Experts In Returning Resident Visa Applications

Apply for a Returning Resident visa with the assistance of our award-winning and experienced experts in immigration law. We can help you meet the Home Office’s requirements for entering the UK after more than two years away.

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Returning UK Resident Visa

As a non-citizen of the UK, even if you have previously been granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR) status in the UK, this is not permanent in all circumstances. Your ILR status will usually lapse, for example, if you stay outside the UK for two years or more at a time (or five years if you have been granted settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme).

This raises the prospect, in the event that you wish to come back to the UK to live here permanently, of having to investigate whether you might be eligible for a Returning Resident visa.

You will stand a much better chance of satisfying the requirements for this visa route if you work with the capable and seasoned Returning Resident visa lawyers of Cranbrook Legal. For more information, please call 0208 215 0053.

How can you hep me obtain a Returning Resident Visa?

Our central London solicitors have an excellent track record of assisting clients of a wide range of circumstances and requirements to gain approval for a Returning Resident visa, including some people who left the UK a long time ago.

We can hold your hand through every stage of the process of applying for – and securing – a Returning Resident visa, including meeting the eligibility requirements and gathering the documents applicants need to provide. Indeed, we can even help trace old documents from the Home Office to give you a stronger chance of obtaining this visa.

Our professional, fastidious and diligent approach maximises the likelihood of a positive outcome from your Returning Resident visa application. We will treat your case with the very greatest care, dignity and transparency. Furthermore, we operate on the basis of a fixed fee, agreed with you at the beginning of our relationship, to give you crucial financial certainty.

What is a Returning Resident Visa?

The Returning Resident visa is the visa that enables you to return to live in the UK if you were previously settled but have spent more than two years away from the UK. ‘Settled’ is the term for the status of being given ‘indefinite leave to enter or remain’ in the UK.

With individuals who have indefinite leave to remain (ILR) status automatically losing this status if they spend two years outside the UK (except in some instances as detailed below), if this is the case for you, it will be necessary to apply for some form of entry clearance – typically the Returning Resident visa – in order to re-enter the UK.

Why do I need to apply for a Returning Resident Visa?

In the event that you have been absent from the UK for less than two years, you will still have your indefinite leave, which means it won’t be necessary for you to apply for entry clearance before coming back to reside in the UK. In this case, border force officers will assess whether you can be admitted for entry in accordance with the requirements of paragraph 18 of the Immigration Rules.

Individuals with indefinite leave to remain who have spent less than two years away from the UK but who have lost their documentation, have the option of requesting a replacement biometric residence permit (BRP) visa.

If, meanwhile, you have been absent from the UK for more than two consecutive years, you will automatically lose your indefinite leave in accordance with UK law(unless you are one of the exceptional cases detailed below). This will necessitate you applying for entry clearance as a returning resident, and undergoing assessment by Entry Clearance Officers under paragraph 19 of the Immigration Rules.

Spending two years outside the UK will not result in you losing your indefinite leave to remain if your partner or spouse is a member of the UK armed forces and you have accompanied them on an overseas posting.

Nor will your ILR status be lost if your spouse or partner is a British citizen or settled in the UK, in addition to one of the below:

  • A permanent member of the Diplomatic Service
  • A UK-based employee of the British Council who works outside the UK
  • A Department for International Development (DFID) employee
  • An employee of the Home Office

What are the requirements for a Returning Resident Visa?

In order to be eligible to make a Returning Resident visa application, you are required to:

  • Intend to return to live in the UK permanently
  • Have been settled in the UK before you last left
  • Not have been given public funds to assist you in leaving the UK

Applicants for this visa who have been away from the UK for over two years must provide sufficient evidence to show:

  • Their strong ties to the UK
  • Their present circumstances and why they have been living outside the UK

You will also need to pay the Home Office’s £516 fee to apply for a Returning Resident visa. The typical Returning Resident visa processing time is about three weeks after attending an appointment at a visa application centre.

You may be able to get a quicker decision on your visa, via either of the following services:

  • A priority service, if you wish to have a decision made on your Returning Resident visa application within five working days of your appointment at the visa application centre, or
  • A super priority service, which could give you a decision by the end of the next working day after providing your biometric information

To take advantage of these services, you must check that they are available in the country you are applying from, in addition to verifying your identity at a visa application centre and paying the additional cost. For more information and advice, please call our lawyers on 0208 215 0053.

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What documents do I need for a Returning Resident Visa?

The documents that you will need to provide as part of a Returning Resident visa application include:

  • A current passport or other valid travel identification
  • Previous passports
  • A passport-sized colour photograph
  • Documents that show you have ties to the UK, such as proof that you have earned income, or owned or rented property, in the UK

Depending on your circumstances, the Home Office may expect you to supply further documents.

Contact our Returning Resident visa lawyers for tailored advice and guidance on the documents you may need to supply, as well as about the help we can give you to trace any old documents you might require from the Home Office.

What if my Returning Residents application is refused?

If the Home Office refuses your application for a Returning Resident visa, you will not have any right of appeal against this. You will, however, be entitled to an Administrative Review (AR) of the decision.

In the event that you do decide to request an Administrative Review, you will need to do so within 28 days of receiving the decision, and pay the Home Office’s £80 fee. The application can be made online, and the Home Office will then scrutinise the decision for the errors you point out.

It can presently take six months or more to be told of the outcome of an Administrative Review. If three months pass without you receiving a decision on your application, the Home Office will issue you with an update. Any delay in processing your application will not affect your rights.

Unless the outcome of the first review finds new reasons why the Home Office refused your Returning Resident visa application, you will not be entitled to request a second Administrative Review.

Furthermore, if you make any other visa or immigration application while waiting for a result from your Administrative Review, the AR request will be considered as withdrawn (cancelled). If you wish to withdraw your AR request at any point, you can email the Home Office to ask for this. 

Are you looking to apply for a Returning Resident visa or to request an Administrative Review in response to your application being refused? If so, please do not hesitate to arrange a consultation with our immigration specialists.

Why Choose Us For Your Returning Resident Visa?

We Are Dedicated

We Are Committed

We Are Professional

We Are Result Driven

We Are Strategic Thinkers

We Are Commercially Aware

Contact our Immigration Solicitors In London on 0208 215 0053 or
via info@cranbrooklegal.com to make your enquiry.

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