jar71

I am a US citizen, married to a Brit. I had ILR for 29 years from 1979 - 2008. After a move to Paris in 2008, my ILR was revoked. Not sure it should have been?

I am now in Zambia but plan to return to the UK to settle with my family (all british citizens) next year.

Am I right in thinking I must regain residency rights, and live for a min of 3 years in the UK AGAIN before I can apply for naturalisation? Kicking myself that I didn't do it before the move, but it was due to my husband's job and I didn't see it coming!

formula

ILR (Indefinate Leave to Remain) expires after 2 years if you don't remain in the UK, or if you don't return to live in the UK before those 2 years are up.

Yes, you should have applied for citizenship to avoid immigration rules again. But...you can't change the past.

It's not 3 years to ILR anymore as the rules have changed since you were living in the UK. It's now 5 years to ILR. Your husband will need to sponsor you again on a spouse visa and those financial requirements have changed too. This will mean that he needs to earn £18,600 per year or have savings of £62,500(?) or a combination of both worked out on a set formula, to be able to sponsor you.

ncoomber

Hi jar,
Yes, there are two routes. Savings (for six months) of £62,500 (or equivalent) OR six months of earnings over the rate £18,600/yr + a job offer in the UK at that rate (sponsors earnings only). The wiki here explains:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Spouse_Immigration-UK_
Plus a bunch of other things: Adequate accommodation, no illegal use of NHS, proof of marriage etc
Good Luck
Cheers
Nigel

feelbritish

You may actually qualify for a "Returning Resident" visa seeing that you spent such a long time living in UK and have UK family. I would check that possibility out first.

Vadio

The problem with the returning resident option is that it's rarely granted, no matter what the circumstances. Unfortunately the only way to check it out is to apply...and lose the fee if rejected (been there, done that).

I read, re-read, and re-read the 'returning resident' guidelines and thought I qualified. The UKBA thought differently, and it delayed my spouse visa for a few weeks because a 'refusal' was on my record. If you were applying after say 26 months, due to spouse's job, you might be in with a chance, but next year at the point of application it would be 7 years (2008-2015).

After my refusal in 2011, I found from posts on another forum that the changes of getting that particular visa are miniscule; folks with far more ties who had lived in the UK for 20+ years had also been refused.

englishguygoinghome

But beware - the requirement for citizenship is still:
- hold ILR
- have been in the UK on the day 3 years before applying
- have not been absent from the UK for more than 270 days in the 3 years before applying.
- have not been absent from the UK for more than 90 days in the 1 year before applying

So although it now takes you 5 years to get ILR and be able to apply for citizenship, the evidnece you need to collect and restrictions on travel all relate to a three year period. This can make things a little confusing!

formula

ILR and citizenship have different rules. jar is planing to live in the UK, so she won't have a problem with these citizenship rules.

What is does mean though is that once jar has ILR again after her 5 years, she can then immediately apply for citizenship, if she meets all the rules for citizenship.