Immigrationboards.com

Hi, I’ve received an email from my caseworker regarding my citizenship application, and I’m a bit stressed about it. The email states that I’ve been out of the UK for more days than I declared in my application. They’ve asked me to provide a detailed list of all my absences, including the destination, and the dates I left and returned to the UK.

I’ve double-checked everything thoroughly (even looked through my photo albums to make sure) and can confirm that all the dates I provided are accurate. According to my records, my absences are well within the required limits (96 days in the past 5 years and only 3 days in the past year).

Given this, I’m wondering if there could be a mistake on their side. Has anyone experienced something similar where the authorities had a wrong record or discrepancy in their absence details? I’ve already responded to the email with all the requested evidence of residence and state that everything is correct, but I’m really stressed about the possibility of my application being rejected or delayed due to an error on their part.

Can you request a SAR with border control and see if there are discrepancies? I don't think I have encountered this case on the forum in the 2 years I have been reading it.

Have they actually stated what the discrepancy is ?

I am trying to make a SAR request.
No they didn't mentioned what the discrepancies is the email. I replied that I don't expect there is any discrepancies.
The only thing I think it could be that I entered 2 entries for Portugal and Spain in my application like this
Portugal 2022-05-18 to 2022-05-26
Spain 2022-05-26 to 2022-06-02

But it should only be 1 trip which is
Portugal + Spain 2022-05-18 2022-06-02

I stated this in the reply as well but there is just 1 day difference. I am very worried there is an error from their record which will caused them to think I am out of the UK for very long period of time.

Someone on this forum, just a few days ago, posted about their SAR showing inaccurate record of their travel (a trip out of the UK that they never took) so it's certainly possible that there'd be errors (no database is perfect).

I'd wait for the SAR to come through and see if there's anything there or ask the case worker directly for the specific date range they are concerned about. Then you can probably fairly easily prove that you were in the country at the time. Otherwise you'd need massive amount of data to prove that you were in the UK on all dates other than those you've already declared.

are you from Hong Kong? did you use SAR (not that SAR) /BNO passports in/out the UK? usually you have two passports, one chinese (SAR) and one British (sort of). The Home office may document your in/out using two different passports

Thank you! I have done the SAR request and hopefully get more clarity on why

> are you from Hong Kong? did you use SAR (not that SAR) /BNO passports in/out the UK? usually you have two passports, one chinese (SAR) and one British (sort of). The Home office may document your in/out using two different passports

Yes! I did used the HKSAR (not that SAR) passport for some trips. This is a good point which might explain the difference between my record and theirs.

My husband has got citizenship last year with the almost exact same record of travel but he wasn't contacted by the caseworker.

I will update in this post after I have got the SAR response.

Make sure when you apply for the SAR that you declare both passports then.

crosvenor1234 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 28, 2025 11:05 am

Thank you! I have done the SAR request and hopefully get more clarity on why

> are you from Hong Kong? did you use SAR (not that SAR) /BNO passports in/out the UK? usually you have two passports, one chinese (SAR) and one British (sort of). The Home office may document your in/out using two different passports

Yes! I did used the HKSAR (not that SAR) passport for some trips. This is a good point which might explain the difference between my record and theirs.

My husband has got citizenship last year with the almost exact same record of travel but he wasn't contacted by the caseworker.

I will update in this post after I have got the SAR response.

are your names the same in your two passports? because HKSAR may use your chinese name and BNO one uses your English first name + chinese surname. Also HKSAR nationality is CHN/HKG whereas BNO is BNO. So they can be sorted differently

crosvenor1234 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 27, 2025 3:57 pm

I’ve double-checked everything thoroughly (even looked through my photo albums to make sure) and can confirm that all the dates I provided are accurate. According to my records, my absences are well within the required limits (96 days in the past 5 years and only 3 days in the past year).

Given this, I’m wondering if there could be a mistake on their side. Has anyone experienced something similar where the authorities had a wrong record or discrepancy in their absence details? I’ve already responded to the email with all the requested evidence of residence and state that everything is correct, but I’m really stressed about the possibility of my application being rejected or delayed due to an error on their part.

Perhaps they were just seeking clarification on the travel dates in the form e.g. when you counted a single trip visiting different countries as separate absences from the UK. It doesn't mean that your application will be refused.

Something similar happened to a friend just before Christmas, she re-sent the same travel dates she included in the form and her citizenship application was approved a few weeks ago with no further questions.

Need to be patient and wait for a response.

Thank you everyone for your insights. I have got the council ceremony email which mean it is approved!

Congratulations!

crosvenor1234 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 14, 2025 4:24 pm

Thank you everyone for your insights. I have got the council ceremony email which mean it is approved!

Congratulations!! I am in a similar situation but I wasn't told that my dates declared are not correct. I was told that "their records" show I have exceeded the permitted number of days for absences and was asked to send evidence of residence. I have only been out of the UK for 49 days for the whole of my stay and I submitted my passport travel pages with stamps as part of my original application to prove. I have now sent my P60s in an email back to them. Can I ask three questions please?

• Did you send back the information the same day they requested it?

• Did you receive your invitation today without home office approval?

• When they asked you to provide information, was the email closing address from a "XXXXX CT3 On behalf of the Secretary of State for the Home Department"?

Thank you!,

Yes I replied the email on the same day and included the dates of travel which are litually the same as those in my application

True, I have only got the council invitation but not yet received the HO approval email. It matches my husband's experience as he has got his HO approval email 3 days after the council invitation

Mine is "CT9 Casework Enquiries"

crosvenor1234 wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 15, 2025 11:42 pm

Thank you!,

Yes I replied the email on the same day and included the dates of travel which are litually the same as those in my application

True, I have only got the council invitation but not yet received the HO approval email. It matches my husband's experience as he has got his HO approval email 3 days after the council invitation

Mine is "CT9 Casework Enquiries"

Thanks so much, I will just wait then