British naturalisation via spouse route - excess absences

[OrbitHollow]

Posting on behalf of my wife (applicant).

Quick information/facts about her:
- Nationality: Bulgarian
- Current status: EU Settled
- Applying from: UK
- UK ties: job, British husband/child, consistent 6-years home/tenancy, and tax-payer

Situation:
- She would like to apply to British citizenship as soon as I (the husband) receive my British citizenship (will be done probably in next few weeks, biometrics done in early July)
- Wife route: Section 6(2) (spouse of British citizen)
- Target application date: 01 Oct 2025 (physically present in UK on 01 Oct 2022)

Issue (i.e. absences):
- L3Y: 297 days (within spouse-route ≤300, we understand this is typically disregarded)
- L1Y: 114 days (101–179 discretion band) - breakdown below
—— 36-day Turkey trip (Dec 2024–Jan 2025): for terminal care and funeral of her uncle, who was a long-term kidney failure patient undergoing regular dialysis. We can provide evidence (e.g. doctor/hospital letters incl. dialysis history; death certificate; funeral/burial docs; family registry; certified translations). She helped the uncle drive back and forth to the hospital, etc.
—— Long Turkey trip (Jun 2025-Aug 2025): we had our first baby in April. Both my wife and I have a long maternity / paternity leave, and we went back to Turkey for c. 2 months to get childcare from close family there; while our UK home remained

Approach:
- We would like to request discretion, anchored on the 36-day bereavement (upon providing sufficient evidence
- Maternity/paternity time would be the context for UK ties/continuity only, as timeline-wise, this is the trip that tips her over 90 days in L1Y

Planned evidence:
- Bereavement set above; travel proof (tickets/stamps) + absence table; UK ties (tenancy/council tax, utilities, GP registration, HMRC/P60s, employer letter confirming UK-based role + compassionate leave dates); marriage to a British citizen + child’s British birth certificate

Questions/help:
- Any additional documents / wording you think would prove decisive for the compassionate portion?
- Mentioning maternity-leave stays abroad purely as context - is it helpful or unnecessary?
- If you were refused at similar numbers, what did the letter actually say, and did reapply/NR work?
- And more simply - any general advice is well appreciated

Will update the thread with outcomes.

THANKS!

[contorted_svy]

Unless your wife was the sole carer for your uncle, as sad as it sounds, she was not requested to travel and take care of all those affairs. I wouldn't mention the reasons for the trips, similarly for the maternity/paternity leave, together with all the related evidence.

The good news is, you can still ask for discretion:

Absences in the final year
You normally only exercise discretion for excessive absences during the final year of the qualifying period under section 6(1) if the future intentions requirement is met.

Where the applicant is applying under section 6(2) or has met the future intentions requirement the following will apply. Total absences:

of 100 days or less; exercise discretion

between 100 and 180 days, where the residence requirement across the qualifying period is met – discretion is only appropriate where the applicant demonstrates strong links through the presence of family, employment and their home in the UK

of more than 100 days but not more than 180 days where the residence requirements over the full qualifying period are not met - consider exercising discretion if both the following apply:

applicants have demonstrated that they have made this country their home by establishing a home, employment family, property and finances in the UK

the absence is justified by Crown service or by compelling occupational or compassionate reasons, including inability to travel because of a global pandemic

exceeding 180 days where the residence requirements over the full qualifying period are met - consider exercising discretion if the applicant has demonstrated that they have made the UK their home exceeding 180 days where the residence requirements over the full qualifying period are not met – you must only exercise discretion where the applicant has demonstrated that they have made this country their home and there are exceptional circumstances such as Crown Service

So you need to supply evidence of the fact that you live here (eg tenancy agreement or mortgage statement with her name on it) that your family is here (your UK passport, your child's birth certificate and passport) and that her finances are here (bank statements for the last year, provided she doesn't own significant property abroad).


In any case, you still haven't received your approval and there is no way to know when it will come. She can just wait for 25 more days when the absences in the last year would go below 90 days and that would mean you need less evidence. I would suggest doing this.

Planned evidence:
- Bereavement set above; travel proof (tickets/stamps) + absence table; UK ties (tenancy/council tax, utilities, GP registration, HMRC/P60s, employer letter confirming UK-based role + compassionate leave dates); marriage to a British citizen + child’s British birth certificate

Of all this, you would only need what I stated above if you intend to ask for discretion, wife's passport and your British passport, and P60s for the last 3 years. everything else is unnecessary.

[contorted_svy]

Forgot to say, you will also need your marriage certificate and evidence of settled status, as well as proof of English language and Life in the UK test.

[OrbitHollow]

Many thanks for your response!

Forgot to say, you will also need your marriage certificate and evidence of settled status, as well as proof of English language and Life in the UK test.

- These all make sense and will be already done by the time she applies.

Unless your wife was the sole carer for your uncle, as sad as it sounds, she was not requested to travel and take care of all those affairs. I wouldn't mention the reasons for the trips, similarly for the maternity/paternity leave, together with all the related evidence.

- She was not the sole carer for her uncle. Understood, we will exclude these.

So you need to supply evidence of the fact that you live here (eg tenancy agreement or mortgage statement with her name on it) that your family is here (your UK passport, your child's birth certificate and passport) and that her finances are here (bank statements for the last year, provided she doesn't own significant property abroad).

- We can provide all of these easily. Does the fact that she is also above the 270 days threshold (but below 300) make it less likely that the case worker will actually use discretion here? In addition, do you think it matters whether you exceed the 100 days threshold by 10 days or 50 days or in fact 70 days as long as you provide sufficient documentation that UK is your home?

Once again - thanks a lot, really appreciated!

[contorted_svy]

The amount by which you exceed the absence requirement doesn't influence the documentation you have to provide - if you were absent for 101 days you'd need to provide the same amount of evidence as if you'd been absent 150 or 179 days.
Absences up to 300 days are usually ignored and do not require discretion - a user mentioned being over one of the two absence limits but only having to request discretion explicitly for one (like in your case) and got approved.

I forgot to mention referee declarations earlier. You will need to sort those out.

I would revisit this once you get your citizenship certificate. The situation may have changed by then, as you don't know how long it will take to get your approval and then to attend the ceremony. As I mentioned, if you just wait until the end of October there will be no need to ask for discretion, provided your wife was in the UK at that time of year in 2022.