British Citizenship – ILR Refugeee route

Hi Guys, I'm seeking advice on behalf of a friend who currently has ILR (Refugee) and due to be eligible for naturalisation in February 2019. The concern goes thus:
According to his records with HO, he entered the UK in 2002 (but they have no record of him entering because he entered as a clandestine). He stayed under the radar until 2011, when he was advised by a dodgy lawyer to apply for ILR (SET M). That application was rejected. He appealed, and his appeal was rejected and he immediately applied for asylum which was granted in 2012. He was granted ILR in Feb 2018 so should be able to apply for naturalisation in Feb 2019.
The question is; Does he fall foul of the Good Character Requirements for the period he was under the radar? The Naturalisation Booklet says "To meet the residence requirements, you should not have been in breach of immigration law during the residential qualifying period. You should have been here legally." Is this referring to the period from when he was granted his initial 5 years leave as a refugee? What qualifies as the RESIDENTIAL QUALIFYING PERIOD?

Thanks guys in anticipation of your assistance.

He is unlikely to be successful with a citizenship application until at least 2022, 10 years from the date his status was legal. All the time prior to this he is classed as an illegal immigrant and will likely fail the good character requirement (this is separate to the residential qualifying period).

If a person fell foul of the 10 years good character because they were refugee running from their home country, then the Good character of illegal entry is not applicable to them.

Thanks guys for the swift response. His story with the HO in his asylum case is that he moved to the UK in fear of persecution based on sexuality. He didn't claim asylum on entry because he didn't know he qualified for asylum. This was accepted by the HO and was granted asylum when he applied years later. Does it still stand with Obie's post?....
cheers guys.

Obie wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 13, 2018 8:28 pm

If a person fell foul of the 10 years good character because they were refugee running from their home country, then the Good character of illegal entry is not applicable to them.

"To meet the residence requirements, you should not have been in breach of immigration
law during the residential qualifying period. You should have been here legally. This

means you must have had the necessary permission under the immigration laws to be in
the UK. You may be refused if you have been in breach of immigration laws during the
residential qualifying period. This is especially relevant if you came to the UK as an
asylum seeker and your application for refugee status and any appeals were refused
during this period.
If you came to the UK as an asylum seeker and/or as an illegal entrant (for example if you
entered the UK clandestinely) you must have evidence that you were here legally during
the residential qualifying period. You may be in breach of immigration laws during the
residential qualifying period if you had exhausted all your appeal rights and had not left the
country, even if you were subsequently given indefinite leave to remain as a concession. If
you were not covered by temporary leave to remain during the whole residential qualifying
period while appeals were under consideration, then your application will fail on breach of
immigration conditions.
Just because you were given indefinite leave to remain does not mean that we will
automatically disregard the time you were in breach of immigration laws during the
residential qualifying period. Any immigration offences will also be considered as part of the
good character requirement. This includes immigration breaches in the 10-year period
before you apply for naturalisation – see the section on good character. "
Please interpret the above vis-a-vis my mate's situation. I copied it from the Naturalisation Booklet. It seems to hammer on the QUALIFYING PERIOD for refugees....is it right to think that the qualifying period is the period commencing from when he was granted status as a refugee? or when he started he started the refugee application? when he made his previous ILR application? I just don't have a clue when the qualifying period starts.