Hi i would like to ask if you can help me with my problems my mother have been married to an irish and they have decided to live in uk in 2002. After 1 year they came back to get me and my sister using an eea family permit (we were 14 yrs old at that time) after 4 yrs we renewed our permit and the ho gave us a residence card valid for 5yrs ( april 2007 - april 2012) now here is my situation: in sept 2007 i decided to go back to my birth country (philippines), the main purpose was to take a year out ( i just finished my a levels at that time and was offered a place in a university) and was suppose to come back in sept 2008 however i wasn't able to go back because i was working and was enjoying my time here. Now i have decided to go back to uk but my question is that since before going back to philippines i spent 4yrs and 6months in if i go back does my 4yrs and 6motnhs of stay still count if i wanna apply for cititzenship or do i have to strt the years again?

What kind of permit / visa can i apply if my permit expires?