For an ILR holder, how is the 2 year absence from the UK calculated?

[chirayu]

If you have an ILR, you’re allowed to stay outside the UK for 2 years. How is the 2 year absence calculated?

Is it from date of last exit from UK to date of current entry in UK? For example, if I last left the UK on 1 May 2017 and planning to re-enter on 1 May 2019, the absence will be 2 years. My passport does not contain a stamp from UK Immigration officers when I leave. So, how will they know the date of last exit? Will they use the arrival stamp of the country that I went to when I left the UK? It could be that they have computerised records which show my date of last exit, even though there is no physical stamp in my passport.

OR

Is it from date of last entry in UK to date of current entry in UK? For example, if I last arrived in UK on 1 May 2017 and due to arrive again on 1 May 2019, the absence will be 2 years.

The second approach makes less sense to me as it is NOT the actual time of absence from the UK but looking at my passport, it is the easiest to calculate.

So do they use the first approach for calculating absence or the second? Or something else?

Thanks in advance!

[zimba]

UKVI collects departure data via airlines data sharing and other sources without an actual border check on departure. So they know generally the length of absences from the UK.

[hello1717]

UKVI collects departure data via airlines data sharing and other sources without an actual border check on departure. So they know generally the length of absences from the UK.

Does this mean 2 consecutive years? So as long as I spend a month in uk every year, am I not breaking the 2 year rule?