Concern over absence from UK for ILR (WP Holder)

[Surrey_WP_Holder]

Hi All,

I have a Pakistani passport and have been employed on a Work Permit in the UK since October 2006. Since then I have taken 131 paid Annual Leave days away from the UK for personal leisure trips and another 134 days outside the UK (mainly in EU) for Business Visits. Maximum continuous absence from the UK was earlier this year for 89 consecutive days (excluding the travel dates). I have not received any payments or paid tax in any other country for my work. I have not had any breaks in my salary from my employer in the UK. My total days outside of the UK since my Work Permit was issued are 265 days where I am not counting the day I fly out and the day I fly back in as I have been in the UK partially on these days.

I have invitation and sponsorship letters for all of my business trips from my employer.

Should this cause any delays when I apply for ILR in person in September/October 2013? Should I avoid taking more Annual Leave/Business days away in 2013?

One last question. My wife worked as a Teaching Assistant a few years ago and then received Statutory Maternity Pay when she decided to stop working after about a year. She is on a Work Permit Dependant Visa and her employer was well aware of this at the time. Is this a benefit she should have declined as we have "No recourse to public funds" on our visas. If so, then what should we do now?

Many thanks for all the help and advice.

Kind regards,
Surrey_WP_Holder

[Damanisshallo]

Please follow this post

Public funds do not include benefits that are based on National Insurance contributions. National Insurance is paid in the same way as income tax and is based on earnings. Benefits to which a person is entitled as a result of National Insurance contributions include:

contribution-based jobseeker's allowance;
incapacity benefit;
retirement pension;
widow's benefit and bereavement benefit;
guardian's allowance;
statutory maternity pay;
maternity allowance; and
contribution-related employment and support allowance.

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[Surrey_WP_Holder]

Thank you Damanisshallo for clarifying this. Phew!

That is one less worry now.

I hope someone can confirm that if I have had no interruptions in my UK salary and have been on UK paid personal and business visits exceeding 180 days in the 5 years, it is not a big issue when it comes to applying ILR.

Kind regards,
Surrey_WP_Holder