Indefinite Leave to Remain - After 2 Years

[Lucy2028]

Good afternoon All,
I am posting this topic after reading through a lot of information regarding this which has led me to becoming even more confused...any constructive advice would be greatly appreciated.
I am a UK citizen and I am married to a South African. We have two children both with UK passports. We resided in the UK until 2011 when we relocated to South Africa. During my husbands stay in the UK (2002-2011) we married in 2004 and he was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2007.
Unfortunately times have become unstable and while I have work here, he does not and we were considering returning to the UK permanently. I was not aware until now that the indefinite leave to remain will no longer be valid as he has been away for longer than 2 years.
Our plan was that he would relocate to the UK first and I would follow with children after tying up loose ends here.
My question is: Will this be an issue for immigration for him to return on his own, and will he need to apply for a visa first;
or
would it be simpler for us to all relocate together? This is the less prefered option as we have financial obligations and we did not want to have an extended period of us both not earning.
My passport and the childrens' need renewing however I understand this is something that I can do fairly easy at our Embassy here in South Africa.
Thank-you

[Casa]

Unfortunately due to your husband's lengthy absence of 6+ years, his ILR has now been lost.

In order to return to the UK he will first have to apply for a Spouse Settlement visa. This requires you as his sponsor you to meet the following conditions:
1. You return to the UK ahead of your husband and once you have been earning an annual income of at least £18,600 pro-rata for 6 months, you can submit a spouse visa application for your husband to join you.
OR
2. Qualify with savings the equivalent of £62,500 which have been held in an accessible account for a minimum of 6 months unless the funds are from the sale of property, in which case the 6 month rule doesn't apply.
OR
3. Evidence that you (as the sponsor) have earned the equivalent of £18,600 in South Africa for the 12 month period prior to submitting the visa application AND have a confirmed job offer (yourself) in the UK which will start within 3 months of your arrival. In which case you would be able to relocate together once your husband's visa is granted.

In July 2012 there were significant changes in the Immigration Rules for spouse settlement and it is now a 5 year route (2.5 x 2.5) before qualifying for ILR.

[Lucy2028]

Hi Casa,

Thanks very much for your speedy and detailed response which is very helpful, thank-you.

It seems we would be able to apply under either point 2 or 3 of your conditions in your answer. We do have a property here to sell, which we were hoping to keep but that would satisfy that criteria.

This is probably a stupid question, please excuse it if it is, but would he not be able to apply say for a tourist or a working visa so that we can be together, albeit if he is unable to work for the time being whilst we get the application under way?

[Casa]

In order to qualify for a Tier 2 General (employment) visa, he would need to meet strict criteria and have a Home Office approved sponsor. The link below explains what is required for eligibility.
https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general/eligibility

Regarding a visitor visa, it may prove to be a challenge to convince the Entry Clearance Officer that your husband is a genuine visitor with the rest of his family returning to the UK and that he won't overstay his permitted time. He won't be able to switch to a spouse visa from within the UK and would have to return to SA to apply from there.

[Lucy2028]

Casa, thanks again for your reply, just trying to cover all the bases.

But it looks as though it will be simpler for myself and the children to return first and then sponsor him once I am earning and settled, something we were hoping to avoid.

Would you suggest we visit the embassy for assistance or are these fast and set rules that apply?

[Casa]

UK visa applications are processed in SA through the Agency TLS not by the British Embassy. All the conditions in the Immigration Rules need to be met.

https://uk.tlscontact.com/za/pry/page.php?pid=procedure

[Lucy2028]

In terms of businesses and property, no those were sold prior to our departure in 2011. The ties we have are family only.

[Casa]

In which case, your husband would be unlikely to qualify for the other option of a Returning Resident visa.
https://www.gov.uk/returning-resident-visa