So, my situation is as follows:
I have dual citizenship, British and Japanese. I've lived here more or less continuously since 2009, went through the education system, etc.
My father lives and works in the UK, while my mother is currently living in Japan since 2018.
After taking Summer 2022 exams, I did not have the grades to apply to university, so I decided to do extra A levels via online distance learning.
In December 2022, I went to Japan for an extended gap year, staying with my mother while studying for the extra qualifications, especially since my father had to sort out accommodation and was moving. I intended to return to the UK before either summer 2023 or summer 2024, as I wasn't sure whether I would be able to study 2 A levels in ~6 months and eventually decided to postpone my return to 2024 and do exams that summer.
I returned to the UK in April 2024 and did exams summer 2024.
The issue is, at least based on what I've read, unless I missed something, there seems to be not that much evidence I can provide if asked that my stay in Japan from Dec 2022 to Apr 2024 is temporary and that I was "ordinarily resident" in the UK during that period.
- I turned 18 in 2022
- No temp visa, I am also a Japanese citizen and hold a Japanese passport
- Don't have a prebooked return ticket, since I hadn't decided whether I would return either in 2023 or 2024 at the time of booking
- Bank statements: This is really the only concrete evidence I can think of, I do have a UK bank account, and it did see transactions during 2022, 2023, and 2024, but they weren't regular since I was not paying bills or employed during that time
I'm worried that explaining my circumstances along with bank statements might not be enough evidence. I would really appreciate if someone from SFE could advise me on this. Thanks.