Rulebook  /  Residence & citizenship

Residence & citizenship rules by country

The presence requirements behind permanent residence and naturalisation, and the absence caps that protect them. 16 rules, each explained in plain English with worked examples computed by the same engine the app ships, and a link to the official source.

Australia

• 🇦🇺Australia Resident Return visaTwo years in Australia in the five years before applying. Substantial ties to Australia can substitute, and are judged, not counted.>=730 / 1826
• 🇦🇺Australia citizenship residenceFour years lawful residence with no more than twelve months absent, and no more than ninety days absent in the year before applying.<=365 AWAY / 1461

Canada

• 🇨🇦Canada PR residency obligation730 days in every five-year period. Time accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse abroad can also count and is not tracked here.>=730 / 1826
• 🇨🇦Canada citizenship presence1,095 days in the five years before applying. Time as a temporary resident may count at half rate, up to 365 days — not tracked here.>=1095 / 1826

Germany

• 🇩🇪Germany residence permit — absenceA residence title lapses if you leave for a non-temporary reason or stay away longer than six months without permission. This is a conservative six-month warning over a rolling year.<=179 AWAY / 365

Ireland

• 🇮🇪Ireland citizenship — reckonable residenceFive years reckonable residence in the previous nine, including one continuous year immediately before applying. Only time on a qualifying permission counts, which this counter cannot check.>=1825 / 3287

Netherlands

• 🇳🇱Netherlands EU long-term residenceUses the Schengen area as a proxy for the EU; the two sets are close but not identical, and Ireland is missing from it.<=180 AWAY / 365

New Zealand

• 🇳🇿New Zealand citizenship presence1,350 days across five years, and at least 240 days in each of those five years. The per-year floor is a second test this counter does not run.>=1350 / 1826

Portugal

• 🇵🇹Portugal residence permit — absenceA permit can be cancelled after six consecutive months, or eight non-consecutive months, away during its validity. Golden-visa holders have their own, far lighter, seven-days-a-year rule.<=179 AWAY / 365

Spain

• 🇪🇸Spain residence — continuityRenewals and the ten-year nationality route both need continuity of residence; absences beyond six months in a year are what break it. Long-term residence is lost after twelve consecutive months outside the EU.<=182 AWAY / 365

Switzerland

• 🇨🇭Switzerland permit — absenceB and C permits lapse after six months abroad unless you file for the stay to be kept alive before you go.<=179 AWAY / 365

United Arab Emirates

• 🇦🇪UAE residence visa — absenceA standard residence visa lapses after six months outside the country. Golden visas do not carry that limit.<=179 AWAY / 365

United Kingdom

• 🇬🇧UK citizenship — absencesNo more than 450 days outside the UK across the five-year period, and no more than 90 in the final twelve months. Both must hold; discretion above them exists but is not a plan.<=450 AWAY / 1826
• 🇬🇧UK settlement — absencesNo more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12 months across the qualifying period.<=180 AWAY / 365

United States

• 🇺🇸US green card — absenceAn absence of a year or more is treated as abandonment; six months or more invites questioning at the border. This counter is a conservative 180-day warning over a rolling year and is not the statutory test.<=179 AWAY / 365
• 🇺🇸US naturalization presenceAt least half of the five-year statutory period — 913 days. A single absence of six months or more can also break continuity of residence, which this counter does not track.>=913 / 1826