180 days for ILR

[nitinkhera]

Hi,

I am really confused about this 180 days rule. And i am really worried now as i checked my total leave of abscence yesterday. And it turned out that i was 187 days abroad. I am only in 4th year to reaching ILR application stage. Just to give you a background- I am on tier 1 (General) that started on 2nd Nov 2009. I will be due to apply ILR on 2nd Nov 2014. As expalined earlier the situation is i have just enetered my 4th year into the 5 year period that i need to fulfill in order to qualify for ILR. And i have gone out of this country 187 days. It constitutes from my 11 visits to abroad. All of them were holidays. Maximum stay abroad on one stretch was 64 consecutive days. Upon reading all these forums and speaking to various people- i am not sure if i should be worried or not. As some people are telling its 180 days in the whole 5 years. Which automatically disqualifies me for ILR. Another set of people are saying that its 180 days per year. Which my understanding is 180 days x 5 year = 900 days in the total 5 years. In that case i am fine as i am way below the 900 days. Could someone please clarify this. And if i am disqualified is there any wayaround? Would appreciate a help.

Many Thanks

[zabizabi]

You must have spent a continuous residence period of 5 years here in any combination of the following immigration categories:

Tier 1 (General)
Highly Skilled Migrant Programme
work permit holder
innovator
self-employed lawyer
writer, composer or artist
Tier 2 (General)
Tier 2 (Minister of religion)
Tier 2 (Sportsperson)
Tier 2 (Intra company transfer), if your permission was granted under the Immigration Rules in place before 6 April 2010
During the continuous residence period, you cannot be outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12 consecutive months. The absences must be for a reason that relates to the purpose of your leave in the UK, or for a serious compelling reason (such as a serious illness). Your sponsor must confirm the reason for the absence if it was related to your work. You must confirm the reason if it was for a serious or compelling reason

[zabizabi]

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... ettlement/

[Skdba]

It's 180 days for 5 years And you're a bit over the limit. However it's not shared set rule and there is a but of room for discretion so go ahead and apply with some explanation. My cousin was out for a total of 497 days with medical reasons, UKBA took 6 six months but finally approved his ILR.

The new rules are relaxed where one can stay out of country upto 180 within a 12 month period ( so yes technically 900 days in 5 years) but the leave must be work related and needs to be proved that way.

Hope this helps.

[Skdba]

Pardon my typos. Stupid autocorrect.