Travel restrictions and applying for British Citizenship
When should you begin preparations for the British Citizenship application?
In order to be eligible to apply for your British Citizenship, after spending one year on the status of ILR or permanent residence, the applicant will have to comply with certain rules. If the applicant hasn’t taken up an ILR status or permanent residency for up to one year, it would result in the applicant having to remain in the UK on one’s ILR permit for an extended period, prior to being eligible to apply for citizenship.
It is therefore imperative that a person start ‘preparing’ for the British Citizenship application, as soon as he/she has obtained ILR. One of the most important things to keep in mind is the restrictions on travel during ILR.
Once you have obtained ILR you will need to complete 12 months in the UK before being eligible for citizenship (unless you are married to a UK national, in which case you simply need to hold ILR).
If the applicant is not married to a UK national, then in order to qualify for British citizenship they must not have been absent from the United Kingdom for more than 450 days in the five year period preceding the date that the application is lodged.
If the applicant is married to a UK national, then they must not have been absent for more than 270 days in the three year period preceding the date that the application is lodged.
In either case applicants also must not have been absent for more than 90 days in the 12 month period preceding the date of application.
If you reached the maximum permissible absences during the five year qualification period for ILR (i.e. you travelled for 180 days per year), you may not qualify for citizenship as your absences may exceed the 450 day limit.
The Home Office does have some discretion allowing them to disregard excessive absences from the UK during the qualifying period for citizenship applications. We can confirm that BIC has had previous success in applying for citizenship for applicants who had travelled above and beyond the Home Office’s restrictions in the five, and the one year periods preceding the date of application.
Please feel free to contact your BIC consultant for more information in your unique case.
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