Apply for PR without meeting ancestory visa requirements

My sister has been based in London for 4 years but (this year only) she spent a season working on super yachts in international waters.
We are concerned that because she has not met the Ancestry visa requirement to not leave the UK for more than 180 days per year, she will not be able to apply for PR (or ILR?) when her 5 year Ancestry visa expires next year.
She loves living in the UK and wishes to stay, would anyone have any advice for her?


Thank you,

Jason

When you say 'season', how long was this 'season' that she was away for? Did she return to the UK at all during this time?

What is the date her visa started and the date she entered the UK?

What date does her visa expire?

What are the exact dates that she was out of the UK?

She rents a room in a London flat at all times. She can go back to that at anytime and she did so several times throughout this year. I estimate the total time spent outside the UK was maybe 200 - 220 days this year, this includes three weeks in NZ/Australia for her sisters wedding. Most of the time away was spent on the boat in the Mediterranean or at a dock, France/Monaco/Italy.
I don't have the exact dates but I can ask her, are they required?
Roughly, she entered the UK in mid-2012 (September?) so her Ancestry visa would expire mid-2017.

She can extend her ancestry visa for another 5 years so all is not lost.

Maintaining an address is not sufficient unfortunately, she has to be resident and working in the UK. Ancestry visa is an UK employment visa.

If she decides to take a chance and apply for ILR (or PR as you call it), she has to list each and every absence for the full 5 years. If her application is refused, she loses the £1875 (postal) or £2375 (in person ILR appointment) fee and if her visa has expired at that point if applying by post, she will have to leave the UK.

Thanks Char.

A five year extension to the Ancestry visa seems a wiser choice than risking £1875 (or £2375) on applying for ILR when she clearly hasn't met the criteria and I assume is therefore unlikely to be successful.

Does she need to meet the ILR criteria for five consecutive years or is 5 out of 6 years sufficient?

Jason Buckwell wrote:Does she need to meet the ILR criteria for five consecutive years or is 5 out of 6 years sufficient?

Any consecutive 5 years for ILR. She needs to get her absence to a within 180 days per 12 month cycle. If she can break down her absences, counting backwards from her current visa expiry date, it will be helpful.

If years 1, 2, 3 & 5 each had less than 50 days outside the UK, would that be taken into account? Would there be a chance that she would be granted ILR despite not meeting the <180 days requirement for the fourth year?

She cannot go over 180 days absence in ANY 12 month period. She needs to meet the requirements in EACH year to qualify for ILR. It is important to note that it is not calculated on calendar years, but 12 month cycles, depending on when she entered and when she qualifies for ILR.

If there is a year where she can split her absence into two 12 month periods, she will need to work that out, counting backwards from the date she anticipates to apply for ILR.