Spouse visa holday allowance - help please

[KM0170]

Hi all,

I hope you are well and in good health.

My wife (Pakistani national) has been granted a spouse visa after a year - we applied in April 2014 and she received this end of February 2015 this year.

The letter she received states that she has a 33 month visa after which she can apply for a 30 month visa. After she has completed ..."5 years leave in the UK"... she can apply for ILR. The wording of the letter has somewhat confused us. Does this mean, given 33+30 is 63 months and 5 years is 60 months she is only allowed outside of the UK for 3 months in 5 years?

To me this does not sound right and I have been trawling the internet to find answers and am still somewhat confused/lost. I have seen some cases however some of these date back a while ago and am wanting to know what laws are applicable to our case (given laws change over time) regarding how much time she is allowed outside of the UK and if there is even an allowance.

The letter reads:
"
Spouse/Civil Partnership/Unmarried partners

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS

Your visa has been issued for a period of months 33 from the validity date to the expiry dates, which are both endorsed on the visa. Please note your visa is not valid beyond the endorsed expiry date.

Shortly before the expiry date of your visa, you can apply for further leave to remain in the UK. If you still meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules you will be granted permission to stay for a further period of 30 months. Once you have completed five years leave in the UK as the partner of someone who is a British citizen or someone who is settled in the UK, you can apply to settle here. This is known as ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’.

You should now make plans to travel to the UK. If you delay your travel to the UK or spend prolonged periods outside of the UK during your 30 months leave, it could delay your ability to claim indefinite leave to remain.
"

Can you please advise as much as possible and ideally provide evidence also (e.g. a document from a government website) for at least a) peace of mind - have been trying to find something official and b) if we need to provide this/these when applying for further visas.

At the moment we are confused as this is all new to us so if you could provide any and as much help as possible please this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

[CR001]

The extra 3 months for entry clearance (33 months) is to give the spouse the time to tie up in home country and arrive in the UK, a grace period so to speak, so that the 5 year residence start is not compromised needing 2 extensions instead of 1.

[KM0170]

Many thanks for your reply.

Are you able to shed any light on taking holidays and if there is an allowance limit please?

Thanks in advance.

[CR001]

Holidays are permitted. Absence should however be limited for good reason and not extensive (using spouse visa a visit visit). The current Se(M) form only asks for listed absences of 6 months or more and the reasons.