Post
by newperson » Thu Jul 23, 2009 7:27 am
I have been in a very similar situation as yourself with the Ancestry visa. Based on my own experience with the Home Office (and getting my ILR application originally refused), here's how I see the situation.
1) You broke your continuous residence through your absence of three years. Your compassionate circumstances are not of the nature to mitigate that. It's unfortunate that you lost your dad, but three years is an awful long time to be out of the country. So yes, your five-year clock was reset to zero when you re-entered.
2) Your arrival on your second AV restarted your clock in November 2006. So you are eligible to apply for probationary citizenship in November 2011.
3) You will need to get a third AV to bring you up to your five years. But you don't need to wait until March 2010 to extend. You can do it now if you wanted, just make sure you request the full five years in a cover letter when you apply. You are allowed to extend at any time. It's just with ILR applications that you must wait until 28 days before the end of your qualifying period.
4) Make sure you apply for probationary citizenship (what will be the new next stage at that point) in autumn 2011. Don't think that you have to wait until the third AV expires before you can move on to the next step. Once you hit five years residence in one stretch, apply.
Hope this all makes sense!
(PS: you are not "settled" in the UK at this point. That has a specific meaning and is limited to those UK residents holding UK citizenship, right of abode, permanent residence based on EU/EEA treaties, and those currently with ILR. You have a temporary residence permit, but are not settled until limitations on your stay have been removed)
