Refugee ILR holder who has spent 2.5 years outside of UK

Dear all,

I have a tricky question regarding if I can qualify for British Citizenship - grateful if someone can advise and point me to the right direction.

To cut long story short, I was granted my UK refugee status in 2014 but had to move abroad for work for 2.5 years between 2017 and 2019. I have successfully obtained my ILR in December 2019 despite of this absence period (apparently it is not a criterion for ILR for Refugees).

However, for British Citizenship, the Home Office states that one should not spent more than 450 days outside the UK during the 5 years before the date of your application, and says nothing specifically about Refugees..

Does it mean I will have to stay in the UK for the next 5 years before I can qualify? or Would they apply any discretion?

Grateful for your help...

The same rules apply to everyone. There is no special rule for refugees.

See also Guidance:

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 of:

o postings abroad in Crown service under the UK government or in service designated under section 2(3) of the British Nationality act 1981. accompanying a British citizen spouse or civil partner on an appointment overseas

o the excess absences were an unavoidable consequence of the nature of the applicant’s career, such as a merchant seaman or employment with a multinational company based in the UK with frequent travel abroad exceptionally compelling reasons of an occupational or compassionate nature to justify naturalisation now, such as a firm job offer where British citizenship is a statutory or mandatory requirement

• •
Where an applicant’s absences exceed those covered above it is highly unlikely that discretion would be appropriate. You should normally refuse the application and advise them to re-apply when they are able to bring themselves with the statutory requirements, unless there are specific circumstances that warrant exceptional consideration at a senior level.

And also, Article 34 of the Convention:

The Contracting States shall as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of refugees. They shall in particular make every effort to expedite naturalization proceedings and to reduce as far as possible the charges and costs of such proceedings.

Thank you Amber - your info definitely gives me hope...