Hi guys advice needed please!

My wife is in the Uk on a settlement visa and has started her own little business but we might be facing a few problems.

I've recently filed out the online registration form for the business and for her to become self employed. I called the revenue afterwards and was told it's about a 6 week process and she will have to wait until the paperwork is finished before applying for her National Insurance interview.

However she is returning to Thailand on the 3rd February for at least 4-5 months to oversee our house build. Any ideas if the revenue will wait for her return or will the application be rejected?

Secondly I will be running the business on her absence, it's only a weekend market job but would there be a problem because I'm employed and paying PAYE on my salary? or is it classed as voluntary work as it's my wife's business?

Thirdly (sorry) her visa runs out in November this year, if she decided to stay in Thailand for a while after (she's not a fan of the british winter!) would there be huge problems as she is registered for tax/NI without having any UK resident status?

Anyone out there who knows the system I'd be hugely grateful of help or pointing in the right direction.

Thanks very much
Ian & Mot

Sorry, I can't answer your self-employment questions; but

quote:

her visa runs out in November this year, if she decided to stay in Thailand for a while after.....

I assume from this that she does not yet have ILR. If she is in Thailand when her current visa expires then she will have to apply for and obtain a new one in Bangkok before being allowed back into the UK!

If she does have ILR then ignore the above; ILR only 'expires' if the holder spends a continuos period of 2 years or more out of the UK.

Ok thanks, to clarify this is her first 2yr resident visa we applied for in Bangkok. We are worried that she has been in & out the country a few times during her stay it will affect her FLR/ILR application. Also our long term plans are not to stay in the UK permenantly, just make a bit of cash at the mo

There is no fixed limit on how long the holder of a spouse visa may spend outside the UK during the 2 years. However, when applying for ILR she will need to show that the UK is her main residence, which may be difficult to do if she has spent most of the last 2 years in Thailand!

She cannot apply for ILR from outside the UK, so she must return to the UK before her spouse visa expires to apply for ILR. Failure to do so means that she will need to apply for another spouse visa in Bangkok and start the whole process again.

If/when she decides to apply for British citizenship then there is a limit on how long she has spent out of the UK. Namely during the preceding 3 years she must not have spent more than 270 days out of the UK with no more than 90 days in the third year.

Hope this clarifys things.

Now, can anyone answer the self-employment questions?

quote:

can anyone answer the self-employment questions?

Indeed. Good to see that HMRC have been told about the existence of the business. It is not a question of the application being rejected ..... filing the form is telling them about the business .... but of course the NI number will not be allocated until the interview has taken place.

As regards the ILR application, she really does need to ensure that she is back in the UK in order that the application can be made.

In the 2-year period, roughly how much time will have been spent out of the UK?