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Hi All,

Have a quick query

I know as per the rules you cant stay more than 450 days outside the UK, in the past 5 years etc. And I have stayed around for 567 days for personal reasons.

When i was reading the guidelines, it says Absence disregarded upto 900 days if you meet all other requirements AND you have established your home, family and a substantial part of your estate here.

May i know what this is please.

For the last 5 years, I am full time employee here in UK paying taxes etc.

I am keen to apply for citizenship, but want to know if there is any risk in it.

Is there any particular reason of the excess of absences like compassionate/work/pandemic/health ? These can be accompanied by a small cover letter during the application but be prepared for them to be challenged (proof).

It's naturalisation by discretion, so if the case worker that will review your application doesn't think there are reasonable grounds to waive your absences you risk getting your application rejected

Yes, last year when I went to India lockdown was announced and there were no flights etc. Similarily this year when i travelled they put in the red list criteria etc.

See also Naturalisation Guidance.

vinny wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:31 am

See also Naturalisation Guidance.

Thanks for this. May i know what the below means

you must only consider exercising discretion where the applicant has established their home, employment,
family and finances in the UK

My job is in UK and I get fully paid here in UK and I do pay taxes etc. Is that it ?

If we satisfy the above and there is a set of other conditions, out of which one is below

the excess absences were because the applicant was unable to return to the UK because of global pandemic

So I believe I have a decent chance !!

"Their home" I interpret it as you are a homeowner here in the UK (mortgage or not doesn't matter).

You can definitely use the pandemic as a reason for those excess absences

We had the same issue but out of the country for different reasons almost 900 days so really pushed the limit. We specifically asked for discretion in this matter and included any evidence and reasons for the absences.

In regarding our estate, the covering letter included that we had bought a house here, our children were in school in the UK, we kept all our money in the UK and worked here. Its hard to know how much weight that had on the decision but it was never queried and really was a short paragraph in the covering letter.

Hope this helps.

Thank you both. Unfortunately I dont own a home yet here in UK.

I am willing to take a chance on this application. If in the worst case scenario, the application gets rejected may i know if it will have any impact on my future application ?

My understanding on "has established their home in the UK" is not about buying a house but proving that your home is in UK ie: your spouse, children are in UK, work in UK etc.