ILR application question "could you and your partner live outside the UK?" / advise please
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:54 pm
Hi, would be grateful if someone could advise on a question my wife has to answer in completing her online ILR application form.
Our query concerns the question "Could you and your partner live together outside the UK if necessary?". Basically we'd like to answer "no" as it's my wife's firm intention to settle in UK, where our son goes to school, my work is based, and where our family and social lives are centred. If we were to try to resettle to my wife's country or birth (Thailand), though there's no physical barrier, my work would be affected, our boy's schooling would be interrupted, and being a British citizen I wouldn't have anywhere near the equivalent route to settlement that my wife has here. Thailand makes short to mid term stays achievable, but secure permanent residence is nearly impossible for foreigners (as is naturalisation), and living there involves frequent reporting to immigration and yearly visa applications. Also I would be comfortable stating that I'm unwilling to live outside of the UK, as it's a place I consider home (as does my wife and boy). Based on this can we argue "no we can't live together outside the UK"? We're unsure the weight this question carries (and whether it applies more accurately to extreme scenarios where applicants and families can't move country due to conflict and things like that), in an otherwise hopefully straight-forward application. Or should we just answer "yes" as interpreting the question literally we could in principle live together overseas if necessary, which I imagine is how a case worker might also see my this question.
If anyone has any insights, please let us know. Thanks in advance.
Our query concerns the question "Could you and your partner live together outside the UK if necessary?". Basically we'd like to answer "no" as it's my wife's firm intention to settle in UK, where our son goes to school, my work is based, and where our family and social lives are centred. If we were to try to resettle to my wife's country or birth (Thailand), though there's no physical barrier, my work would be affected, our boy's schooling would be interrupted, and being a British citizen I wouldn't have anywhere near the equivalent route to settlement that my wife has here. Thailand makes short to mid term stays achievable, but secure permanent residence is nearly impossible for foreigners (as is naturalisation), and living there involves frequent reporting to immigration and yearly visa applications. Also I would be comfortable stating that I'm unwilling to live outside of the UK, as it's a place I consider home (as does my wife and boy). Based on this can we argue "no we can't live together outside the UK"? We're unsure the weight this question carries (and whether it applies more accurately to extreme scenarios where applicants and families can't move country due to conflict and things like that), in an otherwise hopefully straight-forward application. Or should we just answer "yes" as interpreting the question literally we could in principle live together overseas if necessary, which I imagine is how a case worker might also see my this question.
If anyone has any insights, please let us know. Thanks in advance.