When should I apply for British Citizenship?

[cindy88]

Hello everyone, I obtained PR status on February 2012 (I was issued the certificate last month).
I left the county for about 400 days from end of 2013 until beginning 2015.
My husband has just filed his British citizenship application and when we were at the NCS office the lady told me that if I decided to apply now my application might not be successful because I have been outside the UK for more than 6 months in any one of the 5 years residence period...and she said that I should wait until my husband naturalizes and apply in January 2018 (three years since I've come back)
Now my question is, where is this 6 months rule? I think I've already met it somewhere but it's not in the AN guide or booklet.
I know about the 450 days absence over 5 year QP (or 270 if spouse of British citizen) and 90 days over last 12 months
I had to leave the UK because I needed to look after a close relative and my intention was to return, in fact my husband stayed here all the time.

Another question is, if I filed my application in January 2018 would I or my husband (hopefully with British passport) be subject to meet some sort of income requirement?

What do you suggest I do? Should I try to apply now or wait until January?

Thanks for your time.

Kind Regards
C.

[CR001]

There is no '6 month absence' rule for citizenship.

[cindy88]

Hi Chris,
thanks for taking the time to answer.
yes that's what I thought but when we were at the NCS office the lady made my husband sign a kind of questionnaire to make sure he met all the requirements and one question was " have you been absent for 6 months or over in any one of the 5 year residence period?" Of course he was OK, but when it comes to me, well I wouldn't be ok, that's why she suggested I filed my application in Jan 2018.

Do you know where this rule come from?

Would you suggest I applied in January 2018 as spouse of British citizen so that I would have to provide evidence only for the past 3 years and leave out the year I was abroad?

I also think that there isn't any income requirement either...

Thanks again
C.

[CR001]

CR001 or Char, not Chris.

There is not such requirement for citizenship. It must be a NCS checklist/tick box as it is not an HO one.

Up to you when you apply, but as long as your absence is within the permitted allowance, you are fine.

No, there is no income or employment requirement for citizenship.

[cindy88]

Hi CR001,
Sorry I don't know why I called you Chris, I apologise.
OK then, thank you.

Regards
C.

[cindy88]

Good afternoon,
I'm still not sure about whether my residency might have been broken by my long absence from the UK, my timeline briefly is:

August 2007 arrived in the UK

December 2013 left the UK (with intention to come back)

January 2015 come back to the UK (total days of absence 396)

January 2017 applied for PR status ( I based my application on 2007-2012 QP)

February 2017 Obtained PR status, acquired on February 2012 (before my long absence)

Now I'd like to apply for BC, my doubts are
1. have I in any way broken my residence status since I acquired it (in 2012)? I do not think so because "Permanent residence status will be lost if an applicant is out of the UK for a continuous period of 2 years or more", and it's not my case.
2. When the lady at the Nationality checking service processed my husband BC application , she told me that if I've been absent for 6 months or longer in any one of the 5 year QP my BC application could be unsuccessful. Now, I found this "6 months" rule was on the PR status application, not on the BC application. And if that was the case, since I applied for PR status this year why would I be issued with a PR certificate already not valid??
CR001 also confirmed me this rule doesn't apply to British citizenship application, but has anyone been in a similar situation?
3.A different kind of question, can I use the Subject Access Request document (SAR) to prove I was physically present in the UK in case I didn't have enough evidence of the kind listed by the HO?

Thank you all
Kind Regards
C.

[vinny]

1. You are correct.
2. CR001 is correct.

[cindy88]

Thank you for your links Vinny.

Anyone else please ?

And what about my question 3, Could a SAR document be used as evidence of being present in the UK?

Thank you
C.