Clarification on ILR 5‑Year Route for Skilled Worker Dependant After Long Absence

[AjayE2025]

Hello,
I would appreciate some guidance regarding my spouse’s ILR eligibility and the correct steps we should take next.

I arrived in the UK in February 2015 under a Tier 2 (General) visa and obtained ILR in 2020 after completing five years of continuous residence. I have since applied for and received my British passport about a month ago.

My spouse joined me in February 2016 as a Tier 2 Dependant and extended her visa in February 2020, valid until February 2023. However, she spent more than six consecutive months outside the UK (from 22 November 2021 to 2 July 2022), which may break the continuous residence requirement for the 5‑year ILR route for dependants. Due to this, she then extended her dependant visa for a further three years until February 2026.
Because of this long absence, it appears she may not yet be eligible for ILR and may need another extension in order to complete a fresh 5‑year qualifying period.

Before we proceed, I would like to confirm the following:

1) Does an absence of more than six months automatically break continuous residence for the Skilled Worker/Tier 2 Dependant ILR route? I am asking because her initial visa was issued in 2016 and her first extension occurred in 2020, so I am unsure how UKVI applies the continuous absence calculation in this situation.
2) If her continuous residence has been broken, does she need an additional extension to complete a new qualifying 5‑year period, given that ILR assessments look at the five years immediately preceding the application?
3) When completing the current online extension application, how should we proceed with the section requesting Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) start and end dates, considering I no longer have an active CoS since obtaining ILR and subsequently British citizenship?

Any advice or insight from those familiar with similar cases would be greatly appreciated.

[zimba]

1. Yes, but that requirement applies to the most immediate preceding 5 years which will be from the date of ILR decision and counting BACKWARDS

READ--> All you need to know about applying early, the application date, 28-day concession and more

2. No. They only look at the most immediate preceding 5 years and apply absence requirement to that period only.

3. Any application will be based on your previous status as the skilled worker. So answer with that in mind