Out of Country

[Kaley]

Hi All

I am planning to apply for Naturalisation, however I have been out of country more than 90 days last year as well as 450 days in 5 years due to my work. Can i still apply for naturalisation as I haven out of country due to work but not on personal reason?

Appreciate for your response.

Regards,

Kaley

[secret.simon]

How much are you exceeding the absence requirements by? What is the nature of your job? Is the organisation that you work for a UK-based company?

[Kaley]

I was travelling In/Out of country for almost year, not sure how many days in total i was out of country but i would say more than 150 days in last year alone. I work in project engineering so most of time we have projects abroad. And yes my company is based in UK.

[secret.simon]

How much do you exceed the 450 days requirement by? Are you aware of and do you meet the physical presence requirement (that you must be physically present in the UK at the start of the five year period immediately preceding the date of application)? There is no discretion to disregard this requirement.

There is discretion to be lenient regarding the residence requirement if you can prove that your absences were an unavoidable consequence of your job (such as being a seaman, for instance). I am not convinced that being a project manager will meet that threshold.

See pages 13-18 of the Naturalisation at discretion guidance. Be aware that as you are breaching both the residence requirements, discretion is less likely to be exercised, unless you can give a very good reason (such as unavoidable occupational requirement, etc).