British Citizenship Applications and Absence Thresholds for Naturalisation
When you apply for British citizenship, you must meet a residence requirement of three or five years. You can meet the residence requirement even if you have been absent from the UK provided your absences are within the absence thresholds for naturalisation.
UK Immigration Lawyers advise on British citizenship applications and explain the complex absence thresholds. They also identify when applicants can ask the Home Office to exercise discretion and grant British citizenship in situations where absence thresholds have been exceeded.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, and Urdu/Punjabi.
British citizenship applications and the law
You can apply for British citizenship if you are settled in the UK and aged 18 or over using:
- Section 6(1) of the British Nationality Act or
- Section 6(2) of the Act (if you are married to a British citizen or the civil partner of a British citizen).
To secure British citizenship, you must meet all the eligibility criteria, including the residence requirement.
British nationality residence requirements and absence threshold rules
All applicants for British citizenship must meet a residence requirement. The length of your residence requirement depends on whether your British nationality application is under Section 6(1) or Section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981.
The residence requirements and absence thresholds for British nationality applications are:
| Application | Residence requirement | Absence threshold over the residence requirement | Absence threshold during the 12 months prior to British citizenship application |
| Section 6(1) | Five years. | 450 days | 90 days |
| Section 6(2) | Three years. | 270 days | 90 days |
Absence thresholds for a successful naturalisation application
The absence thresholds are time spent outside the UK that is within the permissible amount to meet a British citizenship residence requirement.
The absence thresholds in a British citizenship application depend on whether you are applying to naturalise under Section 6(1) or (2).
If your naturalisation application is under Section 6(1), the absence thresholds are:
- You have not been outside the UK for more than 90 days in the 12 months immediately prior to submitting your application; and
- You have not been outside the UK for more than 450 days in total during the fiveyears before you submitted your application.
If your naturalisation application is under Section 6(2) of the British Nationality Act, the absence thresholds are:
- You have not been outside the UK for more than 90 days in the 12 months immediately prior to submitting your application; and
- You have not been outside the UK for more than 270 days in total during the three years before you submitted your application.
Immigration legal advice on the residence requirement and absence thresholds
It's important to consult with a Naturalisation Lawyer UK about your settlement plans to get the strategic immigration legal advice you need.
For example;
- The threshold limits don’t apply if you are applying for British citizenship based on a spouse or family visa.
- In some situations, the Home Office officials are allowed to exercise discretion so you can naturalise even though you are not strictly within the absence thresholds.
Ideally, you should take British nationality legal advice as soon as you know you want to settle in the UK. Your Immigration Solicitor can then outline your best route to British citizenship, the rules you must comply with and your earliest application date.
Taking specialist British nationality immigration legal advice may mean:
- You don’t need to delay submitting your British citizenship due to absences, either because some absences don’t count or the Home Office can be persuaded to exercise discretion.
- You get a British passport earlier than you expected.
The 90-day absence rule in the 12 months prior to a British nationality application
The 90-day absence rule means you cannot have spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the 12 months before your British citizenship application. The 90-day rule applies whether you apply for British nationality under Section 6(1) or Section 6(2) because of marriage. However, the Home Office can exercise discretion and grant British citizenship even if you have spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the year preceding your nationality application.
British Citizenship Lawyers can guide you through the complex Home Office Guidance on exercising 90-day discretion.
Firstly, a Home Office caseworker will usually only exercise discretion for excessive absences (over 90 days) during the final year of the 12-month residence requirement if a Section 6 (1) applicant can show they intend to live and settle in the UK.
Secondly, if a Section 6 (1) applicant can demonstrate this or for all Section 6(2) applicants, the Home Office's decision to exercise 90-day discretion will be based on the number of days absent from the UK in excess of the maximum 90 days in the 12 months immediately prior to the British citizenship application.
The Home Office Guidance says:
| Total days in excess of the 90-day limit | Discretionary guidance |
| 90-100 days | Exercise discretion. |
| 100-180 days | Discretion should only be exercised if the residence requirement is met for the whole qualifying period and the applicant can show strong ties to the UK. If the residence requirement is not met for the full period, discretion should only be exercised if the applicant can show they have made the UK their home and there are compelling or compassionate reasons for their absence from the UK. |
| Over 180 days | Discretion should only be exercised if (1) the applicant meets the residence requirements for the whole qualifying period (2) the applicant has demonstrated that they have made the UK their home, and (3) there are exceptional circumstances such as Crown Service. |
The 270 and 450-day absence thresholds and the British nationality residence requirement
A Home Office official can exercise discretion and grant a British citizenship application even if an applicant has exceeded the absence thresholds over the three or five-year residence requirement.
The complex Home Office Guidance explains how Home Office officials should apply discretion.
| Number of days over the 270 or 450-day threshold | Guidance on exercise of discretion |
| 30 days or less | Exercise discretion unless there are other grounds to refuse the application. |
| 300 to 540 days for Section 6(1) applications and 480 to 900 days for Section 6(2) applications | Only consider exercising discretion where the applicant has established their home, employment, family and finances in the UK, and one or more of the following applies:
|
| More than 300 to 540 days for Section 6(1) applications and more than 480 to 900 days for Section 6(2) applications | Discretion is unlikely to be exercised unless there are wholly exceptional circumstances. |
Persuading the Home Office to exercise discretion on British nationality absence thresholds
The best British citizenship Lawyers will review:
- The reasons for your absences from the UK during the three or five-year residence requirement.
- The impact on you of your waiting until you fully meet the residence requirement before applying for British nationality.
- The evidence available to persuade the Home Office to exercise discretion.
- The likelihood of the Home Office exercising discretion.
When Home Office officials have discretion to grant an application, your British citizenship application must cover:
- The reasons for the absences.
- Your ties to the UK.
- Your future intentions.
- The impact of a refusal of British nationality.
The quality and strength of the British citizenship statement and evidence gathering can make the difference between an applicant obtaining British citizenship through the exercise of Home Office discretion or waiting for longer, with all the stress and expense that entails.
At OTS Solicitors, we understand the complexities of the British Nationality Act, the Home Office Guidance and the complicated lives people lead. We combine excellent legal knowledge and attention to detail with friendly and competitive legal advice for British citizenship applicants.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, and Urdu/Punjabi.
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