Annual leave outside the UK

[VirtualWaver]

Hi guys,

Just want to double check this to make sure I am on safe side.

I am on Tier 2 General visa, it's my 2nd year on it. I travel abroad sometimes to spend my annual leave with friends, doing some shopping, visiting nice places, etc. All my absence is authorized and is annual leave, I never had any unauthorized absence. I was absent for 18 days last year (a few trips a few days long) and 19 days this year so far (one 10 days trip and one 9 days). I always email to my HR when I am taking an annual leave and planning to leave the UK and they are recording all my absences in my file to comply with regulations.

I was reading the other day that to qualify for ILR we need to proof that we did not leave the UK for more than 180 days in any single year and in all 5 years combined. It was also saying that any absence from the UK should be related to work.

Everything is clear with 180 days rule; I never spent that much and will never do.

The second part, however, is a bit tricky: what does it mean by saying "absence should be related to work"? Does it mean that my annual leave outside the UK is illegal? A bit confused about that. Could you please shed some light on this one? Thanks a lot!

[moonlight55]

I guess you are over-thinking on this. Since all your absences are valid ones, you need not worry about it. Annual leaves is part of your employment contract and you are expected to take them.

[VirtualWaver]

Sorry for late reply and thanks a lot for your answer! Really appreciate it!

[VirtualWaver]

Sorry for being a pain. A few more questions regarding absence please. Just want to be absolutely sure I am on safe side.

1. It says that only whole days are counted. Does it mean that if I travel let's say on 2nd of April at 9am and return on 5th of April at 3pm then it counts like this

2nd April 9am - 3rd April 9am = 1 day
3rd April 9am - 4rd April 9am = 1 day
4rd April 9am - 5th April 9am = 1 day
5th April 9am - 5th April 3pm = 0 day (<24h)

so in total it's 3 days?
Or

Travelled on 2nd of April 9am returned the same day on 3pm.

2nd April 9am - 2nd April 3pm = 0 day (<24h)

Is all this correct please?

2. I am married but travel alone. This is because we have a baby that doesn't have a visa thus cannot leave the country and also my wife prefers to stay with baby whilst I have lots of friends and love to travel to see them. Is this an issue with Home Office regarding absence / ILR / visa extension? If yes I will stop travelling alone.

3. I travel often, however never travelled for more than 10 days in one go: I always travel 5-10 days and always use my annual leave (no unauthorized absence) and always record my annual leaves with HR as required. It says in policy guidance that annual leave should be assessed on case by case basis and also it should comply with Annual Leave legislation. My standard annual leave entitlement is 23 days however this year I transferred 5 extra days from previous year as I didn't use all my days last year. So I might travel 28 working days in total this year (23 + 5). Is this an issue with Home Office, I mean is it allowed to transfer a holiday from another year and use it to travel abroad?

4. Do I need to bring a letter from my employer stating my annual leaves and business trips when I will apply for ILR even though I was absent less than 180 days?

5. As it says that annual leaves should be assessed on case by case basis. Does it mean that the more you travel abroad (even if it is less than 180 days) the more chances of refusal you will get?

Thanks a lot guys, sorry for being a pain, just want to double check all this. Thanks!

[moonlight55]

Sorry for being a pain. A few more questions regarding absence please. Just want to be absolutely sure I am on safe side.

1. It says that only whole days are counted. Does it mean that if I travel let's say on 2nd of April at 9am and return on 5th of April at 3pm then it counts like this

2nd April 9am - 3rd April 9am = 1 day
3rd April 9am - 4rd April 9am = 1 day
4rd April 9am - 5th April 9am = 1 day
5th April 9am - 5th April 3pm = 0 day (<24h)

so in total it's 3 days?
A day means 12 am to 11.59 PM the next night. In above case, you were out or UK for 2 whole days and 2 partial days. So, only 2 days will be counted.

Or

Travelled on 2nd of April 9am returned the same day on 3pm.

2nd April 9am - 2nd April 3pm = 0 day (<24h)

Is all this correct please?

2. I am married but travel alone. This is because we have a baby that doesn't have a visa thus cannot leave the country and also my wife prefers to stay with baby whilst I have lots of friends and love to travel to see them. Is this an issue with Home Office regarding absence / ILR / visa extension? If yes I will stop travelling alone.
As long as your travel is valid (business or personal travel) and you are still employed with the sponsor, it's not an issue.

3. I travel often, however never travelled for more than 10 days in one go: I always travel 5-10 days and always use my annual leave (no unauthorized absence) and always record my annual leaves with HR as required. It says in policy guidance that annual leave should be assessed on case by case basis and also it should comply with Annual Leave legislation. My standard annual leave entitlement is 23 days however this year I transferred 5 extra days from previous year as I didn't use all my days last year. So I might travel 28 working days in total this year (23 + 5). Is this an issue with Home Office, I mean is it allowed to transfer a holiday from another year and use it to travel abroad?
No. As long as your employer can confirm your leaves, it's fine.

4. Do I need to bring a letter from my employer stating my annual leaves and business trips when I will apply for ILR even though I was absent less than 180 days?
Yes, its required for ILR application.

5. As it says that annual leaves should be assessed on case by case basis. Does it mean that the more you travel abroad (even if it is less than 180 days) the more chances of refusal you will get?
As long as your travel is for valid reasons, there should not be any issue with it.

Thanks a lot guys, sorry for being a pain, just want to double check all this. Thanks!

[VirtualWaver]

Thanks a lot for your reply! I feel much more confident now! Thanks a million again for your time and help!

[VirtualWaver]

Sorry just one more question please:

My working days are Mon - Fri and company wants to send me abroad for a business trip for Mon - Fri. I want to leave the UK on Saturday and return the next Sunday though to have a few free days to discover the other country. Do my HR needs to write in my file that I was on business trip from Sat to Sun or they need to write Mon - Fri - business trip, Sat - Sun and the next Sat - Sun - authorized leave? Could you please advise? Thanks!

Also, in general, if we work Mon - Fri do weekends and public holidays record by HR as "authorized leave the UK" as it's not an annual leave nor a paid day off?