10 year ILR route - discontinued leave

[jrs1984]

Hi,

I arrived in UK in Feb'13 with 1 year Tier 2 ICT short term visa (valid until 20 Jan'14). I stayed till 10 Jan'14, went back to home country, and arrived back to UK on Tier 2 ICT long term visa - 5 years on 25 Feb'14. That is, I was in home country for around 30-40 days with no valid UK visa.

After these 5 years on ICT long term, I have switched to dependent visa and aim to continue further to achieve 10 year ILR route.

Question is, will I be able to count my 1 year stay in 2013 ICT short visa towards 10 year for ILR? I am getting mixed messages on various websites that since I was out of UK with no valid UK visa, I won't be able to count that 1 year towards 10 year ILR.

Please advise.

Thanks.

[CR001]

All visas count for ILR based on long residence, even visitor visas.

Your 'no visa while abroad' is NOT an issue.