Tmos

Hello all, thanks in advance for any help!

My wife (Japanese) and I (British national) are planning on moving back to the UK from Japan using the "Returning to Employment" route.
I have been working for the same company in Japan for four years and earning above the threshold of 18,600 since joining, and I will be returning to a job paying above that threshold also.
My father runs a small business, and he will be hiring me. He is happy to adjust the start date of my contract to match our return to the UK.
My current one-year contract at my workplace in Japan runs until the beginning of August 2023, around about which time we would like to move to the UK.
We are planning on applying for the visa soon, having heard that it can take about 6 months!

So! Here's my question: will an offer of employment to start on September 1st be appropriate, when I will still be working in Japan until August?
The guidelines state that the offer of employment must start within 3 months of us entering the UK, but if we apply now will there be an issue regarding proving my employment in Japan between now and our departure date?

Thanks!

SanDiegogirl

Your employment must start within 3 months of your proposed return to the UK.
So if your employment is said to start 1st September you cannot apply until 1 June, regardless that the visa might take up to 24 weeks.

On the thread titled UK Spouse Visa Timelines only. Strictly no chat, the current timescales shown are between 14 and 24 weeks.

The date that you work up until in Japan is irrelevant.

Tmos

Thank you for the response!
So am I correct then in thinking that, if the employment must start within three months of the date of return, and the requested date of return must be within three months of the application date, the earliest we can apply would be six months before September 1st (beginning of March)?

SanDiegogirl

Taking into account that you will be working in Japan until end July then you cannot submit an application in early March stating a return date of early June.
You should submit an application 1 June to correspond with your job start of 1 September and your proposed return to the UK in August.