I wrongly assumed you already had ILR as your post was in the ILR forum. You won't qualify in 2013 as you need 5 years
continuous residence in the UK.
You may recall the advice you were given in this thread early in 2011
http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... ht=#467667
which included this in particular:
Continuous period of five years
The applicant must have spent a continuous period of five years lawfully in the UK and meet
the criteria specified in the guidance.
Calculation of the five year period for settlement
When assessing if an applicant has met the criteria for five years continuous residence in
the UK, short absences abroad may be disregarded, provided the applicant has clearly
continued to be based in the UK. For example:
• holidays (consistent with annual paid leave), or
• business trips (consistent with maintaining employment or self-employment in the UK),
Applications that fall short of the five year continuous period
In some cases, applicants may have been granted five years continuous leave, but will not
have spent five years continuously in the UK before their current leave expires.
Caseworkers may count the period between entry clearance being granted and the date the
applicant entered the UK towards the five years, provided this period was not longer than
three months.
As your visa is still valid, you should be permitted to re-enter, but you'll need to re-think your plans for applying for ILR. You may also be subject to proposed changes to the UKBA Regulations for Tier-1 permanent residence. Were there compassionate reasons for your absence?
