My situation was discussed in this thread http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... sc&start=0. As you can see I was away for 231 days in total and 197 days when travel days are excluded. Of which, only 12 days are business related.
I went to Croydon today for a premium appointment @9.00am. I went there at 8am and was let in at 8.15am, finish payment at 8.40 and see the case worker at exactly 9.05am. She was very polite and friendly and only ask for a small set of documents:
1. Passports and photos
2. Absence list
3. All P60s
4. Last 3 payslips
5. Last 3 bank statements
6. Employer letter (I did ask HR to state that I did not take any unpaid leave and details my business trips).
7. KOL certificates
That is, I brought with me a lot more but she does not request anything else. The interview itself lasted just 10 minutes and I was told to wait. There was some delay for one of her checkings but then she called me at 11:00am to tell me that everything is fine and we are granted ILR.
I did ask her about the days outside UK and she told me that the most important thing is that no trip were more than 90 days and continuous employment. According to her, the day travelling and public holidays are discounted. Also, if you did not take any unpaid leave, in continuous employment in UK then they will allow you to discount the weekends as well.
One thing I did was created a list of all the trips and correspondent stamps on my passports. She told that was very useful and help her made her decision quicker.
That is, I am very happy now. The only thing I regret is that I did apply for a Tier 1 just 2 week ago in case ILR got rejected. I should not have done that and save £1120 but who knows :p
Have a nice weekend all
and a happy Vietnamese/Chinese new year as well if you celebrate Johnny