Read the guidance (in this case the qualifying period is of 3 years though)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... bookmark22
Presence in the UK at the start of the qualifying period
There are certain people who do not need to have been in the UK at the start of the 5-year qualifying period. These are:
applicants who are applying only on the grounds of Crown service
spouses or civil partners of British citizens in Crown or designated service overseas
applicants who are technically absent from the UK
All other applicants must have been physically present in the UK on the first day of the qualifying period. There is discretion to waive this requirement (see section on discretion).
In the UK at the start of the qualifying period
In most cases, we expect applicants to have been in the UK on day 1 of the qualifying period as this means they have completed the full 5 (or 3) years in the UK as required. However, there is discretion to waive this requirement in special circumstances.
To identify the start of the qualifying period you use the day after the application date minus the length of the qualifying period. For example in an application under section
6(1) made on 1 September 2022, the applicant must have been legally in the UK on 2 September 2017.
Discretion over an applicant’s presence in the UK at the start of the qualifying period in exceptional cases
There may be special reasons, such as those relating to the applicant’s health, that prevented them from being in the UK at the start of the qualifying period. The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 introduced the power to treat the applicant as having fulfilled this requirement in the special circumstances of a particular case even though they were not in the UK at the beginning of the residential period.
Discretion to treat the requirement to have been in the UK on the first day of the residential qualifying period as fulfilled should normally be exercised if one or more of the following is met:
the applicant was prevented from being in the UK because they had been removed from the UK, and the decision to remove them was later overturned
the applicant was incorrectly prevented from resuming permanent residence in the UK following an absence
the applicant is normally resident in the UK but there were exceptional reasons why they could not return from abroad at that time, such as illness, or travel restrictions due to a pandemic
the applicant is a current or former member of the armed forces (see the section on armed forces applicants)
If you propose to exercise discretion, you should see appropriate evidence demonstrating why the applicant was unable to be present at the start of the qualifying period. For example, if this is based on health grounds, you should see relevant medical evidence.
Cases where the requirement can be met by the date of consideration
Applicants are expected to meet this requirement, but there may be cases where the person has inadvertently applied on a date when they did not. The application form will ask applicants to agree that the Home Office use a different date as the date of application, if this would work to their advantage.
If there has been a fee change between the original application date and the date that they can now meet the requirement (to have been in the UK at the start of the qualifying period), they must pay the fee in force at the time of the new application date.
Changing the application date in this way may be appropriate for applicants who did not meet the requirement to have been in the UK at the start of the qualifying period but meet the requirement by the time you consider their application. When you consider the application, you must assess whether the person would meet this requirement (and the other residence requirements) on either the date you are considering the application, or a date between their original application and consideration. If a person does not meet the requirements on the date of consideration, but will do so within the next two months, it may be appropriate to put the application on hold. If the person will not meet the requirement for some time, you must consider whether there are exceptional grounds to exercise discretion (see section on discretion).
Your wife was absent for about 6 months after the beginning of the qualifying period. I understand that you want to waive the requirement about the absence, but if you read the text I highlighted, the caseworker may well decide that 5 months and something is a bit much to wait. This is why I was asking about exceptional circumstances - she may be more likely to get the HO to waive the absence on the beginning of the qualifying period if she has special reasons why she needs to get British citizenship as soon as possible. What are the consequences of her having to wait until June 2026? If little to none, except a longer wait, the safest bet is to apply then. As you said yourself, after the medical emergency was over, she could have travelled back to the UK, no problem. It is all down to how the caseworker interprets it.
In any case, you can still apply or consult a solicitor about this - my advise is sometimes on the side of caution and based on the guidance to make a good outcome as likely as possible.
All advice comes from personal research and experience and should not be regarded as professional opinion.
