Citizenship application - more than 450 days outside the UK

[Locke]

Hi,

at gov.uk it says I can spend no more than 450 days outside the UK during 5 years before the date of my citizenship application. Also, I can spend no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months.

Now I work at a local company in England & my job requires me to travel around Europe 50% of my time, therefore it will be about 700-800 days outside the UK during 5 years before the date of my application. I can reduce my travels in the last year before applying for the citizenship to ensure I spend less than 90 days outside the UK.

Here is my question:
- are there any exception from 450 days rule taking into account absence was caused by business and not private trips?

I'm an EU citizen, therefore I still qualify for permanent residence if periods of absence from the UK do not exceed six months in total in any year.

[ohara]

Have a read of AN Booklet pages 7-9: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... r_2015.pdf

They have discretion to disregard absences up to 900 days depending on previous residence.

[Locke]

Thank you, ohara! I've somehow missed the booklet at gov.uk

This information clarifies a lot. I probably need to check now with an immigration adviser how to properly support my application to avoid it being refused.

Maybe someone can share his experience with applying for naturalization with an absences exceeding 450 days.
What documents were provided to support the application? How long did it take to get the certificate of naturalisation? Anything specific to that kind of applications?

[ohara]

It's not necessary to use a solicitor to submit your application. The requirements are clear and the users on this forum have a wealth of knowledge which is available to you for free. There's nothing a solicitor can do to strengthen your case and you'll only end up paying £1000 for someone to complete the application for you

The necessary documents you need to submit are listed in the AN form, AN booklet and AN guide. I suggest you read all three very thoroughly.

Once HO has your application and has taken the payment you will receive a letter asking you to enrol biometric information at a post office which you must do within 15 days. After that, your application will be considered. The HO target is 6 months; in reality most are decided within 3-4 months (some even faster) but those with complicated backgrounds can end up waiting more than a year. A couple of members of this forum have been waiting since early 2014.

When your application has been accepted, you are required to attend a ceremony to complete the process. Only once you have attended the ceremony, do you become a British citizen and receive the certificate of naturalisation. Then you can apply for a British passport.