More than 6 weeks outside the country per year

Miranda0412 · Post by **Miranda0412** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 3:26 pm

Hi,
I have been outside of Ireland for more than 6 weeks in two year-period before the application .
2015/2016 - 30 days
2016/2017 - 53 days
2017/2018 - 39 days
2018/2019 - 67 days
2019/2020 - 28 days
I wonder if I should wait longer before apply to make up that time. I have checked with two different solicitors but it seems there is not a standard way to count the days and it depends of the person who evaluate your application. One of the solicitors recommended to wait but the other one said it is not needed to wait as I had the residence in Ireland since June 2015, but I have also some gaps in between stamps.

Anyone with a similar situation that can advise?

Thanks!

barter · Post by **barter** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 3:51 pm

Hi, unfortunately there is no right hand thumb rule on this but if you follow other thread on this topic , its suggested to cover the days you were outside >6 weeks. In your case 53+67 days.

not to scare you and I'm not 100% sure but gap between stamp is not good but there is nothing you can do about it now.

Vorona · Post by **Vorona** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 6:11 pm

I strongly advise you not to take a risk. Wait until you have 5 years without absences over 6 weeks per year.

You might have read someone saying they were approved despite being away for more than 6 weeks, but you won't know if they lied on the form, or if it was an exceptional situation. Every application is different. However rules are the same. The question on the form is clear and it's there for a reason. It gives them every chance for rejection. Not disclosing your absences or lying on the form is a criminal offence as it's stated on the form:

"A person who gives false or misleading information is guilty of an offence under the Act and liable to a fine and/or imprisonment."

Don't take the risk. It's not worth it.

Miranda0412 · Post by **Miranda0412** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 10:21 am

Vorona wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 28, 2020 6:11 pm
I strongly advise you not to take a risk. Wait until you have 5 years without absences over 6 weeks per year.

You might have read someone saying they were approved despite being away for more than 6 weeks, but you won't know if they lied on the form, or if it was an exceptional situation. Every application is different. However rules are the same. The question on the form is clear and it's there for a reason. It gives them every chance for rejection. Not disclosing your absences or lying on the form is a criminal offence as it's stated on the form:

"A person who gives false or misleading information is guilty of an offence under the Act and liable to a fine and/or imprisonment."

Don't take the risk. It's not worth it.

Hi Vorona, thanks for taking the time to answer my question.
Can you clarify what risk are you taking about? I dont think there is any risk beside getting rejected and having to wait a bit longer.
In the application form it mentioned enclosing details of all absences on a separate sheet and include it
with the application, and that is what I am going to do. I don't think people would lie about their absences, there is a register of each absence in the immigration system and in the passport for non-EU.

littlerr · Post by **littlerr** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 1:27 pm

If getting rejected isn’t your concern then go ahead and apply for it. I would personally recommend waiting for an extra 3 months to cover the two years where your absence is more than 6 weeks, but it’s up to you.

If you get rejected because of this, you would have wasted at least 6-12 months by then. Plus, with the current timeframe, it takes at least a month or more to even just get an acknowledgment, so there isn’t any rush.

Miranda0412 · Post by **Miranda0412** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 3:30 pm

littlerr wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 30, 2020 1:27 pm
If getting rejected isn’t your concern then go ahead and apply for it. I would personally recommend waiting for an extra 3 months to cover the two years where your absence is more than 6 weeks, but it’s up to you.

If you get rejected because of this, you would have wasted at least 6-12 months by then. Plus, with the current timeframe, it takes at least a month or more to even just get an acknowledgment, so there isn’t any rush.

Thanks for your reply littlerr, if it gets rejected and takes between 6-12 months to get the response back. Can I apply immediately after that or there is a waiting time?

littlerr · Post by **littlerr** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 7:14 pm

you are free to apply for it again immediately.

Vorona · Post by **Vorona** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 10:16 pm

Miranda0412 wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 30, 2020 10:21 am
Can you clarify what risk are you taking about? I dont think there is any risk beside getting rejected and having to wait a bit longer.
In the application form it mentioned enclosing details of all absences on a separate sheet and include it
with the application, and that is what I am going to do. I don't think people would lie about their absences, there is a register of each absence in the immigration system and in the passport for non-EU.

Of course. Two types of risk.
1. Situation when application is rejected because of the absences over 6 weeks per year. No additional sanctions will be imposed, and you can apply whenever you want.

2. A bad one. Lying on the form (in this case about the absences). This is considered as false and misleading information and as per warning on the form can result in fine and (or) imprisonment. As you've mentioned you're going to disclose all absences, therefore you don't have to worry about this scenario.

God knows how many people have lied on their application. We just need to remember that we are living in the era when literally everything is digitally recorded and can be retrieved by request from different departments in the Government.
All data about passengers arriving and departing from the the State is recorded, regardless of nationality.

phoenix49 · Post by **phoenix49** » Mon Aug 31, 2020 9:45 am

I was in a similar situation and had 1 or 2 years where I was out of country for more than 6 weeks. But that being said, out of those 6 weeks, 3-4 weeks were due to my work activities and business travel - which I couldn't avoid. What I did - split those absences in two and on a sheet I provided two tables, one with personal related travels and second sheet contained business trips. Separately, they did not exceed 6 weeks in any year. I also provided documentation from employer stating that I was out of country due to work, I included some tickets for conferences I attended, etc.
In the letter I indicated that unfortunately due to work - I travelled a lot. I also applied 5 years + all of the absences combined where I was more than 6 weeks out, so it played out fairly. I indicated this in the letter too

I know at least one more person who did a similar thing, they provided two separate sheets for absences (personal & business). That person is now a citizen, and me - still waiting for the ceremony

Best of luck!

barter · Post by **barter** » Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:19 pm

phoenix49 wrote: ↑
Mon Aug 31, 2020 9:45 am
I was in a similar situation and had 1 or 2 years where I was out of country for more than 6 weeks. But that being said, out of those 6 weeks, 3-4 weeks were due to my work activities and business travel - which I couldn't avoid. What I did - split those absences in two and on a sheet I provided two tables, one with personal related travels and second sheet contained business trips. Separately, they did not exceed 6 weeks in any year. I also provided documentation from employer stating that I was out of country due to work, I included some tickets for conferences I attended, etc.
In the letter I indicated that unfortunately due to work - I travelled a lot. I also applied 5 years + all of the absences combined where I was more than 6 weeks out, so it played out fairly. I indicated this in the letter too

I know at least one more person who did a similar thing, they provided two separate sheets for absences (personal & business). That person is now a citizen, and me - still waiting for the ceremony

Best of luck!

Thanks phoenix49 for sharing your experience , its so helpful when experienced ppl share their experience in the forums.

I have quick question, is it right to say , we only need to cover the years where days outside country is >6 weeks and not to worry about years where days outside country is < 6 weeks in a year.

For example:
if some one in first three years is outside for '2 months each'.
but, in other years (4th and 5th) its 1 month away from country.

So applicant to wait 6 (2 months*3 years) months after 5 years and not 8 months ?

ChristinaLeary · Post by **ChristinaLeary** » Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:29 pm

phoenix49 wrote: ↑
Mon Aug 31, 2020 9:45 am
I was in a similar situation and had 1 or 2 years where I was out of country for more than 6 weeks. But that being said, out of those 6 weeks, 3-4 weeks were due to my work activities and business travel - which I couldn't avoid. What I did - split those absences in two and on a sheet I provided two tables, one with personal related travels and second sheet contained business trips. Separately, they did not exceed 6 weeks in any year. I also provided documentation from employer stating that I was out of country due to work, I included some tickets for conferences I attended, etc.
In the letter I indicated that unfortunately due to work - I travelled a lot. I also applied 5 years + all of the absences combined where I was more than 6 weeks out, so it played out fairly. I indicated this in the letter too

I know at least one more person who did a similar thing, they provided two separate sheets for absences (personal & business). That person is now a citizen, and me - still waiting for the ceremony

Best of luck!

Hi Pheonix,

I have a question for you. So you mean to say that you didn't apply for citizenship after 5 years? Right? And you wanted for 6th or 7th year once you completed all your more than 6 weeks absences and then you applied in year 7? Is my understanding correct?

Please respond? When did you apply? After completing all your absences of more than 6 weeks or after 5 years?

Many Thanks

phoenix49 · Post by **phoenix49** » Wed Sep 02, 2020 2:45 pm

barter wrote: ↑
Mon Aug 31, 2020 4:19 pm
Thanks phoenix49 for sharing your experience , its so helpful when experienced ppl share their experience in the forums.

I have quick question, is it right to say , we only need to cover the years where days outside country is >6 weeks and not to worry about years where days outside country is < 6 weeks in a year.

For example:
if some one in first three years is outside for '2 months each'.
but, in other years (4th and 5th) its 1 month away from country.

So applicant to wait 6 (2 months*3 years) months after 5 years and not 8 months ?

Hi!

For the previous years, what I did - is added up time where I was away for more than 6 weeks, e.g. if in 2nd year I was away for 8 weeks, and in 3rd year for 7 weeks - I'd apply after 5 years + 2 weeks (2nd year) + 1 week (3rd year).

In your case, 2 months each, means 8 weeks in total. So apply when you have 5 years and 8 weeks

Hope this helps.

EDITED

phoenix49 · Post by **phoenix49** » Wed Sep 02, 2020 2:52 pm

ChristinaLeary wrote: ↑
Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:29 pm
Hi Pheonix,

I have a question for you. So you mean to say that you didn't apply for citizenship after 5 years? Right? And you wanted for 6th or 7th year once you completed all your more than 6 weeks absences and then you applied in year 7? Is my understanding correct?

Please respond? When did you apply? After completing all your absences of more than 6 weeks or after 5 years?

Many Thanks

HI! I actually applied when I was in the country for almost 6 years and a few months, to ensure that my last year didn't have absences for more than 6 weeks + all other years where I was out for more than 6 weeks.

In other words, I made sure that in the last 365 days I wasn't away for more than 6 weeks. I also waited to "cover" years when I was out for more than 6 weeks, e.g. if I was away for 10 weeks in my 2nd year, I'd apply once I'm in the country after 5 years + 4 weeks. Just make sure that in the last year (last 365 days) you weren't away for more than 6 weeks. If you were more than that - just wait a little until the "window" of 365 days shifts and you are out of country for no more than 6 weeks.

It all sound complicated a bit, but not really

ChristinaLeary · Post by **ChristinaLeary** » Wed Sep 02, 2020 5:21 pm

Hi Pheonix,

Thanks for the reply. My understanding was that you need to cover all 10 weeks and not just the excess. So lets says if in Year 2, you were away for 8 weeks, then you have to wait for 8 weeks after 5 years and not 2 weeks ( which is 8-6) to cover the absences.
I hope you get approved.

Many Thanks

phoenix49 · Post by **phoenix49** » Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:45 pm

ChristinaLeary wrote: ↑
Wed Sep 02, 2020 5:21 pm
Hi Pheonix,

Thanks for the reply. My understanding was that you need to cover all 10 weeks and not just the excess. So lets says if in Year 2, you were away for 8 weeks, then you have to wait for 8 weeks after 5 years and not 2 weeks ( which is 8-6) to cover the absences.
I hope you get approved.

Many Thanks

Well, I am already approved and waiting for the ceremony, I just shared my experience

. So in my case, with your example, for Year 2 I only waited 2 weeks.

But this is just personal experience, and naturalisation clerks may have different opinions. I know that in the form it's not really clear what is needed to be done. So it's a bit of a grey area, especially if you remember the 365 days in the country without a single day out nonsense

All the best!

Miranda0412 · Post by **Miranda0412** » Wed Sep 02, 2020 9:30 pm

phoenix49 wrote: ↑
Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:45 pm
Well, I am already approved and waiting for the ceremony, I just shared my experience . So in my case, with your example, for Year 2 I only waited 2 weeks.

But this is just personal experience, and naturalisation clerks may have different opinions. I know that in the form it's not really clear what is needed to be done. So it's a bit of a grey area, especially if you remember the 365 days in the country without a single day out nonsense

All the best!

Thanks Phoenix49 for sharing your experience, it give me a some peace of mind and I am going to separate the days as you suggested.

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