Shortfall of 5 years FLR (M) route by 2 months

[Jessica90]

So my situation is I arrived in the UK from Australia in July 2015 under Tier 5 YMS, and received Spouse of British citizen visa in July 2017 valid for 2.5 years (expiring 1 Jan 2020), I'm looking to extend this at the end of the year and the earliest ideal date would be 4th December (28 days before expiry). My issue is I'm traveling back to Aus for Christmas on 19th December and not back until 6th January 2020 leaving things very tight to get application and BRP sorted without applying too early.

It's a pretty straightforward situation, just sending off all the same bits of evidence and documents that we did originally so can't see any reason the extension would be refused. I would ideally like to apply a bit earlier to ensure get passport documents and BRP back before traveling but that risks falling short of the 5 year requirement for ILR (so in total 4 years 9/10 months on FLRM), the other option is to apply within 28 days and rush return of passport and travel before receiving BRP (and potentially letter of granted visa) but that would mean trying to enter back into UK without valid BRP physically on me. Can they check a system for validation?

By the time my extension of visa is up for expiry would be roughly June/July 2022 and I would have been living in the UK for a total of nearly 7 years, I'm not sure if case worker would take this into account? Just seems like such a small thing to work so long and pay so much for to be denied because of a month or 2.

I'm curious to know if anyone has had any success in getting ILR while falling short of the 5 year requirement by more than 28 days. If not we will look into priority service, but with increase of IHS (£500 - £1000!) it's an additional £800 that we would rather not.

Sorry for long post - any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[zimba]

There is no such a thing as earliest day to apply when you apply for FLR(M). You can apply sooner than 4th Dec if you wish
The 28 days concession applies to ILR only and that is you may apply within 28 days from completing your qualifying period for ILR. If you are short of 5 years even considering the 28 days in 2022, you may be able to apply before qualifying and book an appointment later or apply for FLR(M) first and then vary to ILR when eligible.