giving birth abroad as reason for exceeding period of absence

[AntoniusBlock]

My spouse is in the process of applying for citizenship under the spouse scheme of a 3-year period as I am a British citizen by naturalisation.

However, her period of absence is 317 days in the past 3 years.

The main reason is that we had to be abroad for a period of 4-5 months while she was pregnant in order to give birth in our home country (a period during which she developed gestational diabetes and it was recommended by her OB that it is not a good idea to travel).

Does anyone happen to know any similar case or have any insights on whether this could be considered sufficiently extenuating circumstances justifying the excess of leave if all other requirements are met?

Many thanks

[alterhase58]

There are no exemptions per se - only what is set out in the guidance.
Spouse is only 17 days over the limit of 300 which is normally disregarded. https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... bookmark11
If you don't want to wait a bit longer to let the absences settle at a more normal level (between 270 and 300) then you will have to explain your case and request discretion. By it's nature discretion is just that. It's not possible to say whether something will be acceptable or not - there may be applicants with that level of absences and may want to comment. Of course every case will be different.

[AntoniusBlock]

Many thanks for your answer.

I had gone through the information that you linked, and given what you mentioned that

Spouse is only 17 days over the limit of 300 which is normally disregarded

I take the chance to clarify the info on this table; how come you are considering 317 days as normally disregarded? My interpretation was that this would be the case for an absence between 270-300 days.

Many thanks again.

https://ibb.co/LRqKnhK

[alterhase58]

Spouse is only 17 days over the limit of 300 which is normally disregarded.

I don't think I said that, or? 17 days over the limit which is normally disregarded (the limit is 300), sorry if it wasn't clear.

Note: 17 is a small number compared to being over by 100 for example, smaller numbers are likely to be easier acceptable than bigger ones. Clearly we have the guidance so we shouldn't go wrong.

[contorted_svy]

How long did she live in the UK? Absences over the threshold can be admitted if certain conditions are met, see the guidance linked above:

Absences normally disregarded only if: you meet all other requirements and you have established your home, family and a substantial part of your estate here.
540 days

Please note: if your absences are up to 450 days we would expect you to have been resident in the UK for the last 4 years.

For absences exceeding 450 days we would expect you to have been resident in the UK for the last 5 years unless the absences were the result of one of the reasons given below.

Simply prove that she has lived in the UK for the last 4 years instead of 3, explain she established home, family etc in the UK, and explain in a cover letter.