absence last 1 year, start of year not in uk

[mrbzu]

HI,
My wife is on 5 year spouse visa route and due for indefinate leave but i have a question about absence for naturalization. she is applying for indefinate leave in december 2023 and we hope to get approval by april 2024. she was out of Uk from May 2023 to October 2023 for full 5 months. when she can apply for naturalization? do you have to be in UK when you count for last 1 year? will she be entitled to apply soon after indefinate leave or she has to wait for july to apply or it has to be october? what are the rules

[alterhase58]

Your spouse can apply as soon as she gains ILR (if you are British) and satisfies all requirements.
There's no such rule for the 12 months preceding the application date. She needs to be in the UK on the first day of the start of the 3 year residency period.

[secret.simon]

As @alterhase58 has advised above, there is no requirement for being in the UK at the start of the year, only at the start of the three year period.

If your spouse meets *all* other requirements, you can request discretion to disregard the no-more-than-90-days-in-last-year absences requirement.

Discretion can be used to disregard *one* requirement.