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Hello, my name is Nick and I am a Romanian working and living in the UK for the past 4 years straight without leaving the country in all this time...

I need your professional advice on this one as I read a lot online and nothing provides with a real answer.

I want to get citizenship and I am aware (as far as I read online) of the '450 days of absence' rule in the first 5 years in order to apply for citizenship but....

I got a very good contract position in Ireland for 6 months which I would not like to miss so... I don't know how this works with regards to me applying for UK citizenship in the future.

I never left The UK in 4 years and if I spend 6 months straight at once in Ireland and then come back and carry on my life in the UK, will those 6 months outside the UK affect me when it comes to applying for citizenship in order to get the UK passport?

Can I spend more than 3 months at once outside the UK in one year in order to qualify for citizenship after 5 years? This is my questions. I know in the last year prior to applying you can spend no more than 90 days... How does this work??

Thank you very much,
Nick

You need PR (5 years) and have held PR for another year (therefore apply after six years), and comply with the absence rules, within reason. Refer to the UKVI Form AN and Booklets:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... en-form-an

Hello, I read all that but I need a simple answer actually which I cannot find.

If I leave UK for 6 months in one go after 4 years of permanent residence, will this be a problem when applying for citizenship?

This is why I asked here. I read everywhere but I cannot find an answer to my simple question. I can spend 450 days in the first 5 years. Can I spend 450 days at once or not? In my case, I only need 6 months at once outside at the UK and then come back and carry on and finally apply for citizenship, when the time comes.

Thank you,
Nick

You can't spend more than 90 days outside of the UK in the 12 month period prior to submitting the BC application.

I believe you're confusing terms. If you've only lived for 4 years in the UK you don't have permanent resident (PR) status yet.

Only after living for 5 years in the UK you can get PR status (if you meet the PR conditions), and you need to apply for a card (DCPR) to confirm that status. And you can only apply for British Citizenship after you held the PR status for 1 full year. You also need the DCPR to apply for citizenship.

If you leave the UK now and stay abroad for 6+ months, you will lose the PR continuity and you cannot get the DCPR, and your PR clock resets to 0.

I'm not a solicitor so take this with a grain of salt


PS. If I were you I would forget about that 6-month contract - if you really want the British Citizenship. Find another contract in the UK. After you get your British cit & passport you can go work wherever you want for as long as you want.

Why does it say '450 days in the past 5 years then'???

And I can only spend 3 months per year only?

And the last year, what is the deal with it? Because they say 450 days ikn the last 5 years but 90 days in the last year....

But in the end is 90 days for each year..... I am very confused and it should be so simple really...

So, if I go and stay out of the UK for 3 months in the next year, will that be ok in terms of eligibility?

The advice has not changed since you posted the same query in December.

ireland/citizenship-question-t245597.html#p1575865

Thnk you all for the answers.

Bottom line is no more than 90 days per year out of the UK in the first 5 years. If I have never left anywehere in my first 4 years, those '90 days per year' are 'lost', is that correct?

But, sorry to ask again as some things I read are sometimes ambiguous... What is that about the last year before applying? Why do they say no more than 90 days out of the UK in that special last year... when in fact this '90 days' rule applies for each of the 5 years? Please clarify this.

I will not leave to Ireland but I might need to go for 1-2 months and work for my UK company from Romania while I sort some personal things there.... so I need to learn about this citizenship matter.

Thank you again and looking forward for your replies,
Nick

The rules do not state 90 days per year and it is NOT applied like that by HO either. The 450 days limit could be any amount of absence at any time within the 5 year qualifying period BUT no more than 90 days in the last 12 months. The absence requirements as stated are not "discretionary" usually and there have been many refusals due to not meeting this requirement.

We dont know why the rules state the 90 days in last 12 months limit, we dont make the rules, but likely to prevent people moving abroad for extended periods of time and just popping back to apply for citizenship ( yes people think they can do this).

You should also focus on what the requirements are for you to apply for PR as without that, you cannot apply for citizenship.

@CR001 thank you very much for your answers.

Sorry but what do you mean by 'what requirements are for me' in your last phrase? Shouldn't it be the same for anyone like me or what do you mean?

All the best,
Nick

There are specific requirements you need to meet to qualify for PR. Suggest you read up on it.

I read a lot but what exactly are you refering to?

You are reading too much into a general comment i made.

Any long absences, being a qualified person exercising treaty rights etc. But if you have read about, then presumably you know.

My statement was not aimed at YOU and your circumstances specifically. It was a general comment to focus on the PR requirements as a first step as without PR, you cannot apply for BC.

Ok I understand now. Thank you so much for your input @CR001

All the best,
Nick