Wildjoecrazy wrote:I am concerned that my application will not be considered on a same day basis at the PEO. As had been advised by one agency that it would be considered complex due to my absences being purely for holiday. I'm not sure what would happen if it went to review seeing as I think the rest of my application is fairly straight forward!
I'm not sure whether you have taken the time to read the sticky post I quoted previously (courtesy of
db83 who wrote to the SettlementOps team to clarify the very point you are troubled about along with a few other points). I've taken what I feel is relavent to you and pasted it below - Note that sabbatical leave = unpaid leave in case you think the post is not relevant to you. I disagree with the advise you have been given "
been advised by one agency that it would be considered complex due to my absences being purely for holiday", to the point the advise seems absurd if you just think about it logically. While I never had as many absences as you when I applied earlier this year, all my absences were for holiday purposes. If not for holiday, what specific purpose would that so called agent, suggest your absences be for, in order for your case to be considered straight-forward?
My advise, read the continuous residence guidance carefully along with the immigration rules to understand the precise absence threshold (plus the many posts on this forum) and you will see that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to the number of absences you have. The simple requirement is that you should have no more than 180 days of absence within the 12 consecutive month periods during your 5 year residence counting back from your application date.
db83 wrote:2. It is becoming quite common for people to go on sabbatical unpaid leave and come back to the country after 3-6 months of well earned break from travelling. If the applicant is on Tier 1 G, he doesn't have to be associated to a single employer and will always be at the liberty of choosing work. If an immigrant on Tier 1 General decides to go on a Sabbatical leave and during this course he decides to be out of the UK for less than 180 days absence in any of the five, two, three or four consecutive 12 month periods - would he still be qualified. Although the guidance says that no reason needs to be given when the absence is less than 180 days a year (unless its compelling or compassionate) - I'd like to check specifically for sabbatical leave as this is not covered under your policy guidance.
I appreciate that the sabbatical leave is not related to work - but at the same time a constraint cannot be applied on someone working in the UK as Tier 1 immigrant not to take sabbatical unpaid leave on their own as it will effect their ILR.
And this was the answer...
For the purpose of data sensitivity, I've removed my email addresses and the full name of the person from UKBA who replied this email.
Settlement Ops Policy Mailbox
to me
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your e mail.
If a migrant had spent a total of 200 days outside of the UK during any of the consecutive 12 month periods of the continuous period (which is counted backwards in 12 month blocks from date of application), they would have broken continuity and their application would fall for refusal. However, if this was a single absence which spanned 2 of the consecutive 12 month periods, then the total of 180 days in any one 12 month period may not have been exceeded.
2. You are correct in saying that Tier 1 (General) migrants are not required to be in constant employment, as they are granted this type of visa on the understanding that they will come the UK to seek highly skilled employment or to become self-employed. It is for this reason that they are not required to provide evidence of their absences from the UK, as it is likely that evidence of absences would be self-generated.
As you will be aware, provided a Tier 1 (General) migrant can demonstrate that they have the required number of points for previous earnings, they do not need to demonstrate that they have been employed throughout the whole 15 month period immediately prior to making their settlement application.
With regards to the number of days outside of the UK that will not be considered to break continuity, this is the same for all category of migrants, regardless of whether they can qualify for settlement after 2,3,4 or 5 years.
GreenTea's case is a completely different type of application, so I would not compare it with yours.
