100 days absence disregarded - does it count as discretion?

[fler77]

Dear forum,

I have diligently read through this forum and it has already been a great help for my own research. However, I am looking for opinions or experiences regarding the 12 month absence rule.

My plan is to apply for naturalisation under the 5-year route. I've been a resident in the UK since 2015 and unfortunately I will be above the 450 days absence across the 5 past years. I am also currently sitting at exactly 100 days of absence in the past 12 months.

I know I can apply and ask for discretion with my absence days, but only for one category and not both of them. I read the Guide AN and it states for the 12 month absences: "Total number of absences normally disregarded: 100 days".
Would this be considered at their discretion and will it prevent me from also asking for discretion with going above 450 days in the past 5 years?
Or would it mean that anything up to including 100 days in the 12 months prior to the application are normally disregarded AND I can still ask for discretion for the 450+ days in the 5-year period?

Thank you kindly for your help.
fler77

[contorted_svy]

How many days do you have above 450 in the last 5 years?

[secret.simon]

The requirement for absences in the year preceding the application is for those absences to be less than 90 days.

I would consider the disregarding of 100 days as being an exercise of discretion.

[contorted_svy]

@secret.simon that is also what I thought, but read this recent thread viewtopic.php?t=347813 where OP was over both absence limits and was approved. So it seems that the "normally disregarded" may not count as discretion.

[fler77]

How many days do you have above 450 in the last 5 years?

I'm in the region of 620 - 650 days across the 5 years depending on when I apply. And in regards to the 12 months let us assume that I won't be able to get it below 90 days in the near future, but also won't have it go above 100 days.

[contorted_svy]

How long have you lived in the UK? Do you have two years before the qualifying period starts that don't have loads of absences?

[CR001]

How long have you lived in the UK? Do you have two years before the qualifying period starts that don't have loads of absences?

First post!

I've been a resident in the UK since 2015

[contorted_svy]

If in 2018-2019 you have been living in the UK without substantial absences (unfortunately we don't know what "substantial" means) and your absences in the last year definitely stay under the 100 days mark you can give it a shot, without guarantee for success of course.

[fler77]

Dear forum,

it has been a while, but I wanted to follow up on my case from earlier this year with the hope it may be useful for future reference.

As described in my initial post, I wanted to apply for Naturalisation as a British citizen by discretion. I had doubts however because of my travel history. My total absence days across the 5 past years were sitting at slightly more than 600 days - and additionally I had 100 days of absence in the past 12 months. Which posed the question if an application for Naturalisation by discretion was likely to succeed - or whether it was pointless to try (because of asking for discretion in both travel history categories).

I am happy to report that I succeeded with my application and that I have been granted British citizenship. While of course each case is different, I wanted to feedback that it can be possible to succeed in your application even if you ask for discretion in both travel history categories. Or - circling back to the original question of this thread - perhaps staying at up to 100 days of absence in the 12 months prior to the application date does NOT count as "discretion". I will say however that along with my application I supplied a cover letter explaining the reasons behind my travel and included proof that it was partly due to the nature of my career and business. Whatever the case may be (does 100 days count as discretion or not), having excess absences in both travel categories can still lead to a successful outcome.

[alterhase58]

Herzlichen Glueckwunsch!
Congratulations.

Please post your timeline, and onwards to the passport application

[contorted_svy]

Dear forum,

it has been a while, but I wanted to follow up on my case from earlier this year with the hope it may be useful for future reference.

As described in my initial post, I wanted to apply for Naturalisation as a British citizen by discretion. I had doubts however because of my travel history. My total absence days across the 5 past years were sitting at slightly more than 600 days - and additionally I had 100 days of absence in the past 12 months. Which posed the question if an application for Naturalisation by discretion was likely to succeed - or whether it was pointless to try (because of asking for discretion in both travel history categories).

I am happy to report that I succeeded with my application and that I have been granted British citizenship. While of course each case is different, I wanted to feedback that it can be possible to succeed in your application even if you ask for discretion in both travel history categories. Or - circling back to the original question of this thread - perhaps staying at up to 100 days of absence in the 12 months prior to the application date does NOT count as "discretion". I will say however that along with my application I supplied a cover letter explaining the reasons behind my travel and included proof that it was partly due to the nature of my career and business. Whatever the case may be (does 100 days count as discretion or not), having excess absences in both travel categories can still lead to a successful outcome.

Congratulations. It is worth remembering that you had been living in the UK for quite a long time, which may have helped your case.

[fler77]

Thank you all for your input and your congratulations. I posted my timeline here for anyone curious: https://www.immigrationboards.com/viewt ... 5#p2188807