British citizenship · absence calculator
Count your days away from the UK before you apply for citizenship.
Mark your trips on a calendar. Count Days Away adds them up the way the Home Office does, checks them against the 450-day and 90-day limits for naturalisation, and tells you the earliest date you could apply. Free, and nothing leaves your device.
- 450days abroad at most in the 5 years before you apply
- 90days abroad at most in the last 12 months
- Day 1you must be in the UK on the first day of the 5 years
Your check
Fill in your details, then add your trips. Everything updates as you go.
Your total over time
2Mark your trips
3Save and share
Download a report for your records, an adviser or the application form. Files are made on your device.
How it's counted
The rules Count Days Away uses, from the Home Office's naturalisation guide (Guide AN). Last checked October 2026.
Only whole days abroad count
The day you leave and the day you come back are treated as days in the UK. A week away from Monday to Sunday counts as 5 days.
A trip that leaves one day and returns the next counts as 0 days.
The limits
| Route | Period | Total | Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 5 years | 450 days | 90 days |
| Married to or civil partner of a British citizen | 3 years | 270 days | 90 days |
The period ends on the day the Home Office receives your application. You must have been in the UK on its first day. For an application received on 5 Jan 2022, that day is 6 Jan 2017.
If you're over the limit
Going over is not an automatic refusal. The Home Office can use discretion if you meet every other requirement.
| 5-year route | 3-year route | What usually happens |
|---|---|---|
| 451–480 | 271–300 | Discretion is normally used. |
| 481–730 | 301–450 | Can be disregarded if your home, family and a substantial part of your assets are in the UK. |
| 731–900 | 451–540 | Normally needs a specific reason, such as Crown service, unavoidable work travel, compelling personal reasons or a pandemic. |
| 900+ | 540+ | Very rarely disregarded. |
For the last 12 months: up to 100 days can be disregarded with clear links to the UK, 101–179 days only in limited circumstances.
Other things you'll need
- ILR or settled status held for at least 12 months (not needed if you're married to a British citizen).
- A Life in the UK test pass. It never expires.
- English at B1 or higher, for example a UK degree or an approved test.
- Good character: declare any convictions, driving penalties and unpaid tax or debts.
- Two referees who have known you for 3 years or more.
- A plan to keep living in the UK.
Official sources: Guide AN (PDF) · Apply for citizenship on GOV.UK · British Nationality Act 1981, Schedule 1
Questions people ask
Short answers about absences and British citizenship. The checker above applies all of these for you.
How many days can I be outside the UK to apply for British citizenship?
On the standard 5-year route you can normally have at most 450 days outside the UK in the 5 years before the Home Office receives your application, and at most 90 days in the last 12 months of that period. If you are married to, or the civil partner of, a British citizen, the 3-year route allows 270 days in 3 years, with the same 90-day limit for the final year.
Do the days I leave and come back count as days abroad?
No. The Home Office counts only whole days spent outside the UK. The day you leave and the day you return both count as days in the UK, so a Monday-to-Sunday trip counts as 5 days, and a trip that leaves one day and returns the next counts as 0. Count Days Away uses exactly this method.
What happens if I am over 450 days (or 90 days in the last year)?
Being over is not an automatic refusal, but it is not guaranteed to be accepted either. Guide AN says the Home Office will normally use discretion up to 480 days (300 on the 3-year route) if you meet every other requirement, and may disregard higher totals in narrower circumstances, for example if your home, family and most of your assets are in the UK, or you were abroad for Crown service or compelling reasons. Over 90 days in the final year, up to 100 days is normally disregarded if you have clear links to the UK. The checker shows which band you fall in and the earliest date that is within every limit.
How is the 5-year period worked out?
It ends on the day the Home Office receives your application and starts on the day after the same calendar date five years earlier. For an application received on 5 January 2022 the period runs from 6 January 2017 to 5 January 2022. You must have been physically in the UK on that first day, which is why the checker marks it on the calendar: if that day falls inside one of your trips, you need a different application date.
Is this the same as the 180-day rule for ILR or settlement?
No. The 180-days-in-any-12-months rule is about continuous residence for indefinite leave to remain under the Immigration Rules. Count Days Away checks the separate absence limits for naturalisation as a British citizen (450 days in 5 years, 90 days in the last year), which apply after you already hold ILR or settled status.
Where do my dates go? Is this free?
Count Days Away is free and runs entirely in your browser. Your trips are stored on your own device and are never uploaded; there is no account, no cookies for tracking and no analytics. You can download a PDF report or a CSV of your trips to keep with your application records.
Your travel history stays on your device
There's no account and nothing is sent to a server. Your trips are saved in this browser only, so they won't appear on another phone or computer. To move them, save a backup file and restore it on the other device. Clearing your browser data deletes them.