Tier 2 Dependent 180 Days outside of the UK Rule

[DAVEINTHEUK]

Hello everyone,

I am currently on tier 2 visa starting from October 2021 and my wife is on tier 2 dependent route from the same date as mine as we converted from student visa to tier 2 visa at the time. We are exploring the option of my wife spending more than 180 days in our home country due to bith of our child & my question was what happens to the ILR application if she does spend 180+ days outside of the UK.

Does her 5 year clock reset, i.e. she has to do another 5 year upon reentry to get to the ILR stage or just do one addittional year at the end (Till October 2027 instead of October 2026) to become eligible. And what visa will she have to apply to stay the extra length of period, a 1 year extention to tier 2 dependent visa, assuming i have gained my ILR in October 2026?

TIA

[zimba]

She will have to start her 5 years from scratch as she would fail the rolling absence requirement over the 5-year period.

[DAVEINTHEUK]

She will have to start her 5 years from scratch as she would fail the rolling absence requirement over the 5-year period.

Noted, thanks for your quick response. Am i right in assuming that she can still count her post 180+ days absence (i.e. when she comes back to the UK, for example October 2025 to October 2026) as part of the new cycle or does the cycle strictly begin at the end of the original 5 year visa?

[zimba]

She will have to start her 5 years from scratch as she would fail the rolling absence requirement over the 5-year period.

Noted, thanks for your quick response. Am i right in assuming that she can still count her post 180+ days absence (i.e. when she comes back to the UK, for example October 2025 to October 2026) as part of the new cycle or does the cycle strictly begin at the end of the original 5 year visa?

There is no cycle. The rolling calculation does not work based on any cycle. The limit is no more than 180 days of absence in ANY 365-day period, during the qualifying 5 years.

The 5 years could count from the date of the decision and backwards. See: Applicants can benefit from the date of the ILR decision