Specifics for ILR

Hello,

Weve only just been granted our flrm but i want to make sure we know all the rules for ilr and inevitably citizenship straight after.

More specifically the absence rules. I can only find something that says no more than 180 days but im sure i read ages ago it theres a  cap in the 5 years for total days.

Do you still have to meet financial requirements?

Anything else we should know?

Thank you!

You have to meet the financial requirements again for ILR but not for citizenship.

The residency rules for citizenship are as follows.

Unless your spouse or civil partner works abroad either for the UK government or for an organisation closely linked to government, you must usually also have:

    lived in the UK for at least the 3 years before your application is received
    spent no more than 270 days outside the UK in those 3 years
    spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months
    not broken any immigration laws while in the UK

https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen/if-your-spouse-is-a-british-citizen

More specifically the absence rules. I can only find something that says no more than 180 days but im sure i read ages ago it theres a  cap in the 5 years for total days.

That is only for people on certain visas (i.e. Tier 2 work visas)... it does not apply to people on spousal visas/FLR(M).

For you, there is no residency requirement for ILR, other than having lived together as a couple for the whole time (same as for FLR(M)).

For citizenship, assuming you are still married to a UK citizen when you apply, you have to meet the following residency requirements:
- you hold ILR
- you were physically inside the UK on the same date exactly 3 years prior to your citizenship application date
- you have not been outside the UK for more than 270 days in the last 3 years
- no more than 90 of those 270 days can have been in the last 12 months before applying for citizenship

Brilliant. Thanks!!!

For citizenship, assuming you are still married to a UK citizen when you apply, you have to meet the following residency requirements:
- you hold ILR
- you were physically inside the UK on the same date exactly 3 years prior to your citizenship application date
- you have not been outside the UK for more than 270 days in the last 3 years
- no more than 90 of those 270 days can have been in the last 12 months before applying for citizenship

Out of curiosity, do you have to somehow prove you were in the UK on the same date exactly 3 years prior to the application, or does the government look at entries and exits and determine it for us?

Out of curiosity, do you have to somehow prove you were in the UK on the same date exactly 3 years prior to the application, or does the government look at entries and exits and determine it for us?

Passport stamps.

As part of the application, you have to put every date you left the country, where you went, how long you were gone, and the date you returned.

When counting days out of the UK, remember travel days (departure day and arrival day) do not count.

If you leave the UK on Monday and return to the UK on Wednesday, you've been out of the UK one day as far as the citizenship application cares.

Good to know if you'll be close to the limit.

I'd suggest keeping track now. It will save digging through your passport (assuming you get stamps every time), finding old flight info and doubting yourself when it comes time to fill out that section. I kept a sheet of paper with my passport to record my trips out of the UK and which countries I visited.

When counting days out of the UK, remember travel days (departure day and arrival day) do not count.

If you leave the UK on Monday and return to the UK on Wednesday, you've been out of the UK one day as far as the citizenship application cares.

Good to know if you'll be close to the limit.

I'd suggest keeping track now. It will save digging through your passport (assuming you get stamps every time), finding old flight info and doubting yourself when it comes time to fill out that section. I kept a sheet of paper with my passport to record my trips out of the UK and which countries I visited.

All very useful information.  Thanks!

And this is where I confess that I haven't left the country since I entered on my marriage visa in February 2013.  And we have no plans to leave the UK before next summer. I think that part of my application should be pretty simple.  Yay!