mick9699999

We had some great news today. My wife finally received her settlement VISA for the UK.

Valid from: 30/07/2014-Until 30/04/2017

What they return is a big pile of evidence complete with your VISA stamped inside but no covering letter whatsoever. I always kinda expected a list of rules of use etc. But none.

I didn’t expect the valid from date would be quite as soon. (“Its next week”)
I should actually give 1 month notice in my Chinese job and I wanted to leave about 2 months from the date after Id received the UK visa for my wife.

So my question is this. Although 30/07/2014 is the start date on the VISA. Are there any rules that govern when I HAVE to start using the VISA?
I’ve HEARD the following but can’t actually find the proper answer out for sure.
I.e. that you should not be out of the UK more than 90 days during the period of the visa entire VISA if you want to apply for the next one.
I’ve also been heard a long time ago that you have 2 months from the start date until you must start to use it for the first time.
However these things I can’t find. The last thing I want to do is make problems for the next application in 2-1/2 years time so its safer to check.

Please help me urgently. I really need to know any applicable rules for the start times of the VISA.
and many thanks

WEBlue

Your wife needs 60 months residence in the UK to qualify for ILR. So five years of total residence. Each of the two spousal visas (the initial entry clearance visa your wife just received and the second FLR visa she will next apply for from inside the UK) should give her 30 months (or 2.5 years) each.

If you'll check, this entry clearance visa she has just received should actually have a total of 33 months validity. (That is the typical time allotted.) So... to keep to a proper schedule, she should enter the UK to settle WITHIN 3 months after the validity date. Any later than that and she will run into problems.

Here's a good site for basic explanations in plain English:
http://www.londonelegance.com/transp...s/spousal-visa

WEBlue

Here are the official residence regulations concerning time outside the UK (for those with a Brit spouse) from the UK.gov immigration pages:
https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-britis...ritish-citizen

Hmm, last time I looked, time spent outside the UK was seemingly not so important for either FLR or ILR, but it IS very important when your wife wishes to naturalize. To obtain British citizenship, as outlined from the UK.gov link, the following is necessary for spouses of UKCs:

Quote:

*you have no immigration time restrictions

Unless your spouse or civil partner works abroad either for the UK government or for an organisation closely linked to government, you must usually also have:

*lived in the UK for at least the 3 years before your application is received
*spent no more than 270 days outside the UK in those 3 years
*spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
*not broken any immigration laws while in the UK

zuluswede

Congratulations! Are you be able/willing to post a "timeline" for your wife's visa application? Maybe also a list of documents you submitted?
Apologies if you've already done so or are planning to.
Many thanks.