450-day limit with Permanent Resident Card

[LorenzoLamas]

Hi,

I would like to know if the 450-day limit for absences outside the UK in the last 5 years still apply when you already have a Permanent Resident card?
My situation is as follows:
- UK Resident from 2006 to 2015
- Moved to Europe for work for 18 months between 2015 and 2016 (more than 450 days)
- Moved back in 2016
- Applied for Permanent resident card using a 5-year qualifying period ending before 2015 and proof I did not leave the uk for more than 2 years. PR card was issued retrospectively, as valid from 2014.

Now I am about to apply for the British citizenship using my PR. I assumed the following with regards to immigration conditions:
- my PR is still valid as long as I did not leave the UK for more than 2 years, I will have to prove it
- the 450-day limit for absences is related to the 5-year qualifying period, not the last 5 years i.e. 2014-2019.
- in my case I only have to prove I was not absent from the UK for more than 90 days in the last year.

Could anyone knowledgeable enough confirm what I think? I am about to apply but starting to have doubts.

Kind regards
Lorenzo

[CR001]

The absence limit for citizenship applies to everyone, regardless of the immigration route you were on.

The 450 days is the 5 years IMMEDIATELY preceding the date of application for citizenship and the and included in that is not more than 90 days in the final 12 months.

[LorenzoLamas]

I am actually not sure you are right. See below:

This is from https://www.gov.uk/british-citizenship
"To apply for citizenship with permanent residence status you must usually have lived in the UK for 12 months after getting permanent residence status. You also need a permanent residence document that proves you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years - this can be any 5 year period."

This is from https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-eea in the Residency requirements section:
"You should have lived in the UK for at least 5 years before the date of your application.
You cannot include any time spent in the UK when you’re exempt from immigration control (for example, as a diplomat or member of visiting armed forces).

You should also not have:

.spent more than 450 days outside the UK during those 5 years
.spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months"

It does not say last 5 years while it clearly says last 12 months.
So it seems to me that when taking the permanent resident route it is the qualifying period that matters, i.e. any 5-year period as long as the permanent residence has not been lost (more than 2 years away from the UK).

[CR001]

You are misinterpreting the rules. Citizenship is based on the 5 years immediately preceding the date of application on form AN. This applies to everyone.

The requirements for pr and citizenship are completely separate.

For PR you can use any qualifying 5 year period in the past or years ago. For citizenship you cannot.

From the same EEA pr link, it is the most recent 5 years.

prove you were in the UK exactly 5 years before the day the Home Office receives your application

And this clearly states it too, regardless of how you choose to read it. 5 years before date of application for citizenship.

This is from https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-eea in the Residency requirements section:
"You should have lived in the UK for at least 5 years before the date of your application.

[CR001]

See also page 7 of the Form AN Guidance notes.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... ooklet.pdf

The residence requirements:
• You must have been physically present in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern
Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands on the day 5 years before the
application is received by the Home Office.
• For example, if your application is received on 05/01/2018 you should have
been physically present in the UK on 05/01/2013.
• Most applications that fail do so because applicants have applied even though
they cannot satisfy the residence requirement to be present in the UK at the
beginning of the residential qualifying period.
• If you are a current or former member of the UK armed forces, you may not
have to meet this requirement, if you were serving outside of the UK on the
date 5 years before applying.
• You must not have had more than 450 days outside the UK in the 5-year period
before making the application (but see the section on Absences).
• You must not have had more than 90 days outside the UK in the 12-month
period before making the application (but see the section on Absences).
• You must be free of immigration time restrictions on the date of application, and
have been free of immigration time restrictions for the 12-month period before
making the application (see the section on Immigration Time Restrictions).
• You must not have been in breach of the immigration rules in the 5-year period
before making the application (see the section on Breach of Immigration Law).