# How long I can stay outside UK under FLR(m) ?



## juliamay9 (Dec 1, 2013)

Hello 

My question about how long I can stay outside of uk under flr(M) 5 Year’s route ? 
I live with my husband in the UK but need to spend 3 months annually with my parents due their health . Next year I will apply to for my second FLR(m) . How I should plan my further trips to avoid problems with my future visa applications ? Where I can find the reference on Gov.uk ? 
Thanks a lot for help . 


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## clever-octopus (May 17, 2015)

3 months annually is not a problem (especially if it is because of ailing parents - you should keep some proof of this) but if you intend to apply for citizenship, you should note that you can't have spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the past year before applying. It would be best if you kept all individual visits to under 90 days


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## juliamay9 (Dec 1, 2013)

clever-octopus said:


> 3 months annually is not a problem (especially if it is because of ailing parents - you should keep some proof of this) but if you intend to apply for citizenship, you should note that you can't have spent more than 90 days outside the UK in the past year before applying. It would be best if you kept all individual visits to under 90 days




Hello 

Thanks for the quick response . 
Last year I spent 4 months abroad with my elder mam . Is it a new rule to stay abroad no more then 90 days annually ? I checked the p 10.13 of the FLR(m) form 4/2017 and it’s still needed explanations of reason of absence more then 6 months . So I’m worry now about the time being out of uk and again I have to visit mam this year . Taking into consideration that in September I will apply to my second flr(m) I’m very stress out .

Thanks 
Julie 



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## clever-octopus (May 17, 2015)

There is no rule for absences on a spouse visa. However if citizenship is your aim, you need to make sure that you have spent no more than 450 days out of the UK in the 5 total years on your spouse visa, and no more than 90 days in the 5th year.

As long as you are maintaining your regular home in the UK you should be fine, and individual absences of less than 6 months don't need to be declared, but as I said earlier you would be wise to keep some evidence of your mum's health issues just in case


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## juliamay9 (Dec 1, 2013)

clever-octopus said:


> There is no rule for absences on a spouse visa. However if citizenship is your aim, you need to make sure that you have spent no more than 450 days out of the UK in the 5 total years on your spouse visa, and no more than 90 days in the 5th year.
> 
> As long as you are maintaining your regular home in the UK you should be fine, and individual absences of less than 6 months don't need to be declared, but as I said earlier you would be wise to keep some evidence of your mum's health issues just in case




Thanks very much for your quick response . Have a nice day x


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## MelodyPond (Jan 4, 2013)

clever-octopus said:


> ...and individual absences of less than 6 months don't need to be declared...


Just wanted to point out to both that the current SET(M) application form for ILR after FLR(M) does require to state every period of abscence. So not just long abscences.

I also wanted to suggest you try to keep evidence of flights because I have always relied on the stamps in our passports but just before I applied last month for ILR I was surprised to find that a stamp on my husband’s passport had the wrong year as he travelled in early January (the immigration officer must have forgotten to change it). We hope this is not a problem for us given that, I like you, had to spend several months away in these last few years and I stated in my application that in my longest absence my husband visited us for a couple of weeks and this is precisely the stamp I am talking about with the wrong date. So hopefully it will be okay in out case 🤞. But better be safe and keep any flight tickets you can from now on.


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## juliamay9 (Dec 1, 2013)

MelodyPond said:


> Just wanted to point out to both that the current SET(M) application form for ILR after FLR(M) does require to state every period of abscence. So not just long abscences.
> 
> 
> 
> I also wanted to suggest you try to keep evidence of flights because I have always relied on the stamps in our passports but just before I applied last month for ILR I was surprised to find that a stamp on my husband’s passport had the wrong year as he travelled in early January (the immigration officer must have forgotten to change it). We hope this is not a problem for us given that, I like you, had to spend several months away in these last few years and I stated in my application that in my longest absence my husband visited us for a couple of weeks and this is precisely the stamp I am talking about with the wrong date. So hopefully it will be okay in out case 🤞. But better be safe and keep any flight tickets you can from now on.




Thank you very much . I actually didn’t know at all about 450 days rules to stay on my 5 years spouse visa . Now will start to collect evidences and count days . 


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## matt1020 (Aug 5, 2017)

Hi, I have a similar question to the OP so I hope you don't mind of I add it to this thread, as it's still fairly recent post.

My wife is on the 5 year route and can apply for ILR in Dec 2019. Since she entered the UK in 2014 we've spent about 70 days overseas for holidays and family visits. She's from Australia and we're planning a longer trip back there at the end of this year, departing in either December or January. We own a property here in the UK but not one in Australia, so I think that makes the UK our country of residence. We were thinking of going for up to 4 months for make the trip really worthwhile (we are both retired), but wouldn't want it to affect my wife's eligibility for ILR when we apply in Dec 2019.

Any helpful feedback would be most appreciated - thank you.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

matt1020 said:


> Hi, I have a similar question to the OP so I hope you don't mind of I add it to this thread, as it's still fairly recent post.
> 
> My wife is on the 5 year route and can apply for ILR in Dec 2019. Since she entered the UK in 2014 we've spent about 70 days overseas for holidays and family visits. She's from Australia and we're planning a longer trip back there at the end of this year, departing in either December or January. We own a property here in the UK but not one in Australia, so I think that makes the UK our country of residence. We were thinking of going for up to 4 months for make the trip really worthwhile (we are both retired), but wouldn't want it to affect my wife's eligibility for ILR when we apply in Dec 2019.
> 
> Any helpful feedback would be most appreciated - thank you.


Hi. Please read clever-octopus’s response on post 4.


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## matt1020 (Aug 5, 2017)

nyclon said:


> Hi. Please read clever-octopus’s response on post 4.


Yes, I'd read that thanks, but just wanted further clarification as it seems strange that there are no time constraints on time spent overseas prior to applying for ILR, considering that the visa supports a route to settlement in the UK


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