Citizenship

[banpunket]

hello everybody.

a quick question,My wife has ilr and we are going to apply for citizenship jan 2011,the first 2 years we had 1 month

each year out of the uk.This year alredy 60 days,But my wife has got to go back to thai,Her mum is very ill,and maybe she has to stay for a further 60 days,exceeding the 90-100 day time limit for the final year.Has anybody been in this situation and been granted c/ship.Thanks in advance for any replies.

[7by7]

The normal residency requirement is that during the three years prior to the application she must have spent no more than a total of 270 days out of the UK with no more than 90 days in the final year.

However, in Requirements for naturalisation if you are married to or the civil partner of a British citizen it does say

There is discretion to allow absences above the normal limits. For details of how we apply discretion, you should read the page on discretion when considering absences from the United Kingdom during the residential qualifying period.

See Discretion on absences from the UK during the residential qualifying period.

However, there is no guarantee that they will use this discretion in your wife's case, especially if she goes over 100 days in the final year, and remember that the fee wont be refunded if her application is refused.

It may be an idea to contact the UKBA and ask; though their usual reply is that each individual case is treated on it's own merits so they cannot give a specific answer until she applies!

[banpunket]

Thanks for your reply 7 by 7 i did contact the ukba and they give me that exact reply.

[bangkockney]

Given her mum is ill, surely you do have mitigating circumstances which the UKBA should take into account.

As horrible as it sounds, it comes down to a matter of proof of your mother-in-law's sickness.

The link 7by7 provided does show that the UKBA will consider "compelling compassionate reasons". However, she will need to demonstrate that her family and home is in the UK as well as a significant proportion of her estate.

If you do go ahead and apply, you would need to provide credible evidence for all the above.