How do absences affect my UK immigration?

As part of some immigration applications, you are required to tell the Home Office about your absences from the UK.

In this article, we provide a summary of the types of applications which are subject to absence requirements and the rules on calculating absences.

When will the Home Office look at my absences?

The basic position is that when you apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK (ILR) or naturalisation as a British citizen, you will be required to provide a list of your historic absences from the UK to the Home Office.

How do I evidence my absences?

As explained above, you will be required to provide the Home Office with a list of your trips out of the UK. You must prepare this list to the best of your knowledge and it should outline departure dates from the UK, countries visited, purpose of travel and UK return dates.

You will not usually be required to provide any travel booking confirmations or boarding passes to confirm the dates provided in your list.

The Home Office will cross check your list of absences against stamps contained in your passports and Advance Passenger Information available to them in their electronic systems.

How many absences from the UK can I have?

This will depend on the application type that you are making:

• Application for ILR based on 5 years’ residence – you are permitted absences of up to 180 days in any 12-month period of the overall 5 years prior to application.
• Application for ILR based on 10 years’ residence – you are permitted absences of up to 540 days during the overall 10 years prior to application.
• Application for naturalisation as a British citizen under section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 – you are permitted absences of up to 450 days during the overall 5 years prior to application, with specific absences of no more than 90 days during the last 12 months.
• Application for naturalisation as a British citizen under section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 – you are permitted absences of up to 270 days during the overall 3 years prior to application, with specific absences of no more than 90 days during the last 12 months.

What counts as an absence from the UK?

Only whole days outside of the UK are counted as an absence. This means that the day that you depart from the UK and the day that you return to the UK will not count towards time that you have spent outside of the UK.

For example, if you leave the UK on a Wednesday and travel back that same Friday, you will have only been absent from the UK for 1 day, i.e. Thursday.

It is important to note that absences for UK tax purposes are calculated differently. Gherson’s tax team can provide further help in this regard.

When will an absence not count?

Again, the rules on when the Home Office must or can disregard certain absences will depend upon the application type that you are making.

In certain cases, the Home Office are obliged to disregard absences from the UK due to COVID-19. In other cases, the Home Office will have discretion to disregard absences which are as a result of exceptional/compelling circumstances that can be clearly evidenced. Generally speaking, the Home Office has greater discretion in respect of British citizenship cases than ILR applications.

How Gherson can assist

Gherson has extensive experience in all categories of ILR and British citizenship applications. Please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

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