United Kingdom

UK settlement: 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period

Appendix Continuous Residence requires that "the applicant must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period". The word doing the work is "any": the 12 months are counted backwards from every day, not from the date you apply, so a year with a long absence in the middle can break continuous residence even though no calendar year looks bad. Whole days only.

What the rule names

180
Whole days outside the UK in the 12 months ending on each day
window: 12 months, counted back from every single day

Whole days only: the day you left and the day you came back are not counted.

How the count works

  1. 1Take every day in your qualifying period in turn.
  2. 2For each one, look back over the 12 months ending on it and add up the whole days you were outside the UK.
  3. 3The rule names 180 days. The figure that matters is the highest that count ever reached, and the day it reached it.
  4. 4Part days are not counted: an absence of less than twenty-four hours does not count at all.

Count your own dates against this rule

Type the trips you already know. The arithmetic happens in this tab, nothing is sent anywhere, and there is no account to make.

Open the calculatorFind my dates in my mailbox

What catches people out

  • Whole-day counting is applied here on the basis of the part-day rule; confirm whether travel days count for this route before relying on it. [unverified]
  • Absences before 11 January 2018 were assessed on fixed rather than rolling periods under earlier rules; not modelled. [unverified]
  • Exempt absences (CR 3.4 and related) are not modelled; every absence is counted.

The rule in its own words

the applicant must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period (unless CR 3.2., CR 3.3., CR 5.1. or CR 5.2. applies, and subject to CR 3.4.)

You must only include whole days when calculating an applicant's absences. Part day absences, less than 24 hours are not counted.

Questions people ask about this rule

Is the 12 months counted from the date I apply?
No, and this is the mistake that catches people. The rule says "any 12-month period", so every day in your qualifying period starts its own window. A count taken only on the date of application can miss a peak that happened two years earlier.
Do travel days count?
The caseworker guidance says: "You must only include whole days when calculating an applicant’s absences. Part day absences, less than 24 hours are not counted." Whether the days of departure and return are treated as absences on this route specifically has not been confirmed against the guidance here, so the calculator counts whole days and says so. [unverified]
Are any absences exempt?
The Appendix carries exceptions — CR 3.2, CR 3.3, CR 5.1 and CR 5.2, and it is subject to CR 3.4. None of them are modelled here: every absence you enter is counted. Read the Appendix for whether one of those applies to you.
How do I check my travel history against an official record?
The Home Office holds your own travel history and will give you a copy on a subject access request, free. Ask for it and reconcile any count against it before you submit a form: a record you can produce beats a figure you worked out.
Does it say whether my continuous residence is broken?
It does not. It shows the peak count, the day it fell on, and the figure the rule names. Not immigration advice.

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