Immigrationboards.com

Hi,
1.) In case someone who gains settled status keeps coming back to UK regularly every year (1-2 days as a tourist/for business) - will the settled status ever expire?

2.) Post gaining settled status - how much flexibility is there in the rules governing the absence in last 12 months on the naturalization route. Is there a detailed guidance available somewhere - how much higher can one push the envelope on the 90 days?

If you're outside the UK for more than 5 years then your settled status will lapse. If you're returning for a day or two a year which really, you'll be using your settled status as a form of visit visa, it may be up to the officials at the border in the future as you're not living in the UK as a settled person. So far, the guidance is to not be outside for more than 5 years anyway.

If you intend on applying for citizenship then being in the UK for a day or two a year may not cut it. Good luck!

As for your question on absence from the UK after settled status, you can be absent from the UK for up to five continuous years without losing the settled status. In theory, so long as you return to the UK at least once every five years, your settled status will persist.

Keep in mind that while you retain settled status, your lack of residence in the UK can impact other things, such as student finance, NHS entitlement, etc. As an aside, lack of residence in the UK would impact even British citizens on the points above as well.

With regards to naturalisation, the first thing you need to do is understand that naturalisation is not a continuation of the immigration process, but a separate and distinct process under different laws and with different requirements. Because you have completed the immigration process (which ends at settled status or ILR) does not mean that naturalisation is in the bag, as it were.

Think of it this way, settled status and ILR are like a train destination. But naturalisation is a separate bus journey that starts from that train destination. Just because you got to that train destination does not mean that you meet all the requirements to get onto that bus.

In order to apply for naturalisation, you will already need to have either settled status or ILR. That is to say that you would be free from immigration restrictions and have almost all the same rights as a British citizen within the UK.

Therefore, the question you will need to convince the naturalisation caseworker is, why should the absences requirement for the last year be set aside in your case, given that you already have the right to reside indefinitely in the UK and naturalisation will not add much to that? And if you have so many absences in the last year, how do you prove your future intention to reside in the UK?

Keep in mind that naturalisation is always at discretion, unlike settled status, which can't be refused if the conditions are met. It is a case of convincing the caseworker of your future intentions and of a genuine reason for why the absences requirement should be disregarded in your instance.