Last 12 Months Criteria for Naturalisation

[sammie79]

Hi there,

I received my ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) on 15 February 2015. Thereafter, I was out of U.K from 7th April 2015 and came back on 7th Oct 2015 (182 Days) for personal reasons.
I match all the other criteria required for naturalization. I had the follow question regarding one of the criteria ‘that you cannot be out of the country for more than 90 days in the last 12 months prior to your application’:

Question : I was back in country on 7th Oct 2015, so rather than applying for naturalization on 7th Oct 2016, can I apply on 7th July 2016 (a few days more or less depending on what equates to 90 days) and count the 90 days as part of my leave that I had between 7th April 2015 to 7th Oct 2015?

Has any one done this before?

Your guidance will be much appreciated

Thanks,

[CR001]

As long as your absence in the last 12 months is within the 90 day limit, you can apply at any time once you have passed the 12 month ILR requirement.

[noajthan]

Hi there,

I received my ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) on 15 February 2015. Thereafter, I was out of U.K from 7th April 2015 and came back on 7th Oct 2015 (182 Days) for personal reasons.
I match all the other criteria required for naturalization. I had the follow question regarding one of the criteria ‘that you cannot be out of the country for more than 90 days in the last 12 months prior to your application’:

Question : I was back in country on 7th Oct 2015, so rather than applying for naturalization on 7th Oct 2016, can I apply on 7th July 2016 (a few days more or less depending on what equates to 90 days) and count the 90 days as part of my leave that I had between 7th April 2015 to 7th Oct 2015?

Has any one done this before?

Your guidance will be much appreciated

Thanks,

If you mean simply defer applying for the privilege of citizenship until just under 90 days falls in the 12 months immediately before applying, then yes that could work.

Note: You also have to be sure you were physically in UK 5 years before date of your applicatioon (& be able to prove it).

[sammie79]

Thank you very much.

So they dont mind if i was not in the country on day one - 12 months prior application? I think they do required you to be in the country on the same day, 5 years prior to the application?

There are no guidelines on the home office website!!! Seems like a grey area!

[CR001]

It is definitely NOT a grey area. HO guidance/rules are very clear. You must have been present on exactly the same date 5 years ago to the date that you submit your application. There is no if or but and it is an automatic refusal if you were not present.

There is no rule that you have to be present on day of the start of the 12 months, only that your absence must be within the set limit.

[secret.simon]

Actually, the rules for naturalisation are quite clear. You, like many others, appear to be conflating rules for citizenship with those for leave to remain. Many people see citizenship as the end of the journey, not realising that ILR is the end of the immigration journey and that citizenship is under different rules.

After you get ILR, you can apply for naturalisation at any time that you meet the (completely unrelated) rules for naturalisation. It does not matter how long the gap between ILR and citizenship is. It can be from immediate (if you are a spouse of a British citizen) to a lifetime. There have been cases on these forums of people taking naturalisation 10 to 20 years after achieving ILR. Indeed, some people choose not to take citizenship of the UK as they may lose citizenship of their home country and some benefits under the laws there.

Broadly, the rules for naturalisation are
a) Be free of immigration control (ILR or PR) for at least a year if not married to a British citizen.
b) No more than 90 days outside the UK
c) Be of good character
d) Be physically in the UK five years to the day on the date of application. This one of the few rules that the Home office has no discretion over.

EDIT: Beaten by CR001's much more succinct response.

[sammie79]

Thanks Guys. This is super helpful