reading the guidance on Nationality policy: Naturalisation as a British citizen by discretion / version 14.0 I have a question on the below wording for example on page 18, absence in the last year:
in this case for example, if I'm relying on a discretion to meet the requirement for the period of the previous 5 years (or 3 years, I'm still unsure which route to take), in case the discretion was applied for the 5 or 3 year period, does that make me compliant with the "the residence requirements over the full qualifying period" or not? ie: if they applied discretion on the 5 or 3 year period, do I fall under the quoted paragraph for the 1 year period? or the previous one where it's between 100 and 180 days where the residence over the full qualifying period are indeed met (regardless of the discretion)?..of more than 100 days but not more than 180 days where the residence requirements over the full qualifying period are not met - consider exercising discretion if both the following apply:
a) applicants have demonstrated that they have made this country their home by establishing a home, employment family, property and finances in the UK
b) the absence is justified by Crown service or by compelling occupational or compassionate reasons, including inability to travel because of a global pandemic
For context:
I'm married to a British national.
I had my ILR July 2022.
However I had to leave the UK for 447 days in a row (but 578 days in total in the 5 years) as I went back home to stay with my ill mother while I applied (and appealed, after rejection, her ADR visa!) I was the only available care taker. The ADR was granted after an appeal (almost 9 months after initial submission) but mum was in ICU by then and passed away shortly after. which is the reason why I was out of the UK for this long. ( check out ADR journey summary post here if interested ).
Therefore, I have surpassed the 270 days and 480 days allowance (for 6.2 / 6.1 routes, 3 years / 5 years routes) and will have to rely on discretion to be applied.
For the absence over the 5 years, I'm relying on this discretion:
so I should be OK there, but if the discretion is exercised, when it comes to the past year absence, where I'm planning to wait till I'm under 180 days in the past year, back to the main question, given that the 5 year period is OK with discretion, does that make compliant with the residency rule or not?Where the applicant has absences of between 480 and 900 days for applications under section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981, or 300 and 540 days for applications under section 6(2) and otherwise meets the requirements you must only consider exercising discretion where the applicant has established their home, employment, family and finances in the UK, and one or more of the following applies:
• at least 2 years residence (for applications under section 6(1)), or 1 year (for applications under section 6(2)), without substantial absences immediately prior to the beginning of the qualifying period - if the period of absence is greater than 730 days (for section 6(1)) or 450 days (for section 6(2)) the period of residence must be at least 3 or 2 years respectively
last but not least, the first paragraph under Absence during qualifying period says:
well.. as you now know, I'm hoping for double whammy discretion here, but thus says you must consider if they meet the other requirements... does that include the 1 year WITHOUT discretion?Absences during the qualifying period
Where an applicant has spent more than the 450 days for section 6(1) applications, or 270 days for section 6(2) applications, outside of the UK during the qualifying period you must consider exercising discretion if they meet the other requirements.
hope this is clear!
thanks.
thank you. I was afraid of that "last but not least".. I had a feeling! are you 100% positive? 