10 years long residence, allowable absence

[physicskate]

Dear all,

I am looking on your opinions regarding the following:

'Subject to that, continuous residence shall not be considered to
have been broken where an applicant is absent from the United
Kingdom for a period of 6 months or less at any one time, provided
that the applicant has existing limited leave to enter or remain
upon his departure and return.'

I was under the impression that a single absence of 90 days would be problematic, however, if you are allowed to leave and come back within 6 months, as long as your total absences are not over 18 months (540 days) would that be acceptable? Is this up to the discretion of the caseworker?

I have a 97 day absence from 2007, when I had leave to remain before I left and when I came back. Did this reset my clock? Or should I just go down the Tier 2 route... by which time i will have been living here for over 13 years...


My visa history:
Entry clearance: Student visa Sept 2004 - Sept 2008
Entry clearance: PSW 25 August 2008 - 24 August 2010
Entry clearance: Tier 4 26 Sept 2010 - September 2011
Leave to remain: Tier 2 August 2011 - August 2014
Change of sponsor: Tier 2: Jan 22 2013 - Jan 22 2016

[physicskate]

bump

[vinny]

An absence of 97 days is less than six months. You should be okay under Long residence.