Too many days outside UK for ILR - Tier 1 ext or FLR(M)?

[katwmn6]

Hi everyone,

I would really appreciate your advice on my situation. I have lived legally in the UK since Dec 2006, and have been on a Tier 1 (General) visa since Mar 2009. I should be eligible for ILR in Mar 2014, except that I will have spent over 300 days outside the UK, accrued through taking normal holidays and a few business trips abroad (no single period for longer than 90 days).

I am also engaged to a UK citizen. We see the UK as our permanent home, but we have wanted to temporarily move abroad for several years now before we have kids. Ideally I would like to secure my ILR before we move, but I am beginning to doubt if that will be possible.

Should I:

(1) Apply for a Tier 1 (General) extension in Mar 2014, and then apply for ILR once I have 5 years continuous residence with fewer than 180 days spent outside the UK. (Unfortunately the majority of days spent outside the UK were in 2010-2011, meaning it would take several years to get below the 180 day threshold.)

(2) Take a risk and apply for ILR in Mar 2014 even with the 300+ days absence (although this will almost surely get rejected..?)

(3) Move abroad and just apply for FLR(M) when we eventually move back to the UK as a married couple, and start my whole 5-year ILR qualifying period all over again.

I am scared about option #3, as I see the UK as my permanent home and if anything were to happen to my finance (god forbid) while we lived abroad, I would lose the right to ever return here.


I would really appreciate any help and/or useful links as I am very stressed about this. Many thanks in advance.

[cs95tdg]

Before you get too stressed, I would urge you to read the latest immigration rules and continuous residence guidance for ILR, as there have been significant changes to the absence threshold. So what you currently see as an issue, may not be so in reality.

Please read the ILR FAQ: http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=79378

And also the continuous residence guidance - Page 9 explains how you should calculate your absences according to the new rules that came into effect on Dec 13th 2012: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

Immigration Rules: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... es/part6a/

[katwmn6]

Many thanks for this, cs95tdg. Apologies, I had been using the search function on the board and thus hadn't noted the more recent posts regarding the new rules in place from Dec 2012.

[jojybaba]

count back from Mar 2014-mar13....mar13-mar12,,,,,so on if your holidays can be split and is less than 180 days than should be fine

r wait for any seniors reply

Hi everyone,

I would really appreciate your advice on my situation. I have lived legally in the UK since Dec 2006 (initially arrived on a BUNAC visa), and have been on a Tier 1 (General) visa since Mar 2009. I should be eligible for ILR in Mar 2014, except that I will have spent over 300 days outside the UK, accrued through taking normal holidays and a few business trips abroad (no single period for longer than 90 days).

I am also engaged to a UK citizen. We see the UK as our permanent home, but we have wanted to temporarily move abroad for several years now before we have kids. Ideally I would like to secure my ILR before we move, but I am beginning to doubt if that will be possible.

Should I:

(1) Apply for a Tier 1 (General) extension in Mar 2014, and then apply for ILR once I have 5 years continuous residence with fewer than 180 days spent outside the UK. (Unfortunately the majority of days spent outside the UK were in 2010-2011, meaning it would take several years to get below the 180 day threshold.)

(2) Take a risk and apply for ILR in Mar 2014 even with the 300+ days absence (although this will almost surely get rejected..?)

(3) Move abroad and just apply for FLR(M) when we eventually move back to the UK as a married couple, and start my whole 5-year ILR qualifying period all over again.

I am scared about option #3, as I see the UK as my permanent home and if anything were to happen to my finance (god forbid) while we lived abroad, I would lose the right to ever return here.


I would really appreciate any help and/or useful links as I am very stressed about this. Many thanks in advance.