As a note of caution, your approved UK settlement can be invalidated / revoked / taken away. Perhaps another good reason to secure your UK status by not delaying your application for British citizenship?
Generally, you must have been living in the UK for 12 months with ‘settled’ status before you can apply for British citizenship. If married to a British citizen when applying for citizenship you should, subject to meeting all other legal requirements, be able to apply immediately after being granted indefinite leave to remain.
For those who travel and remain abroad for long periods being absent from the UK it is important to know that your indefinite leave will AUTOMATICALLY, as a question of law, be lost if:
• if you stay outside of the UK for 2 or more years,
• if granted settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme) and you stay outside of the UK for 5 or more years.
• if you’re a Swiss citizen with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme your indefinite leave will lapse if you stay outside the UK for 4 years or more in a row.
Depending on the reasons for your absence, you could potentially be eligible to apply for a new entry clearance visa as a ‘returning resident’. However, why take the risk of losing your ILR status in the first place?
Isn’t it better to hold a British passport in your hand (not having to travel abroad with a so-called ‘BRP’)? We suggest the answer is a definite YES.
Daniel Dippenaar
Barrister-Immigration Consultant, Founder Member
Regulated by the Bar Standards Board (Bar Council of England and Wales)
