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Hello members,

I am currently awaiting my naturalization application decision (5y Etrepreneur +1y ILR).

I have a dependent spouse who got visa in the UK in Oct 2018. As it is 5yrs to ILR (Oct 2023), i wanted to double check on few rules as they frequently change.

1. Residency requirements for her ILR:
- Is it 3 or 5 years of marriage that she needs to accumulate in order to apply for ILR if/when i am to become a naturalised BC? What is the earliest date she could apply for ILR given above scenario?
- Absence days: I have seen there is now (or was!) a rolling period of any 180 days that HO can check for absences. Is this enforced for hew visa type? If not, is it 90 or 180 days per calendar year that she can be out of UK and still qualify for ILR? (for BC it is 90 in last year, but want to check those for ILR separately per year if exists)

2. Naturalisaiton options
- Applying for naturalization: is it immediately available after getting ILR (no need to wait 12monhts?)
- Days outside of the UK: will it be 450 days (if 5 years) before BC application for her or 270 days (if 3 years)?

Thank you! Sorry if confusing!
SR

1. Residency requirements for her ILR:
- Is it 3 or 5 years of marriage that she needs to accumulate in order to apply for ILR if/when i am to become a naturalised BC? What is the earliest date she could apply for ILR given above scenario?
- Absence days: I have seen there is now (or was!) a rolling period of any 180 days that HO can check for absences. Is this enforced for hew visa type? If not, is it 90 or 180 days per calendar year that she can be out of UK and still qualify for ILR? (for BC it is 90 in last year, but want to check those for ILR separately per year if exists)

It is 5 years for ILR via ANY visa route. There is no 3 year route and never has been. Prior to 9 July 2012 it was a TWO year route. Presumably your spouse got her visa AFTER you got ILR, in which case it is a Spouse Settlement visa which has NO absence limits.

2. Naturalisaiton options
- Applying for naturalization: is it immediately available after getting ILR (no need to wait 12monhts?)
- Days outside of the UK: will it be 450 days (if 5 years) before BC application for her or 270 days (if 3 years)?

Yes, immediately after getting ILR if she meets the 3 year residence requirement to apply as the spouse of a British citizen, which is 270 days absence.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 08, 2019 11:11 am

1. Residency requirements for her ILR:
- Is it 3 or 5 years of marriage that she needs to accumulate in order to apply for ILR if/when i am to become a naturalised BC? What is the earliest date she could apply for ILR given above scenario?
- Absence days: I have seen there is now (or was!) a rolling period of any 180 days that HO can check for absences. Is this enforced for hew visa type? If not, is it 90 or 180 days per calendar year that she can be out of UK and still qualify for ILR? (for BC it is 90 in last year, but want to check those for ILR separately per year if exists)

It is 5 years for ILR via ANY visa route. There is no 3 year route and never has been. Prior to 9 July 2012 it was a TWO year route. Presumably your spouse got her visa AFTER you got ILR, in which case it is a Spouse Settlement visa which has NO absence limits.

2. Naturalisaiton options
- Applying for naturalization: is it immediately available after getting ILR (no need to wait 12monhts?)
- Days outside of the UK: will it be 450 days (if 5 years) before BC application for her or 270 days (if 3 years)?

Yes, immediately after getting ILR if she meets the 3 year residence requirement to apply as the spouse of a British citizen, which is 270 days absence.

thanks very much CR001. My wife has been 1 year on the dependent visa when i still had my T1 Entrepreneur visa (Sep 2017-Oct 2018), and now 1 year dependent visa since i got my ILR in Sept 2018. So total of 2 years as dependent spouse. Does it mean she needs 3 more years and can apply for ILR in 2022?

With regards to no absence limits, does it mean she can be absent for any number of days in any given period? (even 180+ days in a calendar year?) and still qualify for ILR?

For BC then, she needs to ensure that in 3 years prior to BC application she needs not be absent for more than 270 days total before the application date and no more than 90 days in final year, correct?

Thank you!

SR

You need to clarify what dependent visa category exactly she holds. It is unclear from your posts if she currently holds a PBS dependent visa or a FLR M spouse visa. They are different and have different rules.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 08, 2019 3:37 pm

You need to clarify what dependent visa category exactly she holds. It is unclear from your posts if she currently holds a PBS dependent visa or a FLR M spouse visa. They are different and have different rules.

Oh sorry, yes she was and is on the PBS dependent visa, essentially extended after i got my ILR last year. Thanks! What does this then mean to our case?

So she got a 3 year PBS dependent extension after you got ILR??

She needs 5 years a PBS Dependent to qualify for ILR.

She is subject to the 180 days absence limit if ANY of her visas were issued on or after 11th January 2018.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 08, 2019 3:47 pm

So she got a 3 year PBS dependent extension after you got ILR??

She needs 5 years a PBS Dependent to qualify for ILR.

She is subject to the 180 days absence limit if ANY of her visas were issued on or after 11th January 2018.

Thank you,

Yes, she got a 3y PBS dependent extension in oct 2018.

So, that means she could apply for ILR in 2022, given that her first PBS dependent was issued in 2017? And, essentially, apply for BC straight away, given previous 3 years were no more than 270 days absence?

Yes, her current visa is post Jan 2018. Are these 180 days per calendar year, or on some other basis?

Thank you!
SR

So, that means she could apply for ILR in 2022, given that her first PBS dependent was issued in 2017? And, essentially, apply for BC straight away, given previous 3 years were no more than 270 days absence?

Yes, if she meets the ILR and BC requirements. Note that for citizenship, she must also meet the physically present at the start of the qualifying period reqirement.

Yes, her current visa is post Jan 2018. Are these 180 days per calendar year, or on some other basis?

ANY 12 month period.

uk-tier-1-general-dependent-visas/ilr-t ... l#p1571196

vinny wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 08, 2017 7:42 am

Reintroducing 180-day absence limit for PBS partners.

New statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC309 wrote:Extending the 180-day absence criterion for main ILR applicants under the points-based system to partners of the main applicants as well.

8.33 wrote:After paragraph 319E(d)(ii)(c), insert:
“(d) not have been absent from the UK for more than 180 days during any 12 month period in the continuous period, except that:
(1) any absence from the UK for the purpose of assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis overseas shall not count towards the 180 days, if the applicant provides evidence that this was the purpose of the absence(s), and
(2) any absence from the UK during periods of leave granted under the Rules in place before 11 January 2018 shall not count towards the 180 days.”.

Implementation wrote:The changes to Part 5 set out in paragraphs 5.13 to 5.15 and 5.18 to 5.19, to Part 7 set out in paragraphs 7.3 to 7.5 and 7.7, to Part 8 set out in paragraphs 8.20 and 8.36, and to Appendix Armed Forces set out in paragraph AF2. of this statement shall take effect on the commencement of Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016.

New statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC309 wrote:Different elements of the changes take effect at different times, but most come into force between 28 December 2017 and 11 January 2018. The exception is the changes related to immigration bail, which take effect only upon the commencement of Schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016. That is to be “as soon as practicable“.

Explanatory memorandum HC309, 7 December 2017 wrote:Changes to indefinite leave to remain in work categories

7.21. The requirement to have had absences from the UK of no more than 180 days per year in order to qualify for settlement, which currently applies to main applicants, is being extended to partners of Points-Based System Migrants. To ensure that this requirement does not have retrospective effect, only absences from the UK during periods of leave granted under the rules in place from 11 January 2018 will count towards the 180 days.

Thank you CR001, all very clear!