Absences from the UK during your visa

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In this post we look at the issue of time spent outside of the UK whilst here on a visa.

We look at why you should track your absences, and how to work out whether you’re within the prescribed limits on absences for your particular visa.

This post is intended to provide general background on the relevant issues. These rules can be complex, and the requirements of the route will vary from application to application.

Whilst we have done our best to ensure that the information here is accurate at the time of writing, the UK immigration rules change frequently, so you should always check the position at the time you make your application.

Why should I track my absences?

If you ever want to apply for settlement in the UK – also known as Indefinite Leave to Remain, or permanent residence – you will likely have to complete an online application form where you are asked to list your absences.

This is because, in many routes, if you have been outside of the country for too many days, you won’t qualify for settlement.

There is a similar requirement should you ever wish to apply for citizenship, which you can do in most cases after you obtain settlement status.

Even if you don’t leave the UK much and you’re comfortably within the absences thresholds, you still need to provide details of the trips you’ve taken, sometimes quite some way back.

How to work out your absences

The easiest way to work out your absences is to keep track of them as you go. Some clients do this.

Most clients, though, unaware of the requirement, spend a large amount of time going back through old emails, looking for flight tickets and other evidence to piece together their whereabouts.

It is possible to request a copy of your data from the Home Office, and which will usually contain information on dates of entry to the UK.

However, we have seen examples where the records provided have been incomplete and don’t provide all of the necessary information.

So this is a significant pain point for many clients, coming on top of what is already a stressful and expensive process.

How to work out if you meet the absences thresholds

There are two important thresholds to be aware of which are different: one for settlement, and one for citizenship.

When applying for UK settlement the key absences requirement in most (but not all) routes is to not have been outside of the UK for more than 180 days during any 12-month period in the qualifying period (usually 5 years).

However, in most citizenship applications by naturalisation, the absence limits are not the same where a maximum of 450 days absence in the 5 years prior to the application is permitted, and no more than 90 days absence in the 12 months before the application.

Many individuals apply for citizenship as soon as they can after obtaining settlement (most people are eligible 12 months after being granted settlement status). If that’s your plan, you need to have an eye on both thresholds.

If you are above the relevant thresholds in either type of application there are exceptions which you can rely upon.

Note that even if you are not planning to apply for settlement, absences may still be an issue if it suggests that your circumstances have changed since you were granted your original visa. This is a complex area, and beyond the scope of this note.

Working out your absences when applying for settlement

In the majority of application routes when applying for settlement you should not have been outside of the UK for more than 180 days during any 12-month period during your qualifying period.

First, you need to identify the date you plan to apply for settlement. The date of application is the date you submit the online application (that’s when you pay the extortionate fee). It is not when you attend a biometrics appointment.

Second, you need to identify the ‘qualifying period’. This is the period during which you need to show you have lived in the UK with the appropriate visa in order to qualify for settlement. In most – but not all – cases, this will be five years.

Third, you need to get all of your absences together in a list during that qualifying period. You will need to provide the destination country, reason for absence, the date you left the UK, and the date you got back.

Finally, you need to work out if your absences exceed 180 days in any 12 months during your qualifying period.

How to work out whether you have exceeded 180 days in any 12 month period

This bit is difficult (a) to understand and (b) to work out.

The 12-month period is rolling. This means it doesn’t run from 1 January – 31 December, and it doesn’t run in 12-month chunks back from the date you make your application (this is how the Home Office used to calculate absences prior to 11 January 2018).

The rolling period means that any period of 12 months during your stay can be looked at.

So for example, if you applied for settlement on 1 September 2024 as a Skilled Worker, your 5 year qualifying period would be 1 September 2019 – 1 September 2024.

The nature of the rolling period means that the Home Office would not just look at whether you had exceeded 180 days from 1 September 2019 – 1 September 2020, 1 September 2020 – 1 September 2021 etc (this was the old system).

Instead, they will look whether you were outside of the UK for more than 180 days during every conceivable 12-month chunk during the 5 years: e.g. 1 September 2019 – 1 September 2020, 2 September 2019 – 2 September 2020, 3 September 2019 – 3 September 2020, 4 September 2019 – 4 September 2020 etc.

To see this in action, this is an example list of absences over a 5 year qualifying period:

An individual with this list of absences would have been outside of the UK for more than 180 days twice during their qualifying period. This is best explained by the following graphic:

An individual with this absences pattern would therefore need to argue that an exception applied in their case when making their indefinite leave to remain application.

Which applications does this rule apply to?

You should not have been outside of the UK for more than 180 days during any 12-month period when making settlement applications in the following routes:

  • Skilled Worker
  • Global Talent
  • Representative of an Overseas Business
  • Innovator Founder
  • T2 Minister of Religion
  • International Sportsperson
  • UK Ancestry
  • Domestic Worker in a Private Household
  • Temporary Work - International Agreement
  • Scale-up
  • Settlement Family Life
  • Private Life (settlement only, apart from where the applicant is applying to settle as a child born in the UK)
  • Hong Kong National (Overseas)
  • HM Armed Forces (only settlement as a Partner or Child)

This is not an exhaustive list, and there are other routes where the 180-day in any 12 month period rule does apply.

If you know you have exceeded the maximum permitted absences, we look consider what exceptions might be available under the rules in a separate post.

If you are looking for further information or assistance regarding this visa then please do not hesitate to contact us at Edgewater Legal.