How long am I allowed out of the country?

I am a Canadian citizen who, from August 21, 2006 until August 15, 2008, has been living in the UK on an Ancestry Visa. (I am now back in Canada.) I will be moving back with my partner (he is British) in the next few months. I want to apply for citizenship when my five years is up but I have already been out of the country for 4 months.

My question is : How long am I allowed to be out of the UK before I have to wait another five years to apply for citizenship? (someone has told me that I am allowed out of the country for 180 days max. before it effects the time I have already been there for, is this true?)

Thanks for any help!

Tonia

If you mean me (someone has told me that I am allowed out of the country for 180 days max. before it effects the time I have already been there for, is this true?) then re-read my post - I say 180 days in the final year.

The BIA will usually disregard absences of up to 300 days in total over he 5 years. They may disregard absences up to 540 days over the 5 years under certain circumstances.

It should be 225 days of absence allowed (unless you've got compassionate grounds). We had reports of some caseworkers still using 180 days though.