UK Passport after 1 year Abroad - HELP!

[magenta1003123]

Hi -

so here is my situation and I really need advise

i arrived in the UK in October 2012 - so now in October 2017 i can get my permanent residency. I know i have to hold the ILR for 1 year before applying for citizenship and i have to be no more than 480 day outside of the UK for the last 5 years. If more than that - I can get discretion approval but believe I have to own a flat or something to prove links to UK (from what i understand) which is not the case.

So - i can do the residency part - however i am being offered a mobility in the US for one year - that means i might potentially reach and even go beyond the 480 days limit.

Q1: Could you please help me understand if I go for 1 year abroad - how will this affect my application? Lets say i am away from October 2017 to October 2018 - does that mean that i can apply for citizenship in Oct 2019? because i should not have been away for more than 90 days over the past year?

Q3: Does this 1 year absence create any other issues? i.e not considered continuous living? as it is not travel here and there that adds up to 1 year - it s a full year outside of the UK

Q4: do i really need to own a flat here to prove strong links to the UK to get discretion (if more than 480 days) or not necessarily?

Q5: can apply a bit earlier for permanent residency or have to wait till October for the full 5 years?


Thanks for all your help guys

[CR001]

What is your current immigration status? Your post is not clear.

You must have absence within the 90 day limit within the final 12 months before applying.

Absence over the whole 5 year qualifying period should be less than 450 days.

To ask for discretion, you need to prove a substantial part of your estate is in the UK, investments, property, family, bank accounts etc etc.

[magenta1003123]

Thank you - I am EEA national and have arrived in the UK in October 2012, and ever since then have been working continuously for the same company.

I keep reading and re-reading the booklet with the guidance and still not 100% clear

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... y_2017.pdf

they say i should not be absent for more than 450 for the 5 year qualifying period - can i select myself the qualifying period? - lets say I apply in 2019 - can i select my qualifying period to be October 2012 to October 2017 or it is automatically the immediate 5 years prior to the date of the application?

finally - does it matter how these 450 days are reached? i.e does it make any difference if it is one full year outside of the UK or as long as it is below 450 they don't care about the breakdown details?

thank you so much

[CR001]

You cannot apply for citizenship unless you have a document certifying PR, which you only attain after 5 years in the UK exercising treaty rights and being a qualified person for the full 5 years. You have to apply for the PR document after 5 full years, it is not sent to you automatically and it costs £65. It became mandatory to submit this PR document for citizenship in November 2015.

You can only apply for citizenship a full 1 year after you have attained PR.

The 5 year qualifying period for citizenship is the 5 years IMMEDIATELY preceding the date of application, so no, you cannot choose a qualifying period yourself.

[magenta1003123]

got it - thank you
very helpful