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Hello everyone,
I just received my permanent residence document (German national). It says I acquired PR in September 2015 and thus I can apply for citizenship right away. I was also present in the UK this time five years ago, so I fulfil this requirement.

However, my PR condoned a 9 month-long absence in 2013: I had completed my undergrad, went to Germany and worked while waiting for my postgrad to start in September 2013. These do not count towards my PR which is why that application was granted. But do they count towards my BC application? If they do, I have a real problem: I'm on 470 days' absence. I know 480 are condoned but I'm leaving for a conference on Wednesday which will bring me to exactly 480 days' absence. I can't possibly apply before Wednesday. Does the period which is condoned for my PR count in the BC application?

Hallo!
BC comes under UK nationality laws and you cannot rely on anything you submitted for PR (under EU regulations) - absences are counted back from the date of BC application irrespective of what was or wasn't counted for PR. If you are hitting the maximum that's ok. If it's over an application can be delayed to come back to the maximum.
Hope this helps.

As someone else has noted, the residence rules for EEA-PR and British citizenship are different.

You may wish to review the Home Office policy document on the residence requirement: (Annex B, Chapter 18, Nationality Instructions).
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... r_18_B.pdf

There is some flexibility between 480 and 900 days absence over the 5 year period. Note the criteria expected.

Also you should note that:
- you may already fail the 480 days if you had additional absences from the U.K. (holidays, etc.)
- if you do not apply now, you will be unable to apply during the period of time in 2018 which is 5 years ahead of your absence in 2013
- as you may be aware, if you become British- ie, have your citizenship ceremony- while the United Kingdom is a member of the European Union (before 29.03.2019) then you should be able to keep your German citizenship without requiring specific permission. After that, unless Germany changes its laws to treat the U.K. on a par with Switzerland (dual citizenship also allowed) you would need a Beibehaltungsgenehmigung if you wanted to keep German citizenship.

Thank you very much for this!
I'm planning on applying now. I was hoping to rely on this section of the Nationality Act (1981) (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61)

[F1932A(1)A person has a qualifying immigration status for the purposes of paragraph 1(2) if the person has—
(...)
(f)a temporary or permanent EEA entitlement.

Paragraph 1(2) is the one about having been here five years with only 450 days. So I hope my Permanent Residence Card should count as 'qualifying immigration status'.

Another question: HOW do I prove that I WAS in the UK at that time?

It's not a question of whether or not you had a qualifying immigration status when you were in the United Kingdom. Based on the facts you state, that is not in question. What may be in question is whether you have enough days of presence to begin with.

In addition- the section of the Act you quote was passed by Parliament but never activated by Commencement Order (unlikely ever to be so, and will probably be repealed at some point).

The tolerances on allowed absences are also explained in the addendum to Guide AN:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... y_2017.pdf

It would be recommended to do a self-assessment against these guidelines. (pages 7 and 8 ).

How to evidence you were in the United Kingdom at the time? It should be similar to what you already provided to the Home Office as part of your Permanent Residence application. It's also in the Guide to Naturalisation, page 14:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... y_2017.pdf

You don't mention if you have a spouse- a British spouse means you could apply under section 6(2), 3 year residence requirement instead of 5 years.

Thank you, I'll have another look.

My spouse is Australian but we are currently in our separation year.