ILR eligibility + maternity break

[NROW]

My wife came into UK on Aug 2012 as Tier1 General Dependent. I am on ILR now. My wife will be completing 5 years in UK by Dec 2017 but there is a gap of 6 months from Apr 2015 - Sep 2015. She went to India in this time on maternity break. Meanwhile her visa expired in May 2015 and got it extended in oct 2015 from India. Will this affect her 5 years continuity required as part of ILR application or given an exception. Please let me know whether she is eligible for ILR. Thanks!

[NROW]

Can someone help me with the below query?

[CR001]

You cannot extend a visa outside the UK. Applications outside the UK is a new entry clearance visa.

As there is almost 6 months between the expiry in May 2015 and the new visa in Oct 2015, she has likely reset her clock towards ILR and will qualify in 2020.

She should have extended before she left the UK.

There is no absence limit for PBS dependents though but the fact that she applied more than 28 days after her last visa expired means that she is no on a new 5 year period.

[NROW]

Hi CR001,

I got the below link on details about calculating continuous period for ILR.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... -v15.0.pdf

In Page 24 under exceptional cases, it details about the exceptions given for those cases where continuous period is broken for any compelling reasons.

Serious or compelling reasons will vary but can include:
 serious illness of the applicant or a close relative
 a conflict
 a natural disaster, for example, volcanic eruption or tsunami
Absences of more than 180 days in any 12 month period for employment or economic activity reasons are not considered exceptional.
You can only apply discretion when it has been authorised at senior executive officer (SEO) level.
Time spent overseas due to pregnancy, or maternity, paternity or adoption-related leave is treated the same way as any other absence, that is, within the 180 days in any 12 months.

Considering above, I think that my wife can apply for ILR as the break is only 154 days and reason is Pregnancy.
Can you please help me whether my understanding is correct?

[CR001]

That applies to main PBS migrants and not dependents.

As she applied for a new entry clearance more than 28 days after the last visa expired, her clock was reset.

Besides, maternity is not considered 'exceptional'.