Do British Overseas Territories count as United Kingdom with regards to 90 days rule when applying for British citizenship?

Question

https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-citizen

This one of the criteria:

Spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months

Read the full guidance notes and the requirements booklet before applying.

So I've followed the guide and booklet, still not sure.

Guide

To satisfy the residence requirement you must not have been absent for more than 90 days in the last 12 months. And the total number of day’s absence for the whole 5 year period should not exceed 450.

Booklet AN

Wiki image with very descriptive filenamae: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom#/media/File:United_Kingdom_(%2Boverseas_territories_and_crown_dependencies)_in_the_World_(%2BAntarctica_claims).svg

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Here is another page: https://www.gov.uk/register-british-citizen/stateless-people

Phrase UK or a British overseas territory suggest these are different things?

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom#Dependencies

The United Kingdom has sovereignty over seventeen territories which do not form part of the United Kingdom itself: fourteen British Overseas Territories[22] and three Crown dependencies.

Three have specifically voted to remain under British sovereignty (Bermuda in 1995, Gibraltar in 2002 and the Falkland Islands in 2013).

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If overseas territories qualify - job done.

If not - there might be some loopholes.

An unavoidable consequence of the nature of your work. For example, if you are a merchant seaman or someone working for a UK based business which requires frequent travel abroad.

Assuming my job is disaster relief, it should justify my presence on British Virgin Islands?

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EDIT / UPDATE: Another loophole could potentially be staying on the vessel registered in the UK?

Answer 1

British Overseas Territories do not count as part of the UK.

Assuming my job is disaster relief, it should justify my presence on British Virgin Islands?

Assuming you were only on the BVI for a maximum of 179 days and there was a compelling work reason (e.g. you were helping out with a disaster that struck the BVI because that's your job), it's possible the Home Office would consider the absence justified and it wouldn't count against you.

This is highly fact-specific and depends on the evidence you submit, the reason you were absent, and so on.

If the Home Office doesn't accept the absence as justified, you would fail to satisfy the residency requirement needed to apply for citizenship.

Another loophole could potentially be staying on the vessel registered in the UK?

This is not a loophole. You must be physically present in the UK to satisfy the residency requirement. Being aboard a vessel, registered in the UK, outside of the UK's territorial waters would still count as an absence from the country.