What is indefinite leave to remain? Indefinite leave to remain, usually shortened to ILR, is how you settle in the UK. It is also called settlement. It gives you the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as you like, and to apply for benefits if you are eligible. Unlike a visa, it has no end date, and unlike citizenship it does not give you a British passport or the right to vote in general elections. For most people it is the final immigration step before British citizenship, which can usually be applied for after holding ILR for a minimum of 12 months. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens who were living in the UK before the end of 2020 may instead be able to apply for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, which is a separate system with broadly similar rights.

What ILR gives you. Once ILR is granted, you can work in any job, run a business, study, and use public services such as healthcare and schools. You can apply for public funds, meaning benefits, and for pensions. You can travel in and out of the country freely. There is one important limit to that freedom: ILR can be lost if you spend more than two continuous years outside the UK. People who were granted ILR after seeking asylum can also lose it if they travel back to the country they sought asylum from. Apart from those limits, settlement is permanent, and it is the status the Home Office expects most long-term residents to hold before they apply for citizenship.

The routes to settlement. There is no single route to ILR: the qualifying period depends on the visa you hold. On a work visa, such as Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, T2 or Tier 2, you must usually have lived and worked in the UK for five years. The same five-year period applies to partners of a British citizen or settled person on the five-year family route, to people on a UK Ancestry visa, and to holders of a British National (Overseas) visa. Some routes are shorter: holders of an Innovator Founder or Global Talent visa can apply after three years, and some older Tier 1 visa holders can qualify after two or three years. The longest route is long residence, which allows an application after ten continuous years of lawful residence in the UK on any combination of visas. People with protection status, meaning permission to stay as a refugee or a person with humanitarian protection, can usually apply after five years, as can people with section 67 leave. Discretionary leave takes longer: six years if it was first granted on or before 8 July 2012, and ten years if it was granted from 9 July 2012. There are also routes for people returning to the UK who previously held ILR, for people who served in the armed forces, and for stateless people.

The qualifying period and the 180-day rule. Time alone is not enough: the years must be spent on an eligible route, and the residence must be continuous. For most routes the rule is that you must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period during the qualifying period. The Home Office counts whole days, and the day you leave and the day you return both count as days in the UK, not days away. Some absences do not count against the limit, including travel disruption caused by a natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic, and compelling and compassionate circumstances such as a life-threatening illness or the death of a close family member. Long residence has a transitional rule for absences before 11 April 2024, with a limit of 548 days in total or 184 days on a single absence. The earliest you can apply on the Skilled Worker and family routes is 28 days before you complete the qualifying period, and applying earlier can lead to refusal, so counting the days carefully matters more than most applicants expect.

English language and the Life in the UK Test. Most ILR applicants must prove their English and pass the Life in the UK Test. The English requirement is usually met with an approved qualification, or with a degree taught or researched in English. The level required is changing: for settlement applications made on or after 26 March 2027, the routes specified in the Immigration Rules will need English at B2 level in speaking and listening, up from B1. Exemptions apply, for example if you are 65 or over, under 18, or have a disability that prevents you meeting the requirement. Evidence used in an earlier successful application can only be relied on if it was at the level your current application needs, so someone who previously proved B1 may need to show B2 for a settlement application made on or after that date. The Life in the UK Test is usually required if you are aged 18 to 64. It costs £50 and must be booked at least three days in advance. On the Skilled Worker route specifically, you do not need to prove the English requirement again at settlement stage if you already met it for the visa, although the B2 change from March 2027 still needs to be checked for your application date.

Work and salary requirements. On the work routes, settlement is not automatic after five years. A Skilled Worker applicant must still be employed by their sponsor, must continue to meet the salary requirements for the role, and must be able to show a current document from the employer confirming they are still needed in the job. The Home Office checks that the job is genuine and that the sponsor still holds a licence. Partners and children can apply as dependants, but their settlement is not always the same as the main applicant. On the Skilled Worker route, for example, a partner must have spent a continuous period of five years in the UK with permission as the worker partner, and the worker must be settling at the same time or already be settled. Partners and children can be included on the same Skilled Worker ILR form if they are eligible.

How much does ILR cost, and how long does it take? The application fee is £3,226 per person, for the main applicant and each dependant, under the Home Office fees table that took effect on 8 October 2026. There is no fee for people with protection status or section 67 leave, and that fee exemption also covers their partner or child included in the application. A decision usually comes within six months of submitting the application, or of having fingerprints and a photograph taken at a UKVCAS service point. A faster service is available on some routes: the super priority service costs an extra £1,000 and can give a decision by the end of the next working day after providing biometric information, if the appointment is on a weekday. While an application is being decided, you must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, or the application will be withdrawn. If an application is complex, for example because documents need to be verified, an interview is needed, or there is a criminal conviction, the Home Office will say so and the decision can take longer.

What can go wrong. Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules applies to ILR applications on most routes. Criminal convictions, deception and breaches of immigration law can all lead to refusal, and some grounds mean the application must be refused while others leave the decision to the Home Office. An application can also fail on simpler grounds: applying before the qualifying period is complete, breaking the absence limits, or failing the English or Life in the UK Test requirements. Visit visas do not lead to settlement on their own, and time spent on a Student or Graduate visa does not count towards the five years needed for Skilled Worker settlement, which catches out people who assume all their years in the UK count. If an application is refused, the decision letter explains what has been offered instead, and for people with protection status or discretionary leave there may still be a way to stay in the UK.

Earned settlement: the proposed change that is not yet law. The government has consulted on replacing the standard five-year qualifying period with a system it calls earned settlement, with a ten-year baseline for most migrants. The consultation ran from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026, and the Home Office is analysing the feedback. As of October 2026, the proposal is not law, and the current rules still apply. That distinction matters: anyone planning an application should work to the rules in force today, while keeping an eye on announcements, because a change of this size would affect when hundreds of thousands of people can settle. The English language change to B2 from 26 March 2027, by contrast, is already in the Immigration Rules through the statement of changes HC 1691, and that date is fixed.

Checklist before you apply. First, confirm your route and its qualifying period on the GOV.UK page for your visa, and check the earliest date you can apply, usually 28 days before the period is complete. Second, add up your absences and check them against the 180-day rule for every 12-month window in the qualifying period, not just the total. Third, book the Life in the UK Test in good time and check whether your English evidence meets the level for your application date, remembering the B2 change from 26 March 2027. Fourth, ask your sponsor for the confirmation document if you are on a work route, and gather the evidence for any dependants applying with you. Fifth, budget for the £3,226 fee per person, plus £50 for the test, and do not book travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until a decision arrives. Immigration rules and fees change, so always confirm the current position on GOV.UK before applying, and treat this guide as general information, not advice on your own case.