10 Year Long Residence Route to Settlement

Key takeaways

• The long residence route lets you apply for indefinite leave to remain after 10 years of continuous lawful residence in the UK, combining time on different visas.
• Time as a visitor, Short-term Student or Seasonal Worker, on a Ukraine scheme, on immigration bail or as an overstayer does not count and usually restarts your 10 years.
• For absences from 11 April 2024 you must not spend more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months; older absences follow 184-day and 548-day limits.
• If your current permission was granted on or after 11 April 2024, you normally need at least 12 months on that route before you apply.
• Most applicants aged 18 to 64 need the Life in the UK Test and English at level B1, rising to B2 for applications made from 26 March 2027.
• The Home Office fee is £3,226 per person, and partners and children cannot be included: each family member must qualify in their own right.

The 10 year route to settlement, known in the Immigration Rules as long residence, lets people who have lived in the UK lawfully for 10 continuous years apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), even if none of the visas they held led to settlement on its own. It is often the main route to settlement for people who came as students, changed visas several times or spent years on routes that do not lead to ILR.

The rules are strict, and refusals often come down to details: a gap between visas, a long trip abroad, a period on a visa that does not count or an application made too early.

Sterling Law’s immigration solicitors check your full immigration history, calculate the earliest date you can apply and prepare the application for you.

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What Is The 10 Year Long Residence Route to Settlement?

The 10 year long residence route allows a person to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after 10 years of continuous lawful residence in the UK. The route is open to people on many types of permission, and time on different visas can be added together. A typical applicant might have spent several years on student visas and the Graduate route, then moved to one of the work visas or to family visas. What matters is that the whole 10 years was lawful and unbroken, not which visa covered each period.

If your application succeeds, you receive indefinite leave to remain as an eVisa. ILR has no time limit, lets you live, work and study in the UK without restrictions on your stay and, after a further 12 months in most cases, allows you to apply for British citizenship. You lose ILR if you stay outside the UK for more than 2 years in a row.

Is the 10 Year Long Residence Route Being Abolished?

Not at present. The Government has proposed closing the long residence route as part of its “earned settlement” reforms, but as of October 2026 no rules have been made to do this, and Appendix Long Residence remains in force.

The consultation “A Fairer Pathway to Settlement”, published on 20 November 2025 and closed on 12 February 2026, proposed a standard 10-year qualifying period for settlement that could be shortened or extended depending on a person’s contribution and integration. It stated that under this model there would no longer be a separate long residence route. The consultation also proposed applying the new model to people already in the UK who do not yet have ILR, and asked whether there should be any transitional arrangements.

The Government has not yet published its response. In September 2026 the Home Secretary told the Home Affairs Committee that the new settlement policy, including any transitional arrangements, would be set out later in 2026, and said that the rules in force when a person applies are the rules that apply to them. The exact position will depend on the transitional provisions in any new rules, which have not yet been published. The latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules, HC 584 of 3 September 2026, did not close the route.

One change is already in the rules: for applications made on or after 26 March 2027, you will need English at level B2 instead of B1, unless you are exempt. If you already meet all the requirements, there is usually no benefit in waiting. If you will complete 10 years later, keep your residence continuous and your permission valid, and check the position again before you apply.

Requirements For 10 Years Long Residence ILR

To qualify for settlement on the 10-year long residence route, you must meet all of the following requirements on the date you apply:

1. Lawful residence: you have lived in the UK lawfully for at least 10 years. Every part of that period must be covered by permission on a route that counts, by an exemption from immigration control, by a right to reside under EU law before 31 December 2020, or by British citizenship.
2. Continuous residence: the 10 years must be unbroken. Your absences from the UK must stay within the limits explained below, and nothing must have broken your residence, such as a prison sentence or removal.
3. Time on your current route: if your current permission was granted on or after 11 April 2024, you must have been on that immigration route for at least 12 months when you apply. Earlier grants on the same route count towards the 12 months, but if you have switched to a different route, you need 12 months on the new one. You also meet this requirement if you were exempt from immigration control in the 12 months before you apply.
4. Presence and status in the UK: you must be in the UK when you apply and normally hold valid permission. Your current permission cannot be as a visitor, Short-term Student, Seasonal Worker or on a Ukraine scheme.
5. English language: you must show English at CEFR level B1 in speaking and listening, or level B2 if you apply on or after 26 March 2027. You can meet this with an approved Secure English Language Test taken in the last 2 years, a UK degree or an overseas degree confirmed by Ecctis as taught in English, a GCSE or A level in English taken at school in the UK, nationality of a majority English-speaking country, or English at the required level accepted in a previous successful application. A B1 result will not meet the B2 requirement from 26 March 2027.
6. Knowledge of life in the UK: you must pass the Life in the UK Test. Applicants under 18 or aged 65 or over, and those with a physical or mental condition that prevents them from meeting the requirement, are exempt from both the English and Life in the UK requirements.
7. Suitability: you must not fall for refusal under Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules, for example because of certain criminal convictions, deception or NHS debts of £500 or more. You must not be overstaying or on immigration bail, unless one of the limited exceptions for overstayers applies.

If you meet the suitability and 10-year residence requirements but not the English, Life in the UK or 12-month current route requirement, you can wait until you meet it or apply for 24 months’ permission to stay on the long residence route instead and apply for ILR later. If you apply for ILR without meeting one of those three requirements, the Home Office will normally treat your application as one for permission to stay: the ILR fee is not refunded, and you must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge within 14 days of being asked, or the application will be rejected.

What Counts as Lawful Residence?

Lawful residence means time in the UK with permission, with an exemption from immigration control, or with a right to reside under EU law before the end of 2020. Most visas count, but some periods never count, even though you were in the UK legally.

Time that counts towards the 10 years includes:

• permission on work, study, family, business and most other routes, including the Graduate route, Overseas Domestic Worker and Parent of a Child Student;
• permission under the EU Settlement Scheme, such as pre-settled status;
• time when your permission was extended under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 while an application made before your visa expired, an administrative review or an appeal was pending, unless the permission being extended was on a route that does not count;
• time exempt from immigration control, for example as a diplomat, a member of a diplomat’s household or a member of the armed forces, as long as you applied for permission within 90 days of the exemption ending (28 days for former members of the armed forces);
• time as an EEA national or family member with a right to reside in the UK before 31 December 2020, and up to 30 June 2021 or until an EU Settlement Scheme application made by then was decided;
• time in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man on an equivalent route, if your most recent permission was granted in the UK (time with permission in Ireland does not count).

Time that does not count, and that breaks your continuous residence so that the 10 years have to start again afterwards, includes:

• time as a visitor, including visits without a visa;
• time as a Short-term Student (English language) or a Seasonal Worker;
• time on any of the Ukraine schemes, including the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme;
• time on immigration bail, temporary admission or temporary release;
• time in prison, a young offender institution or a secure hospital;
• time spent overstaying after your permission ran out, unless one of the exceptions explained below applies.

A short gap between two visas does not always break your residence. If you applied within 14 days of your permission ending and the Home Office accepted that you had a good reason beyond your control for applying late, or you applied within 14 days of the refusal of an application made in time, the gap can fall within the exceptions for overstayers in Part Suitability. If that application was granted, the gap does not break your continuous residence, but its days are not counted towards the 10 years, so you will need to wait longer before you apply. A gap before 24 November 2016 also does not break your residence if a successful application was made within 28 days of your previous permission expiring.

Permission extended under the Coronavirus extension concession between 24 January and 31 August 2020 counts towards the 10 years. Time covered by an exceptional assurance between 1 September 2020 and 28 February 2023 does not break your residence but is not counted.

What is continuous residence?

Continuous residence means that you have lived in the UK without a break for the whole 10-year qualifying period. Under Appendix Continuous Residence of the Immigration Rules, your continuous residence is broken if:

• you were outside the UK for longer than the absence limits allow;
• you were sentenced to a period of imprisonment that was not suspended, or detained in a young offender institution or a secure hospital;
• you spent time in the UK as a visitor, Short-term Student or Seasonal Worker, on a Ukraine scheme or on immigration bail;
• you were removed or deported from the UK, or became subject to a deportation order, exclusion order or exclusion direction;
• you left the UK voluntarily after being refused leave to enter or permission to stay, and the permission you held when you left had expired;
• you spent time in the UK without permission, unless one of the exceptions for overstayers applies.

Trips abroad do not break your residence if you left the UK with permission, came back with valid permission and kept within the absence limits. It does not matter whether you returned on the same visa or a different one, as long as the new visa is on a route that counts.

How Much Time Can You Spend Outside the UK?

For absences from 11 April 2024, you must not spend more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period. Absences that started before 11 April 2024 are checked against the earlier limits: no single absence of more than 184 days, and no more than 548 days abroad in total before 11 April 2024.

If your 10 years straddle that date, each trip is checked under the rule for the date it started. Only whole days abroad are counted: Home Office guidance says part days are not counted, so the day you leave and the day you arrive back are normally not counted as days abroad.

Some absences are not counted towards these limits. They include travel disruption caused by a natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic, time spent helping with a humanitarian or environmental crisis overseas, and absences for compelling and compassionate personal reasons, such as your own life-threatening illness or the life-threatening illness or death of a close family member. You will need evidence, such as medical records, a death certificate or proof of cancelled flights, and each case is assessed on its facts.

Before you apply, list every trip abroad during the 10 years with exact dates and check each 12-month period. If an older absence breaks the rules, waiting until it falls outside your 10-year qualifying period can solve the problem.

How to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain on the 10 Year Long Residence Route?

Applying for ILR after 10 years is done online from inside the UK, on the Home Office form “Apply to settle in the UK: long residence”, often called SET(LR). You can apply up to 28 days before you complete 10 years of continuous lawful residence. If the Home Office considers your application more than 28 days before you complete 10 years, it must refuse it.

1. Check your dates: work out when your 10 years started, any gaps in your permission, all your absences and the date your current permission was granted.
2. Meet the English and Life in the UK requirements: book the Life in the UK Test and, if you need one, an approved English language test.
3. Apply online and pay the fee: complete the online form, pay the fee and, if you want a faster decision, add the super priority service if a place is available (you must hold valid permission to use it).
4. Give your biometrics and upload documents: attend an appointment with UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) to have your fingerprints and photo taken, and upload your evidence.
5. Stay in the Common Travel Area: do not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision, or your application will be withdrawn without a refund.
6. Receive your decision: if the application is approved, your ILR is issued as an eVisa, which you access through your UKVI account.

A standard decision usually comes within 6 months of your biometrics appointment. With super priority, you usually get a decision by the end of the next working day after a weekday appointment. Complex cases, for example where documents need to be verified or you are invited to an interview, can take longer. If you applied before your visa expired, your permission continues while you wait for the decision.

Documents Required For a 10 Year Long Residence Application

The Home Office asks for your current passport, all the passports you have held during your time in the UK and proof of your immigration status. In practice you also need evidence that covers each part of the 10 years, your absences and the English and Life in the UK requirements.

A typical evidence bundle includes:

• your current passport or travel document and all passports you have held while living in the UK;
• proof of your immigration status: a share code for your eVisa, or expired biometric residence permits and visa vignettes for earlier periods;
• a list of every trip abroad during the 10 years, with dates and reasons, because the online form asks for all your absences, and evidence of the dates such as passport stamps, boarding passes or e-tickets;
• evidence of residence for each year, such as tenancy agreements, council tax bills, payslips and P60s, bank statements, letters from your university or school, and GP letters;
• official confirmation of any period when you were exempt from immigration control;
• evidence about any gap in your permission, such as copies of earlier applications, refusal letters and proof of the date you applied;
• your English language evidence: an approved test certificate, a UK degree certificate or an overseas degree with confirmation from Ecctis that it meets the UK standard and was taught in English, or proof of nationality of a majority English-speaking country;
• your Life in the UK Test pass reference;
• evidence supporting any absence you ask the Home Office to disregard, such as medical records, a death certificate or proof of cancelled flights;
• certified translations of any document that is not in English or Welsh.

The Home Office can check much of your immigration history on its own systems, but its records are often incomplete. If your history is complicated, a subject access request to the Home Office can confirm the dates of your previous grants and applications before you apply.

10 Years Long Residence ILR Application Fees

The Home Office fee for a long residence ILR application is £3,226 per person (from 8 April 2026). Each family member who qualifies applies separately and pays the full fee.

The 5-day priority service is not offered for long residence applications, only super priority. The fee is not refunded if your application is refused or treated as an application for permission to stay.

Can Your Partner and Children Apply With You?

No. There is no provision for dependants on the long residence route, so each family member must qualify in their own right with 10 years of continuous lawful residence.

If your partner or child does not qualify separately, they may be able to apply on the family route as the partner or child of a settled person once you have ILR, for example through the UK spouse visa route, if they meet that route’s requirements, including the financial requirement. Children aged 18 or over who do not qualify in their own right may not be able to stay on that basis, so plan the family’s applications together before you apply.

What Can I Do If My ILR 10 Year Long Residence Route Application Is Refused?

A long residence refusal cannot be challenged by administrative review, because Appendix Long Residence is not one of the routes covered by it. Your options depend on the reason for the refusal and on whether a human rights claim was refused.

• A new application: where you can fix the problem, for example by providing missing evidence, waiting until an old absence falls outside your 10 years, or waiting until you complete 10 years.
• Permission to stay: where you meet the suitability and residence requirements but not the English, Life in the UK or 12-month current route requirement, the Home Office will usually treat your application as one for 24 months’ permission to stay instead of refusing it.
• An appeal: only where the decision refuses a human rights claim, for example where your application was varied and considered under the family or private life rules, and only if you do not hold other valid permission when the decision is made. Permission that continues only because of section 3C does not count for this purpose. The refusal letter states whether you have a right of appeal and the deadline.

Act quickly after a refusal. If your previous visa expired while you were waiting, your permission under section 3C ends when the refusal is made or, if you have a right of appeal, when the time to appeal runs out or your appeal ends. A new application made within 14 days of the refusal can fall within the exceptions for overstayers. If it is granted, the gap does not break your residence, but the time after the refusal does not count towards your 10 years.

Common reasons for refusal include:

• applying more than 28 days before completing 10 years;
• a gap in permission or a period of overstaying that is not covered by the exceptions;
• absences above the limits without an accepted reason;
• counting time on a route that does not count, such as a visit or a Ukraine scheme;
• suitability issues, such as criminal convictions, deception or NHS debts of £500 or more.

If the only problem is the English or Life in the UK requirement, or less than 12 months on your current route, you will usually get 24 months’ permission to stay rather than ILR, and the ILR fee is not refunded.

Long Residence and Other 10-Year Routes

When people talk about the ILR 10 year route, they usually mean long residence, but the term also covers the 10-year partner, parent and private life routes. Long residence counts lawful time on almost any visa, while the 10-year partner, parent and private life routes mainly count time with permission on family or private life grounds.

Time on the partner, parent and private life routes is lawful permission, so it also counts towards long residence. If you have, for example, several years on student visas followed by the 10-year partner route, long residence may give you settlement sooner, provided you have spent 12 months on your current route.

The 20-year rule is part of the private life route: an adult who has lived in the UK continuously for more than 20 years, with or without permission, can apply for permission to stay on the private life route, and can apply for settlement after 10 years with permission on that route if they meet the other requirements. It is not the same as long residence. If you are on a 5-year route, such as the Skilled Worker or spouse route, you may be able to settle sooner through ILR after 5 years.

How can we help?

Sterling Law’s immigration solicitors advise on settlement under the long residence rules, including applications with long absences, gaps in permission, periods exempt from immigration control and past refusals.

Our work can include:

• checking your full immigration history, including through a subject access request to the Home Office, and confirming which periods count towards the 10 years;
• calculating your absences under the pre-April 2024 and current rules, preparing evidence for absences caused by illness, bereavement or travel disruption, and finding the earliest date you can apply;
• advising on gaps in permission, section 3C leave and the exceptions for overstayers;
• checking your English language and Life in the UK evidence;
• preparing and submitting your ILR application, including with super priority;
• applying for 24 months’ permission to stay if you do not yet meet the English, Life in the UK or 12-month current route requirement;
• advising after a refusal on a new application, an appeal or another route;
• planning your next step to British citizenship by naturalisation.

You can book a consultation online or visit our office in London.

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FAQ

Can I get ILR after 10 years in the UK on any visa?

Not on every visa. Time on most visas counts and can be combined, but time as a visitor, Short-term Student or Seasonal Worker, on a Ukraine scheme, on immigration bail or as an overstayer does not count and usually breaks your continuous residence, so the 10 years have to start again after it.

How long can I stay outside the UK on the 10-year route?

For absences from 11 April 2024, no more than 180 days in any 12-month period. An absence that started before 11 April 2024 must not exceed 184 days, and absences before that date must not exceed 548 days in total.

Is the 10 year long residence route being abolished?

The Government has proposed replacing it with an earned settlement model, but as of October 2026 no new rules have been laid and the route remains open. The Home Secretary has said that the rules in force when you apply will apply to you, but the transitional arrangements for earned settlement have not yet been published.

How much does long residence ILR cost in 2026?

The Home Office fee is £3,226 per person. Super priority costs £1,000 extra, and the Life in the UK Test costs £50.

How long does a long residence application take?

Usually up to 6 months from your biometrics appointment. With super priority, a decision usually comes by the end of the next working day after a weekday appointment.

When can I apply for ILR on the 10-year route?

Up to 28 days before you complete 10 years of continuous lawful residence. If your current permission was granted on or after 11 April 2024, you also need at least 12 months on that route.

Can I include my partner and children in my application?

No. Each family member must qualify in their own right, and those who do not may be able to apply as the partner or child of a settled person once you have ILR, if they meet the requirements of that route.

What English level do I need for long residence ILR?

Level B1 in speaking and listening for applications made before 26 March 2027, and level B2 from that date, unless you are exempt because of your age or a condition that prevents you from meeting it.

Can I apply for British citizenship after long residence ILR?

Usually after you have held ILR for 12 months, if you meet the other requirements. If you are married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen, you do not need to wait 12 months.

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