Naturalisation. Future intentions requirement. Home in the UK
If you apply to naturalise as a British citizen, you must satisfy the future intentions requirement. Your intentions must be such that, in the event of a certificate of naturalisation as a British citizen being granted to you, your home or (if you have more than one) your principal home will be in the UK.
If you wish to be naturalised as British citizen, your links with the UK should not be broken, and you should not intend to break them.
You will make a statement in your application that your intention is your (principal) home to be in the UK. If should be nothing in your past behaviour or in the evidence provided to suggest the contrary.
Make sure the other residence requirements are satisfied, that you have an established and maintained home in the UK where you live with your family, that your absences from the UK are short and clearly temporary, that your intention was always to return to the UK, and that the other members of your close family remained in your home in the UK when you were absent.
You may fail to meet this requirement if you have been recently absent from the UK for a longer period (over 6 months), or if you no longer have an established residence in the UK, or if you or your partner have a home abroad, or plan to move outside the UK.
If your partner does not apply for citizenship at the same time with you, this will not be seen as evidence that the requirement is not met. If your spouse or partner lives abroad or prepares to move outside the UK, you will have to explain why your intention is to remain in the UK. For example, a good argument would be if you have separated.
If you declared that for the time being you want to remain in the UK, but that you miss you home country and have plans to return there (for instance, you want to retire there and you invest your earnings from the employment in the UK in a house in your home town abroad), your application will probably be refused.
If you declared yourself at HMRC as domiciled abroad for tax purposes, the caseworker will request your permission to contact the HMRC for further information, and if you refuse to grant it, your application must be refused.
Your application will not be refused if you are abroad or are preparing for a long absence from the UK (of more than 6 months), provided the trip outside the UK is justified. It is the case where you study abroad to be able to take employment in the UK after returning, or where you normally work abroad (ie. you are a member of the crew of a ship, you spend more than 6 months at sea, and you live in the UK between assignments).
If you want to apply for British citizenship or for a British passport and need specialist advice, feel free to contact me. Please note that I am an accredited immigration adviser, not an employee of the UK Visas and Immigration. I charge fees for the advice provided.