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Hi all,

I will keep it to the point. I gained ILR on 25th March 2021 (10 year long residence route).
Therefore, I am eligible to apply for Naturalisation by 25th March 2022 , provided I wasn't out > 90 days in those 12 months.

However, I was - I was in India from 26th May 2022 - 14th Jan 2022 (233 days or 7mo 19days to be precise) *visited family and also got married in December during this visit*

• Q1:

Am I right in understanding and therefore calculating that I can only apply for Naturalisation on 17th October 2022 at the earliest? As going back over 12 months from 17/10/22-17/10/2021, I would have only been out of the UK for 90 days i.e. between 17/10/2021-14/01/2022 and not more, since getting the ILR?

I was also in the country on the 17th October 2017, for that bit of the rules.

• Q2:

Can the gap be justified if it was for wedding, is the worth the risk in applying early and putting in a cover letter to explain the absence? Or should I wait out until October this year or later to apply?

If I am missing a trick, please do guide, as I want to get naturalisation asap, to enable spouse visa application for my wife who is not in the UK yet.

There is no "missing trick". The rules are clear.

A wedding is not an exceptional reason to be absent for 7 months

Not long to go to October anyway.

You don't need citizenship to sponsor your wife, you can sponsor her with ilr. It is the same visa regardless of citizenship or ilr.

I see she has a not so good history.

general-uk-immigration-forum/spouse-vis ... l#p2080540

CR001 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 19, 2022 1:59 pm

There is no "missing trick". The rules are clear.

A wedding is not an exceptional reason to be absent for 7 months

Not long to go to October anyway.

You don't need citizenship to sponsor your wife, you can sponsor her with ilr. It is the same visa regardless of citizenship or ilr.

I see she has a not so good history.

general-uk-immigration-forum/spouse-vis ... l#p2080540

Yes the history is exactly why I am willing to allow more than required time for her application, also to avoid putting in both applications at same time if they are due together.

Thank you though, of course by missing a trick I meant if I am missing anything obvious or complicating the rules for myself.

So you are saying the calculation for October 2022 is correct and fine to go by?

agentfourty7 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 19, 2022 1:56 pm

• Q1:

Am I right in understanding and therefore calculating that I can only apply for Naturalisation on 17th October 2022 at the earliest? As going back over 12 months from 17/10/22-17/10/2021, I would have only been out of the UK for 90 days i.e. between 17/10/2021-14/01/2022 and not more, since getting the ILR?

Yes. In general terms you can apply when the absence threshold has been lowered to 90 days or less. That is achieved by not travelling out of the UK for some weeks or months after the day you qualify. Best to wait a few more days for cushion, instead of having it be exactly 90 days.

I was also in the country on the 17th October 2017, for that bit of the rules.

You have to add one day to that. If you want to apply on the 17th of October 2022, you have to have been in the UK on the 18th of October 2017. See this post.

kamoe wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 19, 2022 3:17 pm

agentfourty7 wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 19, 2022 1:56 pm

• Q1:

Am I right in understanding and therefore calculating that I can only apply for Naturalisation on 17th October 2022 at the earliest? As going back over 12 months from 17/10/22-17/10/2021, I would have only been out of the UK for 90 days i.e. between 17/10/2021-14/01/2022 and not more, since getting the ILR?

Yes. In general terms you can apply when the absence threshold has been lowered to 90 days or less. That is achieved by not travelling out of the UK for some weeks or months after the day you qualify. Best to wait a few more days for cushion, instead of having it be exactly 90 days.

I was also in the country on the 17th October 2017, for that bit of the rules.

You have to add one day to that. If you want to apply on the 17th of October 2022, you have to have been in the UK on the 18th of October 2017. See this post.

Thank you, Kamoe. I have read the linked post in detail (along with the tuxedo analogy ) and I understand better now. I will wait a little longer in this case and apply after due checks of 5-year presence rule.

Thank you once again.