Timeline after Spousal visa and absences abroad

I'd be very grateful for some help.

I'm a British citizen and married my partner in the US last December. She intends applying  for a spousal visa later this year.

My query concerns the timeline after entry on a spousal visa, obtaining ILR, and then citizenship and how long you can spend abroad at each stage of that process.

My understanding is that:

(a) the sposual visa is granted for  an initial period of two years and nine months and that within three months before expiry you need to apply for a visa extension.

(b) the spousal visa extension lasts for 2 years and six months.

(c) you cannot have spent more than 180 days outside of the UK in any 12-month period in order to extend your spouse visa

(d) after five years of having a spouse visa you can apply for ILR and  that during this five-year period, you must not have spent more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling year.

(e)as a spouse, you can apply for citizenship as soon as being granted ILR, but you cannot have been outside of the UK for more than 90 days in any 12-month period in the five years preceding your application.

Is my understanding correct?

Thank you.

(a) the sposual visa is granted for  an initial period of two years and nine months and that within three months before expiry you need to apply for a visa extension.

Yes, you can apply up to 28 days before you reach 30 months in the UK, so depending on what date you enter the UK, you may be able to apply up to 3 months and 28 days before expiry.

(b) the spousal visa extension lasts for 2 years and six months.

Correct. The extension is called FLR(M).

(c) you cannot have spent more than 180 days outside of the UK in any 12-month period in order to extend your spouse visa

Not correct. There is no limit on days outside the UK for spousal visas.

All you need to show is:
- the UK is your primary residence
- you have lived with your UK spouse for the entire length of the spousal visa... whether that's in the UK or abroad... but the UK must remain your permanent home

(d) after five years of having a spouse visa you can apply for ILR and  that during this five-year period, you must not have spent more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling year.

Again, not correct.

The requirements are the same as above:
-- the UK is your primary residence
- you have lived with your UK spouse for the entire length of the FLR(M) visa... whether that's in the UK or abroad... but the UK must remain your permanent home

(e)as a spouse, you can apply for citizenship as soon as being granted ILR, but you cannot have been outside of the UK for more than 90 days in any 12-month period in the five years preceding your application.

The first part is correct: if you are married to a UK citizen, you can apply for citizenship as soon as you have ILR.

The second part is not correct

The residency requirement for those married to a UK citizen is:
- you must have been physically in the UK exactly 3 years prior to your citizenship application date (i.e. if you applied on 1st Feb 2022, you would need to show you were in the UK on 1st Feb 2019)
- you have not been outside the UK for more than 270 days (9 months) in the last 3 years
- no more than 90 days of those 270 days can have been in the last 12 months before applying

So you could have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in year 1 or year 2, as long as your total days outside the UK is not more than 270 in the last 3 years, and no more than 90 days were in year 3.

When calculating the number of days outside the UK, you do not count the day you left or the day you arrived back, as you were inside the UK for part of those days. So if you left on Monday and returned on Friday that would only be 3 days outside the UK.

Thanks so much for your response. This is somewhat of a minefield!

I did not realise that there is no absence limit for Spouse Visa holders, that's very helpful.

What you need to show to establish that the UK is your primary residence? I have looked but can't find any HO guidance on this.

When you say that you need to have lived with your UK spouse for the entire length of the spousal visa... whether that's in the UK or abroad, does that mean that she could not go back to the US for a couple of months whilst I stayed in the UK?

What you need to show to establish that the UK is your primary residence? I have looked but can't find any HO guidance on this.

Just the usual stuff like:
- rental agreements/mortgage statements
- utility bills showing you have been living at a UK address

When you say that you need to have lived with your UK spouse for the entire length of the spousal visa... whether that's in the UK or abroad, does that mean that she could not go back to the US for a couple of months whilst I stayed in the UK?

She could, but you would need to be able to show that you maintained your relationship while you were living apart… so things like messages/calls/emails between you, any visits to see each other, cards mailed to each other etc.

Normally a few weeks apart is fine, but if it’s more than a couple of months, you need to be able to show good reasons why you had to be apart for so long… such as working abroad, military deployment, caring for sick relatives, being stuck due to Covid restrictions etc.


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That's very helpful. Thanks very much.