Permanent Residence Card and Year Abroad

[katewu]

Hello,

I tried to solve this issue myself by calling my former university and citizen advise but no one seems to know anything. I am an EU national trying to get permanent residence through the 5-year rule.

I have moved to the UK in 2013 to study B.A degree. My course included a year abroad in China as a part of the degree, however, I still paid the fees as a student in the UK during that time.
Then after my year abroad in 2016, I came back to the UK to finish my BA course and since that time I have lived in the UK, did my master's degree at different Universiy and I am currently working.
In this case is it possible for me to apply for the permanent residence card or I will get rejected since I had a break within the 5 years I was supposed to live in the UK uninterruptedly.
I am very grateful for any information. Thank you.

[NikiGio]

You are allowed one absence of 12 months within the 5-year period for important reasons - like studying.
See p. 47 on this HO document: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&sourc ... YF_SU3if5j
So you're fine - just include a covering letter explaining what you were doing. If you have it - you could also include evidence such as a letter from your uni about your year abroad.
Good luck.

[katewu]

Hello,

Thank you so much for your fast reply
What about holidays/ going back home for Christmas short stays in my home country for up to 1 month? Does it add up to this 12 months?

Thank you

[NikiGio]

So - for every 1 year of your 5-year qualifyng period, you can have absences of up to 6 months.
Once in the 5 years and for a good reason (like studying), you can have one absence of 12 months like in your case.
So absences of 1 month for holidays are OK - but only if they don't add up to more than 6 months in any one year.
So for example - say in one particular year, you were absent 7 times from the UK and each time for one month. When added together, your 7 absences of one month each in that particular year cumulatively would be 7 months - given that's longer than 6 months, this is not allowed and the 5-year clock would re-start that year.

[katewu]

Hello,

Thank you so much. In this case, I should be fine. Time to start the process. Thank you again