Permanent Residence - question about absence

[damiandd]

Hi,

My partner as an EU national and has been here for over 10 years. She arrived in 2007 and started working the same year. During that time she studied and worked here continuously without breaking 6 months in each calendar year.

However at the beginning of last year she left the country to pursue work opportunity abroad (full time job in EU). She did so, as the job allowed her to gain qualifications and further improve her CV, and thus employability in UK. She came back in September after 8 months, with one short break of 5 days in between when she travelled to UK.

Does she still qualify for Permanent Residence?

[secret.simon]

Also see this post.

[noajthan]

She could have acquired PR back in 2012.

A8 national? WRS?
Student - CSI?

[damiandd]

Hi Noajthan,

Thanks for your prompt response

My partner is from Poland and successfully registered for WRS in December 2006. She has been working ever since paying national insurance and taxes every month. In the meantime she also did a university degree on part-time basis. Her history is as follows:

2007-2010 (she worked mostly full time with at least +30 hours / week + studied part time)
2011-2015 (worked in full time employment in her area of study)
JAN 2016 - SEP 2016 - (worked abroad to gain further experience)
OCT 2016 - NOW - (back in UK, full time employment)

As you can see there is 8 month gap in her history, where she left abroad for work opportunity that would enhance her CV. Based on this, does she qualify to apply for Permanent Residence in UK?

Best,
Damian

[noajthan]

Hi Noajthan,

Thanks for your prompt response

My partner is from Poland and successfully registered for WRS in December 2006. She has been working ever since paying national insurance and taxes every month. In the meantime she also did a university degree on part-time basis. Her history is as follows:

...

As you can see there is 8 month gap in her history, where she left abroad for work opportunity that would enhance her CV. Based on this, does she qualify to apply for Permanent Residence in UK?

Best,
Damian

PR may have been acquired as early as 2011-12 so subsequent absence (under 2 years) would be immaterial.

Even if the absence fell into a qualifying period, a one-off absence of up to one year can be accepted for an exceptional reason, such as work placement.
Justification and evidence required.