Your trips outside the UK
Counts whole days outside the UK. The days you leave and return are not counted as absences. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
How the rules work
- Settlement: on most routes you must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period during your qualifying period. The calculator checks every rolling 12-month window, not just calendar years.
- Citizenship: normally no more than 450 days outside the UK in the 5 years before you apply, and no more than 90 days in the last 12 months.
- Counting days: only whole days outside the UK count, so the days you leave and arrive back are not treated as absences.
When the numbers are close
Some absences can be excused, for example for serious illness or a family emergency, and the Home Office has discretion for citizenship. The earned settlement proposals could also change the qualifying periods. If any figure is close to a limit, speak to an adviser before you apply. See settlement absences and the earned settlement proposals.
Talk to a regulated adviser
Every route has its own traps. A specialist can check your plan before you commit time and money to it.
Business and private client firmsBrowse all solicitorsLast checked: 2 November 2026 against GOV.UK. An estimate to help you plan, not a decision on your application. See our disclaimer.