Over 740 days absence, less than 900 days

Hi,

I got my ILR last week and am planning for citizenship application 1st October 2022. I was on Tier 1 exceptional talent.

However as of today I have spent 739 days out the UK in the 5 years before 1st October 2022. I need to travel out the UK for work between now and 1st October 2022 and know I can't travel more than 3 months, but what is the risk of travelling even just 1 month and getting closer to that 900 number?

I run a business in the UK and my prior travels were also related to work but how strict they are on that or how much I need to prove that as well as strong links to the UK I am unsure of? I do not have children and am not married nor own property in the UK. My company has reasonable turnover.

See also Residence requirements.

Hi,

I have read those sections but struggle to understand what they mean in my case and what I'd need to prove? I have been on and off in the UK for the last 10 years but have considered it my main base for for the last 8.

MartinMorrison wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 04, 2021 9:59 am

I have read those sections but struggle to understand what they mean in my case and what I'd need to prove?

What do you mean by "in my case"?

The link given states -

In the UK at the beginning of the period of 5 years ending with the date of the
application
• not absent from the UK for more than either:
o 450 days in that 5-year period
o 90 days in the period of 12 months ending with the date of application


What exemption do you think you have from that requirement for citizenship?

The section
"Absences during the qualifying period ", ie the text that starts

"Where the applicant has absences of between 480-900 for applications under
section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981, or 300-540 for applications under
section 6(2) and otherwise meets the requirements you must only consider
exercising discretion where the applicant has established their home, employment,
family and finances in the UK, and one or more of the following applies:
• at least 2 years residence (for applications under section 6(1)), or 1 year (for
applications under section 6(2)), without substantial absences immediately prior
to the beginning of the qualifying period. If the period of absence is greater than
730 days (for section 6(1)) or 450 days (for section 6(2)) the period of residence
must be at least 3 or 2 years respectively
• the excess absences are the result o ........"

There seems to be quite a lot of guidance or information on absences *above* 450 days in the 5 year period, and it seems some people on this forum were granted citizenship despite having absences above 450 days?

Can confirm my wife gained citizenship with absences pushing 900 days. She accompanied me on an international assignment in France for 2 years so we applied for discretion in that matter and provided letters from my employer to confirm.

I cannot say with certainty, but if your UK business requires you to travel and of course you satisfy all the other requirements, you can ask for discretion. After all, if you're still doing what you do, the amount of time you travel is hardly going to change going forward is it?

For reference, my wife demonstrated strong links to the UK by the fact we own properties here, have children in school and her business helps within the community. It was literally a paragraph on the covering letter.

Craw19 - thanks for the feedback. Was your assignment related to military/civil work? They seem to make special allowances/reference to that in the guidance. For me, my work realated travel is less 'government sanctioned/supported.

Did you provide proof at all of properties etc? One immigration lawyer did suggest that I buy a small property but then reversed that when I told him I am the majority owner of a UK incorporated company etc. So I don't want to go and buy a property if it isnt really needed!

Hi

Assignment was with a private company but working on a contract for Galileo (EU / ESA GNSS). Brexit kindly (!) saw a rather abrupt end to that which is why we found ourselves back in the UK. Ironically it gave my wife a chance to obtain citizenship as we never considered it before we left for France as it was pre-brexit, even though 2.5 years in France essentially wiped the 16 years that she had spent in the UK prior from history. Also having spent 2.5 years in France I was able to get French citizenship so we are both now dual nationals.

The work was not directly civil or military but it's impossible to know how much weight the fact I was sub contracted to an EU agency held. Knowing the way this government works, I'd be inclined to say that if travelling is part of what makes your UK business profitable then it wont be disregarded. However that of course is just my take on things.

In regards to properties, we didn't provide any evidence at all. Literally said in the cover letter that we owned x amount of properties, held our bank accounts in the UK and left it at that.

I think the most frustrating thing here is you have to be sure of everything before you apply as once you've applied it disappears into the ether and you're blind until you get a final response. I guess this is why a lot of people take legal advice before doing it. That's something we didn't do - it worked out OK in the end for us but we spent 7 months worrying whether or not we'd get it.

Thanks for this information!