Do I meet the long residency requirement?

I am currently in Year 13 and may be using student finance for next year, but the bigger concern for me is whether I will get home fees or international fees from my universities. However, I've been told that if I can be eligible for SFE, then I should also be eligible for home fees, which is why I am posting my situation here.

I think that I may be eligible under the long residency requirement for student finance. I don't have settled status, however, I have been living in the UK since 2013 on a dependant visa, courtesy of my mother. The problem is, in 2018 my mother had to transfer back to India(my country or origin) for a period of nearly one year before coming back, and in doing so, as I was a dependant of hers, I also had to follow. We returned to the UK in 2019 and have been residing here ever since. The long residency requirements does state that if I am above the age of 18, to qualify, I must live in the UK for a period of half my life, which I do. Will the temporary residence in India affect this, as my stay is not continuous? Is it possible to argue my case of UK being my country of residence in 2018, and the residence in India being temporary? Thanks in advance for any replies.

Reply 1

Leah SLC

Official Rep

Hi there. You would not be eligible to apply under long residency if you have had a break in your residency at any point.

Do you have any EU or UK national family members? Thanks, Leah.

Reply 2

obligatory-sumbi

Ah that's quite disappointing. Do you know if the same would hold for home fee status? Or does that simply depend on university to university?

I have an uncle who is a British national, but I don't think that counts.

Reply 3

Leah SLC

Official Rep

We don't decide the Tuition Fee you are charged, this is decided by the university. This is only for the eligibility to apply for the Student Loan from SFE.

It would need to be a direct family member e.g. Parent/step-parent through marriage, partner, grandparent.

Thanks, Leah.