Continuous Period break for ILR under Tier1General

I have the Questions regarding continuous period on Tier 1 (General) to ILR
Could you please help on Tier 1 (General) to ILR 5 years continuous period calculation

MY UK First Entry date: 09-Aug-2009

There were 3 visits outside UK before 05-Nov-2012 and that were short trips of 2 months each,
But my latest Entries are below where you can see the big breaks,

UK Entry date: 05-Nov-2012
UK Left date: 26-Aug-2013
( almost 90+ days break )

UK Entry date: 30 Nov 2013
UK Left date: 06 Dec 2013
( almost 150 days break )

UK Entry date: 06 May 2014
TIll now I am in UK

Now i am going to apply my ILR on 14 Aug 2014 , If I see the the latest previous 12 month period, I have spend like 240+ days outside UK, THe point is all this period is scondments and for projects from my employer, and I have letter from the my employer as well.

Am I eligible with this gap ?

If you do not exceed 180 days in a consecutive 12 month period, you will be eligible for ILR in the normal case.

Hi Tiger,
I'd be very interested to hear how you get on, although I think you will have trouble if you were out of the country more than 180 days between 14 August 2012 and 13 August 2013, or between 14 August 2013 and 13 August 2014. You'll need to double check those periods.

The guidance is (somewhat) clear that being out of the country for work for more than 180 days, even for a UK company, is not up to the case worker's discretion and they should refuse.

I am in a similar situation, having worked in West Africa for a mining company for a couple of years, exceeding the allowance.

I have spoken recently with someone else who was in a similar situation. He applied in Croydon, and was initially refused the extension. However, he elected to fight his case and appealed the decision and was eventually granted ILR.

Please post back any further information you find out, or your experiences. Where are you applying?

Thanks Macro_run,

THant means I cant apply in August 14,
There is another scenario ,
if I apply in November 2014, i got the periods in years as and Number of days Outside UK along
Year 1 = 2nd Nov2013 - 1st Nov2014 (130 days)
Year 2 = 2nd Nov2012 - 1st Nov2013 (150 days)
Year 3 = 2nd Nov2011 - 1st Nov2012 (110 days)
Year 4 = 2nd Nov2010 - 1st Nov2011 (10 days)
Year 5 = 2nd Nov2009 - 1st Nov2010 (50 days)

What about this , should I go to apply for ILR Then ?

Thanks for ur kind help

Hi, have a query for my upcoming ILR. I will be obliged if I get some valuable advise from you guys.

Tier 1 G - issued on 19 SEPT 2009
Tier 1 G - expired by 04 JAN 2015 (6 months was taken for postal application confirmation in 2012)

So, I believe that I should be eligible to apply in last week of AUG 2014. Please advise.

One more confusion -

Do I need to provide evidence for travelling abroad (Absence in last 5 years)? I have got only travelling dates (in Passport) with me NO boarding pass or e-tickets. If I explain it as a family visits which I have done less than 24 days each year, will it be enough? or need other evidence, such as employer letter, etc? I also run my travel company and ONLY director so I have travelled abroad for business purpose but that was also associated with my family visits so the whole duration of absence is no more than 120 days in LAST 5 YEARS!

Can anyone advise me what to WRITE?

Thanks,
Prashant

Hi goglobalnz,

Yes you are right, it seems to be difficult to get ILR in this situation, though have company trips,
Also you don't really know what will be response of home office in this situation.

I have decided not to persue for ILR in August 14, I will going to apply in November instead because as in my last post as i have mentioned I will meet the criteria of 180 days in each of the five years.

Kindly if any other user have faced same issue or had applied , let us know the response so others get benefit
thanks

Hi Tiger

If I were you I would definitely wait until November and do it according to the rules as they're written.

There is lots of hearsay about people being lucky and the caseworker making a decision on the spot in favour of the candidate but I haven't heard any recent reports of this so wouldn't risk it. It's a lot of money, and you'll lose your passport while they're making their decision (maybe for months).

I'm going to have to wait until 2017 until I have <180 days in a year, luckily my current leave to remain will last until then. I'd rather do it sooner though if possible, to avoid any other rule changes so please, if anyone has been lucky with ILR and >180 days outside the UK in a given year then please do share with the forum.

Hi

I would rather say not to take risk because if you are absence is more than 180 days it is a huge risk. I would advise you wait for some more time and ensure you are less than 180 days you would be able to get your ILR . I can say caseworker cannot refuse ILR if you are having absence less than 180 days as per the rule.

-hsr72

An update from me, on my case.

I had significantly more than 180 days out of the country in 2011 and 2012 and was reluctant to waste money on an ILR application as I knew I had not maintained continuity and didn't expect that the Home Office would use discretion.

My trips out of the country were to a mining site in Africa. 4-6 weeks out of every 2 months (with holidays on top putting me on around 230 days out of the UK). I was working as a limited company contracting myself to a UK company.

I spoke with an immigration consultant who said they had several clients who had been in my situation and had been successful, which encouraged me.

On Saturday I had my PEO appointment in Croydon and was successful and have been granted ILR.

In terms of extra evidence, I had a letter from the UK company I was contracted to which gave the dates out of the country and explained that it was a site based role. I didn't have any queries on this during the appointment to clarify it etc.

My case might not be same as yours, but it does show that there can be discretion applied in some cases.