Will 12-month absence make me lose permanent residence status?

[Oberon]

Hello everyone,

I am an EU citizen and started living in the UK in 2010. I had to leave in July of this year but plan to move back. My concern is that by the time I move back, more than 180 days will have elapsed.

I am aware that in 2015 I automatically acquired Permanent Resident status, but I never applied for a certificate as I was told it was unnecessary. Now that I will have to be away from the UK for more than 180 days, will I lose that status or can I retroactively apply for Settled Status?

I would be gutted if I have to start a new 5-year period from scratch.

Many thanks for taking the time to help me!

[NikiGio]

No.

After you've acquired PR, as a qualified person, you can be away from the country for 2 years without losing your PR status.

In theory, you could apply for the DCPR card from abroad - but I don't know anyone who's done it.

If you're successful in applying for DCPR from abroad, you'll need to exchange your DCPR card for Settled Status before December 2020.

If you're not successful in applying for DCPR from abroad and you come back after March 2019 but within two years of July 2018, you'll need to apply for Settled Status - you need to do this before June 2021, as that's the end of the transition period.

All this provided a Deal is signed between UK-EU.

No idea what the situation will be if No Deal happens.