Entry clearance question

Hello. I am currently in the US and on Sept. 7th that will be my 2years out of the UK on my ILR visa. I saw on the Home Office UK Border Agency that if I want to go back after I have lived out of the UK for 2 years I must apply for permission to return, known as entry clearance.

Does anyone know anything about how this works? The cost and if it easy to do? Also once granted permission would I just be back on my ILR visa or would I have to apply for a new one?

Thank you so much.

On what basis were you originally granted your ILR?

Spouse visa. I lived there for 3 1/2 years and also had our daughter there. We moved back here a year and a half ago planning on settling here loser to my family. Unfortunately things haven't worked out as we had hoped.

So you have been married for > 4 years.  You would have to apply for Entry Clearence as a Spouse and you would receive a limited leave to enter the UK with a "KOL Endorsement Required" which means you will need to take your Life in the UK Exam prior to reapply for indefinate leave to remain in the UK again (if you so desired).  I forget the new rates, but we are talking at least £550 for the entry clearance and £850 for the new ILR.

Of course you could travel to the UK as a visitor, take your life in the UK exam and then submit that in the state for your entry clearance and you would receive an indefinate leave to enter (same as an ILR) and you only have the one application fee.  This is an important concession that our very own Garry and UK-Yankee worked to get available to folks.

If I am not wrong it is technically discretionary for the IO to invalidate the ILR upon re-entry after two years (at least that is what the letter I received with my ILR said that I "may" run into issues).  If you are just coming back for a visit, I wouldn't worry about it.  If you are coming back to settle, I would apply ahead of time.

The tough thing is that all the rules are changing and you could have in theory applied for your Citizenship after 3 years of living in the UK when you were here before and not had to hassle with all of this.  You may need to wait now 5 years or perform community service in order to be eligable for your Citizenship this time around.  *sigh*  Welcome back!

Thank you very much. I had a feeling things wouldn't be as straight forward as my family was hoping. That has cleared up everything.

I almost filed for citizenship, but then they raised the prices and we didn't know how much everything was going to cost to shop over to the US. Oh well.

I appreciate all your information.

But if you move back to the UK before September 2009, then you won't have to worry about any of the above stuff (entry clearance, Life in the UK test etc.) because your ILR will still be valid.

However, because you will have been out of the UK for almost 2 years, I believe you will still have to wait a further 3(?) years in order to be eligible for citizenship as you will have to fulfill the UK residency requirement again.

Thank you. It is just my family is a bit gutted that we are going to move back with the only little one in the family in a long time. They were trying to get me to stay a few more months so I could fly out with my husband and they could spend more time with us. Ah bless.

Thank you

Just a warning: My ILR expired (I was back in the US for more than 2 years) and I thought I could get a returning resident visa. The rules were not clear AT ALL, and I was denied. I ended up having to pay for the spousal visa on top of the denied one.

Please don't make the same mistake I did! 

That stinks. I am sorry. Did you manage to get everything sorted?

Did you manage to get everything sorted?

Um ... well yes, from an immigration point of view. But we're still in the US for the time being.

It's been a long, tedious back-and-forth nightmare - should we stay or should we go?  It's *so* much more difficult to pick up and move when you've got little ones, as you well know!

Kitson, the KOL req endorsement can only be put on once they have been living out of the UK for four years.

There is a returning resident visa, but it is getting increasingly hard and very picky.


Vicky

Kitson, the KOL req endorsement can only be put on once they have been living out of the UK for four years.

Ah, so they would likely be issued with an ILE straight away.  Another little tid-bit, learn something new everyday.  But they would need to have passed their Life in the UK to gain Citizenship though, right?

No, you've got it the wrong way round.  If they have been married for four years but one of those years was living in the UK then they would just be granted a two year spousal visa without the KOL req endorsement, as they wouldn't fulfull the "have been married and living together OUTSIDE OF THE UK" requirement.

Vicky

No, you've got it the wrong way round.  If they have been married for four years but one of those years was living in the UK then they would just be granted a two year spousal visa without the KOL req endorsement, as they wouldn't fulfull the "have been married and living together OUTSIDE OF THE UK" requirement.

Oh bugger! *slaps forhead* now I get it... I thought it was just for years of marriage, not four years of marriage outside of the UK... So Moneky Magic, ignore everything I said and just get yourself the normal LLE for a spouse.  You can try for the returning resident, but as Vicky says, that be difficult and as sevans found it they couldn't.

Thanks guys. So as I am understanding it, it is best for me to just get back to the UK before Sept. 7 and just keep my ILR then? Otherwise there is a lot of fuffing around. Like sevans said, when you have a little one it makes the final decision 50x harder to decide.  I have been asking to go back the UK since shortly after we got here and with all the palava with health care and the taxes we have had to pay for my UKC husband it has finally gotten to us. Now we have decided to go back, but the guilt is killing me leaving my grandma (she has raised me) and taking our 2 year old with us.