ILR eligibility with Skilled Worker visa with frequent travels outside UK

Hello

I am currently on a skilled worker visa and have completed 2 years and 3 months. Due to the nature of my job, I travel extensively, primarily offshore to India and occasionally to Europe. However, I make sure to stay within the UK’s 180-day limit for time spent outside the country in any given 12 months. Also, my UK salary remains constant regardless of my travel, which reflects the continuity of my employment. I have a few questions:

1) If I continue working for the same employer with similar travel requirements, will it affect my ILR application in November 2027 (after 2.9 years)?

2) Can I remain on ILR and wait until I’m eligible for citizenship? (which could take another 3-4 more years after my ILR)? I see there’s a rule allowing only 450 days outside the UK in the last 5 years when applying for citizenship. This might not be possible for me without changing my job to stay in the UK. Is that correct?

3) What are the differences between ILR and citizenship? Any useful links with complete details would be greatly appreciated. Basically, I want to check what do I lose if I continue to stay on ILR for a longer duration.

4) Are there any other checks or stuffs, I should take care to avoid impacting my ILR?

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Dear Forum Members,

Could you kindly respond to my previous post? My main concern is whether there could be any impact on my ILR application after 5 years, and if there are any specific documents I should create/maintain, especially for extended trips.

I would really appreciate any guidance on this.

prsh wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 17, 2025 4:14 pm

2) Can I remain on ILR and wait until I’m eligible for citizenship? (which could take another 3-4 more years after my ILR)? I see there’s a rule allowing only 450 days outside the UK in the last 5 years when applying for citizenship. This might not be possible for me without changing my job to stay in the UK. Is that correct?
After gaining ILR you can stay on ILR for many years, even without applying for citizenship. Citizenship is completely separate from immigration so apply any time you wish, subject to meeting the requirements at the time, especially absence limits. Personally I waited some 30 years .... you can wait a few years your circumstances may change in your current job. Note that generally the application takes about 6 months to be decided (often quicker than that) plus wait time for the passport application (not more than 3 weeks generally).

3) What are the differences between ILR and citizenship? Any useful links with complete details would be greatly appreciated. Basically, I want to check what do I lose if I continue to stay on ILR for a longer duration.
For living in the UK there's not much difference, main one is right to vote in all elections/referenda. But main advantage of BC is freedom to travel without restrictions and visa-free entry to many more countries than you can today. You can even leave the UK for prolonged absences or forever without loosing citizenship.

4) Are there any other checks or stuffs, I should take care to avoid impacting my ILR?
Be aware you may loose ILR if you are away from the UK for 2 years or more.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Others will reply on the ILR aspects.

Many thanks @alterhase58. It is clear on my ILR to Citizenship, hopefully with the change in the role / job in future it will be easy to meet the citizenship criteria's. Thanks!

Dear Forum Members,

Can you please comment on the ILR aspect. To summarize:

1) Will there be any challange in getting ILR if I continue with travels out of UK but within the 180-day limit for time spent outside the country in any given 12 months.

2) My UK salary remains constant regardless of travel, reflecting the continuity of my employment. In addition, are there any specific emails or documentation I should maintain to support my ILR application?

1) It's sensible to maintain compliance with the absence requirements.

2) There's no requirement of "continuity of employment" for ILR under this route. Also no need to maintain any specific documents now, just meet the eligibility criteria according to the rules at the time of application.

In any case, you're still more than two years away to be eligible for ILR under the SWV route, the current rules might change. Although it's sensible to be familiar with the current rules, it's not worth to be overthinking for something that might not be applicable in the future.