Clarification on 180 day rule

[scholarseekingILR]

Hi all. I recently found the forum and it's a great resource.

I will soon have been in the UK for 5 years on work permit/T2 General visas. Unfortunately on my first year in the UK I was outside of the UK for 203 complete days (this is the first year as it is calculated, backwards from the day of application).

Therefore I do not meet the "at most 180 days in each year" test.

The vast majority of these were for work reasons. Is there discretion in still granting ILR regardless, provided (most of) the absences were due to compelling business reasons? The FAQ and the UKBA document (http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary) are not completely clear on this.

To be clear, my question is: are there any circumstances under which it is possible to get ILR under SET(O) route, failing the 180 days in a year test?

If so, what are these circumstances and how to prove them?

Thanks in advance!

[uksettlement]

Work related reasons will not be acceptable. They have to be serious or compelling reasons.