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Hi all,

I am thinking of applying for PR later this year in order to get British citizenship, but I have a few queries about my current situation. Let me give some details:

• I am French;
• I was certified C1 level in English (CEFR) in 2000 and C2 in 2009;
• I moved to UK in October 2011;
• I started self-employment in late October 2011;
• I took the CELTA course and started teaching EFL (self-employed) in 2012;
• I got a job with a British college to teach English in Saudi Arabia in July 2014;
• I have been in and out the country since, but have kept my house in Birmingham, where my wife and kids are resident (all French nationals);
• I have started an MA with Leicester university last September (distance learning).

Am I correct in saying that, in order to apply for PR, I will need (in no particular order):

1. To pass another English test to prove that I am at least at B1 level;
2. To pass the life in UK test;
3. To prove my self-employment, then employment for the five-year period;
4. To have spent less than 450 days abroad during the five years before my application and less than 90 days in the last year. This is my main worry, as will I have been working abroad for two years at the time of my application. I will have spent to full academic years abroad, and been back during end of term breaks.

Is there anything I have forgotten or overlooked?

Could I still qualify for PR?

Thanks very much.

AbuZayd wrote:Hi all,

I am thinking of applying for PR later this year in order to get British citizenship, but I have a few queries about my current situation. Let me give some details:
...

Am I correct in saying that, in order to apply for PR, I will need (in no particular order):

1. To pass another English test to prove that I am at least at B1 level;
2. To pass the life in UK test;
3. To prove my self-employment, then employment for the five-year period;
4. To have spent less than 450 days abroad during the five years before my application and less than 90 days in the last year. This is my main worry, as will I have been working abroad for two years at the time of my application. I will have spent to full academic years abroad, and been back during end of term breaks.

Is there anything I have forgotten or overlooked?

Could I still qualify for PR?

Thanks very much.

1) A SELT is required for citizenship but not for PR.

2) LITUK is not needed for acquiring PR

3) Yes, if that's how you fulfill being a qualified person.

4) You are jumbling residency requirements for citizenship in with talking about acquiring PR.

To maintain continuity of residency in UK (in order to acquire PR) your absences from UK should be less than 6 months per 12 months (year on year from anniversary of entering UK).

You will need to count up your absences from Oct-Oct each year.

If absent from UK for more than more than 6 months your PR clock will normally stop;
(except, possibly, for a single, one-off exceptional absence of up to 12 months).

When you have acquired PR you could factor in residency requirements for citizenship & work to satisfy them too.

Thanks very much for the clarifications. That's much clearer now.

What do you exactly mean by the PR clock stopping? Do you mean that year is lost for the five year count, or that it has to be restarted again from scratch?
Aren't there exceptions for people sent abroad by British companies?

AbuZayd wrote:Thanks very much for the clarifications. That's much clearer now.

What do you exactly mean by the PR clock stopping? Do you mean that year is lost for the five year count, or that it has to be restarted again from scratch?
Aren't there exceptions for people sent abroad by British companies?

You will have to dig into whether a work assignment abroad is an exceptional enough circumstance to count towards the single (one-off) 12 months exceptional absence that the EEA regulations indicate is permissible.

Ref http://www.eearegulations.co.uk/Latest/ByPage/part1_3

If continuity of residence is broken the PR clock will be reset to zero and will have to be restarted from scratch.

OK, I see, thanks.

Does the continuity of residency have to be counted from date of entry in UK, or can it be counted from 5 years before application date (if submitted later than 5 years after entry)?

AbuZayd wrote:OK, I see, thanks.

Does the continuity of residency have to be counted from date of entry in UK, or can it be counted from 5 years before application date (if submitted later than 5 years after entry)?

Any 5-year time slot will do.

You just need to identify a 5 year period in which you lived in UK & exercised treaty rights continuously for 5 years as a qualified person (& with any absences within limits).
If you can find such a period (preferably with adequate documentary supporting evidence) then you will have acquired PR automatically.
You can apply for the 'confirmation of PR' card any time after that.

So how long have you been out of UK for, since late 2014?

Thanks very much for the quick replies.

If my calculation are correct, since late 2014, I will have reached 18 months abroad by late July 2016, when my current contract will be over, and when I will be going back to UK.

AbuZayd wrote:Thanks very much for the quick replies.

If my calculation are correct, since late 2014, I will have reached 18 months abroad by late July 2016, when my current contract will be over, and when I will be going back to UK.

In that case, if you haven't already acquired PR before leaving UK in 2014, your PR clock will start up in 2016 and have to run until 2021.

Hum, that would be most unfortunate.

Could I not time my application right to spread my time abroad more evenly?

E.g.
Say I apply on 31/1/17
From 31/1/14 to 31/1/15, I spent 169 days abroad (I was sent on 15/8/14), minus a few leave days.
From 31/1/15 to 31/1/16, one full year (minus leave, which won't exceed one month): can I ask for exceptional circumstances, provided I give the right justifications from my current employer.
From 31/1/16 to 31/1/17 178 days abroad, if I get back to UK on 27/7/16. I still have +/- 20 days leave to book, which would reduce the amount.

Technically, could that count as wo years with less than 6 months away and one year with +/- 11 months which could be justified by overseas posting by a British company?

AbuZayd wrote:Hum, that would be most unfortunate.

Could I not time my application right to spread my time abroad more evenly?

E.g.
Say I apply on 31/1/17
From 31/1/14 to 31/1/15, I spent 169 days abroad (I was sent on 15/8/14), minus a few leave days.
From 31/1/15 to 31/1/16, one full year (minus leave, which won't exceed one month): can I ask for exceptional circumstances, provided I give the right justifications from my current employer.
From 31/1/16 to 31/1/17 178 days abroad, if I get back to UK on 27/7/16. I still have +/- 20 days leave to book, which would reduce the amount.

Technically, could that count as wo years with less than 6 months away and one year with +/- 11 months which could be justified by overseas posting by a British company?

My understanding is your year runs from October - the anniversary of your arrival in UK.

Oh, maybe I had misunderstood, then. I was under the impression I could calculate from 5 years before application, not necessarily basing myself on my first date of arrival.
The idea was to apply a few months later than the earliest I could (i.e. late Jan 2017 instead of late Oct 2016) to save a few years.
Is it not possible?