I am new to the forum, and I would really appreciate any help with regard to my situation, which seems quite unique to most of the cases I have read up on.
I am due to apply for my ILR in July 2014, but I have already exceeded the 180 day period for continuos residence. I have been out of the UK mainly for the purposes of leisure (I have been dating my fiancé long distance for the past three years and I mainly left the country to spend time with him for 2-3 weeks at a time about 3 times per year).
I activated my Tier 1 General permit on 13 June 2009 when I entered the UK for 8 days, however, I still had to finish serving my notice in my previous job in my country of residence at the time, South Africa and I eventually moved to the UK on 26 September 2009 to live. I was therefore out of the country for a period of 95 days during that period.
Once I moved here, I worked periodically between that time up until September 2010 where I did a full time Masters at University College London. I travelled with my fiancé for 75 days between 2009-2010 (the longest period was for 41 days where we went to the world cup in south africa and stayed for 6 weeks. I also went to our home country to meet his family. The rest of the times consisted of 3 holidays lasting between 9 days to 14 days).
In June 2011 I took up full time employment as a contractor registered with an agency. I work as a paralegal on a contract by contract basis, so I get paid a rate per hour and if I take holiday, I am not paid. I am registered under an umbrella company for tax purposes, but am still under PAYE. I am currently living with my parents as I am saving money for a deposit to buy my first property, so I do not pay rent or any council tax. In 2011 I travelled to Ethiopia for 14 days for my Masters degree (this travel was mandatory for the program) the rest of the time constituted 6 holidays lasting between 6 - 15 days at a time to visit my fiancé. One holiday was a surprise unplanned trip where my fiancé proposed to me, and the other trip was for my traditional marriage ceremony in my home country lasting 15 days.
My fiancé and I are getting married in 5 weeks, and I will be travelling to my home country for the wedding. We would like to live in the UK in order that I can work towards obtaining ILR in 2014, but we don't want to waste the time if it is not likely that I will get the ILR due to being outside of the country for more that the 180 days. What would be the likely outcome of my application, based on the rules today assuming that I take a total of about 300 days out of the country over the 5 years between 2009 and 2014 based on my reasons for travel and my situation? Would you recommend that we pursue the ILR in the UK?
Thanks for your help and I appreciate your time to respond to me.
