisas, London SW1A 2AH
Telephone: 020 7008 8438 (Voicemail) (UK only)
Web-site: www.ukvisas.gov.uk


 

When we moved here in August , We applied for our visas in person in NY. I was given an entry clearence visa and had to apply for my FLR within 6 months, My son however was given an indefinate leave to enter with an expiration of 2013, they said it was because his father is british. When we went to get my FLR the immigration officer said she could'nt understand why they gave him 10 yrs. She also said that the home office changes things so often now that they don't always know what's right or wrong.She said we may have a problem when entering next time but she didn't offer any solution and just said"well if theres a problem you'll find out"Lotta good that does us.

It's all clear as mud, eh?  

When we moved here in August , We applied for our visas in person in NY. I was given an entry clearence visa and had to apply for my FLR within 6 months, My son however was given an indefinate leave to enter with an expiration of 2013, they said it was because his father is british. When we went to get my FLR the immigration officer said she could'nt understand why they gave him 10 yrs. She also said that the home office changes things so often now that they don't always know what's right or wrong.She said we may have a problem when entering next time but she didn't offer any solution and just said"well if theres a problem you'll find out"Lotta good that does us.

If his father is British they should have told him to get a UK Passport, not given him a visa! He is British!

He was born in the US and thats where we've lived up until now, We're looking into getting his UK passport now, I think we have to register him first, or somthing like that. I'm getting sick of paperwork and red tape!

Ok...well at least the mystery in my situation has been clarified by the British Consulate in New York via telephone this morning. IF you're married for 4 years or longer and residing outside the U.K and applying for an Entry Clearance based on Spousal Settlement they MAY in their discretion issue the visa for 10 years if you are seeking settlement at the same time as your British spouse who has Right of Abode(which is what I received). Prior to the expiration date you must file for ILR. There is NO timeframe in which one must use the visa or initiate it, Indefinite Leave To Enter is good for the entire 10 years and is good for multiple entries. The rules are applied differently however if the parties have been married for less than 4 years and the visa was applied for here in the States or 2 years in the U.K, thus the requirement for applying for ILR prior to the expiration date of those visas. Once I eventually do enter the U.K permanently my passport will be stamped with ILE by Immigration.

P.S....the lovely and patient woman at the Consulate did however remind me that if I left the U.K for 2 years or longer all bets were off and I'd have to reapply all over again.