Just saw the new publised IDI for LRC and the rules have been relaxed as per the previous rules. Gaps less than 6 months are even allowed so long as you left the country with a valid LTR and returned with a valid leave.
Read Below:
2.2.4 Time spent outside the United Kingdom
Continuous residence should be considered to have been broken if the applicant has spent a total of more than 18 months absent from the United Kingdom during the period in question.
Subject to that, continuous residence shall not be considered to have been broken where an applicant is absent from the United Kingdom for a period of 6 months or less at any one time, provided that the applicant has existing limited leave to enter or remain upon his departure and return (see Example 1).
To benefit from this, an applicant must have valid leave on the date that they departed the UK and valid leave on the date that they returned. Please note that this does not have to be the same grant of leave on departure and return (see Example 2).
Nor is it necessary for the leave to be in the same category (i.e. an applicant can depart the UK with leave as a student and return with leave as a work permit holder). As long as the applicant has valid leave on both the date of departure and the date they return, they will not have broken continuous residence.
A person enters the UK on 1 September 2004 with entry clearance as a student which is valid until 31 October 2005. On 25 October 2005 (before the previous leave expired) the person departs the UK. On 5 January 2006 the person re-enters the UK with valid entry clearance as a student. Will the person’s continuous residence be deemed to be broken?
No. Because the person had valid leave on the date of their departure and the date of their return and the time spent outside the UK was less than 6 months, continuous residence has been maintained, even though they re-entered with a fresh grant of leave.
http://bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteconten ... chapter18/If an applicant has a single short gap in lawful residence through making one single previous application out of time by a few days (not usually more than 10 calendar days out of time), caseworkers should use discretion granting ILR, so long as the application meets all the other requirements.
Nice one Phil Woolas and the UKBA Team!
