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Dear All,

I need your help. I am very confused with all these new rules in regard of the residency requirements.

I am an EU national (from Bulgaria) and I live in the UK since 31st January 2016, few months before the leave campaign on Brexit. Between February and June I had a part-time job and was actively seeking for a full- time job. I got my first full time job in June 2016 and I am on a continual full time employment since then. By the end of January 2021 I should be eligible to apply for ILR and hopefully for a British citizenship after another year.

My absences from the country are as follows:

31 January 2016- 31 January 2017: 0 days absence
31 January 2017- 31 January 2018: 13 days absence
31 January 2018- 31 January 2019- 53 days absence
31 January 2019- 31 January 2020- approximately 120 days absence
31 January 2020- 31 January 2021- approximately 110 days absence

I have not had any big absences from the country... yet. This year, In October I will probably head for the tropics due to an internship. It is a seven and a half months long employment , 230 days. This period is exceeding the maximum absence of 180 days by almost two months, however, this period is split in two halves between two consecutive 12 month periods (as you can see above). Technically, I don't exceed 180 days at any given 12 months period, because the half of my internship will be immediately before 31 January 2020 and the other half starts immediately after 1 Feb 2020 and will last until mid- May 2020.

I went to a Citizens Advice bureau for a consultation about this issue, they said that my circumstances with the will not break my residency and I can apply for my settled status in 2021. But I am extremely anxious over the situation and need a second opinion.

Thank you for your support and cannot wait to hear from you.

What '180 days per 12 months' exactly are you referring to and 'split into 2 years'??

Are you asking in regards to EU Settled status or British citizenship??? They are two completely separate things and different rules.

Hello and thank you for your response.

I am aiming to get a British passport, therefore I need to get my Settled status first.

What I was asking was if my absence because of the internship is breaking my continual residency in the UK, because half of this 230 days period lies in the current 12 months period (which ends up on 31st January 2020) and the other half lies in the next 12 months period (starting on January 2020 and finishing on January 2021). I hope this makes things more clear.

Why do you believe there is a 180 days per calendar year absence limit for EU citizens?

This is what I was told at the Citizens Advice Bureau. As long as I am not absent more that 180 days at a given 12 months period I should not be worried about my settled status. However, I want to apply for citizenship too.

There is no such absence limit or requirement for citizenship. You simple need 5 years residence, settled status and no more than 450 days absence in the whole 5 years immediately preceding date of application and months than 90 days absence in the final 12 months immediately preceding date of application.

For EU settled scheme, you should post in the eea sub forum.