Applying for Indefinite Leave To Remain 10 yrs.

[kenray92]

Hi, I am an international student planning to apply for indefinite leave to remain on the SET(LR) 10 yrs form.
I would really appreciate some advice on this since I have several problems with regards to the application.

Brief background: I came here on 3rd July 2003 and have been a lawful resident in this country as a student until now. I am currently a first year university student and have 2 years left on my visa. 2003 - 2006: prep school / 2006-2011: Secondary School / 2011-2012: international college (UK) / 2012- present: University.

Problem 1: Since my parents were not in the UK, I have been staying with my guardians/ boarding school. This meant that almost every christmas and summer break I returned to Korea to see my parents. I have also been on several school trips to other European countries (language trip, ski trip etc) This means that my total stay outside the UK over this entire period totals over 540 days. i believe it is under 600 days, likely around 580-590 days.

I wanted to ask if this would totally jeopardize my chances of getting ILR. I was planning on applying in the summer of 2013 but decided to wait since this meant I could calculate the 10 year period after my first xmas outing (reducing the total no. of days outside the UK) Do i need to bring the number down to 540 by continuously staying in the UK without leaving at all?
Is the total of 590 not acceptable given certain trips were part of my academic life in the UK? what about the visits to see my parents?

Problem 2: I have lost one of my previous passports. I have the travel document that I got instead and im not entirely sure if I have the police report i obtained when i lost it. Is this a big problem?

Problem 3: I intend to go on an Erasmus programme in France for my 3rd year of university which would start in September 2014.
Ideally i would like to apply and hopefully obtain the residency before going there to study. Is this possible or will the process likely take too long for me to have it by then? If so, does that mean that I would have to choose between studying abroad for one year and residency? It seems that if I leave to france, i will be studying there for a year meaning my total days outside the UK would increase massively.

I would ideally like to apply myself without the assistance of a lawyer but would you reccommend that I ask for help in this situation?

I would really really appreciate any kind of advice on any of the problems I listed above. I have not got many people that can help or advise me, so any help from this forum would be much appreciated! thank you very much.