For anyone who has spent years in the UK on a work, family or other visa, there is a moment when renewing permission every few years stops feeling temporary and starts feeling like a life. Indefinite leave to remain, usually shortened to ILR and often called settlement, is the status that turns that life into a permanent one. It removes the time limit on your stay, frees you from the conditions attached to a visa, and opens the door to British citizenship.
It is also, for most people, the most important immigration application they will ever make. Here is what it involves.
Who qualifies
ILR is not a single route but the end point of many. Skilled Worker visa holders, partners of British citizens and settled residents, people on the Global Talent and Innovator Founder routes, long-term residents and several other categories can all apply after meeting the minimum residency requirement specified for their particular immigration category. For most work and family routes that period has historically been five years, though the government has signalled that qualifying periods may change, which is one reason it pays to check the current rules rather than rely on what applied when you arrived.
Each route has its own additional conditions. A Skilled Worker, for example, must still be employed by a licensed sponsor in a role that meets the salary rules at the time of applying. Applicants applying through a partner visa must provide evidence of an ongoing, authentic relationship and demonstrate compliance with the applicable financial criteria.
Continuous residence
The requirement that catches most applicants is continuous residence. To maintain continuous residence, applicants must generally ensure their time spent abroad does not exceed 180 days within any rolling 12-month period during the qualifying years. Frequent travellers, people who went home during the pandemic, and those whose jobs involve long overseas assignments should add up their absences carefully before applying. Some absences can be excused, but the rules on this are narrow.
Knowledge of language and life
Most people seeking permanent settlement in the UK must successfully complete the Life in the UK test and provide evidence of their English language ability. This can be demonstrated through an approved language assessment, a qualifying degree taught in English, or nationality from an eligible English-speaking country. All necessary evidence should be prepared before submitting the application.
The application itself
ILR applications are made online from inside the UK, followed by biometric enrolment. Processing times vary and priority services are sometimes available at extra cost. The fee is substantial and is not refunded if the application is refused, which makes thorough preparation a sound investment. Applicants should also be aware that overstaying, criminal convictions and certain unpaid debts to the NHS or HMRC can lead to refusal under the general grounds that apply to all applications.
What settlement gives you
Once granted, ILR has no expiry date, although it can be lost if you stay outside the UK for a continuous period of two years or more. You can work in any job, run a business, study, and access public services on the same basis as a permanent resident. After holding ILR for twelve months (or immediately, if you are married to a British citizen), you can apply for naturalisation as a British citizen.
Getting advice
Because the rules differ by route and change often, many applicants choose to have their application checked before submission. Fairhill Solicitors, an SRA-regulated immigration firm in the City of London, publishes a practical guide to indefinite leave to remain covering the qualifying periods, absence rules, documents and common reasons for refusal.
Settlement is the point at which the UK stops being somewhere you are allowed to live and becomes somewhere you simply live. For something that significant, it is worth taking the time to get the application right.
