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Naturalisation - Absences Discretion

A section for posts relating to applications for Naturalisation or Registration as a British Citizen. Naturalisation

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Roopa Khanna
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Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 4:17 pm
Location: London, UK

Naturalisation - Absences Discretion

Post by Roopa Khanna » Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:04 pm

Dear,


I have a query regarding the use of discretion for my absences during the last 5 years, for my naturalisation application.

My husband, myself and my daughter (born in India) got our ILR on 28/01/2012, and we plan to apply for our naturalisation on 30/01/2013.

My husband got his ILR based on 5 years stay in the UK on Work permit + Tier 1 + Tier 1 extension. I and my daughter got our ILR as his dependents.

My query is about my absences in the UK. I came to the UK in April 2007 as a Work permit dependent, and so I can now apply for naturalisation individually. However I was absent from the UK for 484 days in the last 5 years. This was mainly because I was on maternity leave from Sept 2010 to Oct 2011. I was actually planning to come back to the UK in Aug 2011, but my Tier 1 dependent visa extension was rejected (on the mistaken premise of marriage subsistence), but it was subsequently granted after sufficient evidence was provided.

During these absences however, I was receiving my maternity pay from my employer, I was paying my NI, entertainment tax, council tax etc - i.e. maintaining the connection with the UK, and I can prove this.

My query:

Is discretion applicable to my naturalisation application if I apply along with my husband and daughter on Jan 30, 2013 citing my maternity leave, rejected & subsequent grant of visa etc for my excess absences (484) from the UK?

Thanks a lot for your time
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mlove
Newly Registered
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 3:07 pm

Post by mlove » Thu Dec 13, 2012 1:39 pm

They seem to be very good at applying discretion for absences during ILR decisions ( where you have the right to appeal and there is a huge precedent with the Nigerian case ).

However, they seem to be apply discretion for absences very sparingly ( if at all? ) during naturalization decisions ( where there is no right to appeal ).

Look around on this forum. Not sure if I've seen any cases ( pretty much why I ensured I was present for the majority of my last year ) - and let's face it, 450 days for naturalization is much more generous than 180 days for ILR.
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