ILR (after T1 G) Left UK 7 months to work in EU - plz help!

[go4anant]

Dear All

I have been in UK from Aug 2009 on T2 working for a UK company. I applied my T1(G) in June 2010 and I am extending it from June 2012 till June 2015.

I left UK & the IT company and worked in Hungary (part of EU) between Oct 2010 and May 2011. I was employed by United Nations (UN).

I came back in May 2011. I have had no other leaves from Aug 09.

When am I eligible for ILR? Does the 5 year period start again from May 2011?

I checked with a Solicitor; and he said all i need to do was count 5 years from Aug 09; which means eligible in Aug 2014; add period of 7 months of absence to Aug 2014; hence I would be eligible in Mar 2015.

If I add 5 years to May 2011; then it is May 2016.

Can anyone help clarify this? 5 year rule and absence is; I guess the most unclear area.

Regards

A

[QuickSam]

The Immigration Rules for all employment routes require an applicant to have 'spent a continuous period of 5 years in the United Kingdom in this capacity...'. As such they do not make any provision for any absence from the UK during this time. However, it has always been operational practise to allow for some level of absence to account for essential business trips, vacations etc.

Any decision to allow absences requires the use of discretion, it is the individual circumstances of the application that will determine whether it is appropriate to allow the absences involved.

In addition to the above stated facts, you can have a total of 180 leaves in 5 yrs and no continuous 90 day leave periods. In cases where the applicant is unable to complete 5 yrs because of arriving late to UK, the CW can discount the difference if this period is less than 3 months. In all other cases, the applicant will have to extend again before ILR.

Some people even get away with the 90 day continuous leave period with a proper explanation for the absence. This however is not certain and depends on the discretionary power of the CW.