ILR Continuous Residence Requirements 2026

Last updated: 2 August 2026

Continuous residence is a central requirement for many UK indefinite leave to remain applications.

For most settlement routes covered by Appendix Continuous Residence, an applicant must not normally have spent more than 180 whole days outside the UK during any rolling 12-month period within the qualifying residence period.

However, the correct calculation depends on:

the settlement route;
the required qualifying period;
the dates and duration of each absence;
when the applicant’s immigration permission was granted;
whether different visa categories can be combined;
whether an absence falls within a permitted exception; and
whether there were any gaps in lawful immigration permission.

The 180-day rule should not be applied without first identifying the correct settlement route. Family-route, long-residence, EU Settlement Scheme and British citizenship applications can involve different requirements.

What does continuous residence mean?

Under Appendix Continuous Residence, the applicant must generally have:

Lived in the UK with qualifying immigration permission for the period required by their route.
Remained lawfully present during that period.
Stayed within the applicable absence limits.
Avoided an event that breaks continuous residence.

Continuous residence does not necessarily mean that the applicant must have remained physically inside the UK every day. Permitted travel is possible, but the number and circumstances of the absences must comply with the relevant rules.

Which settlement routes use Appendix Continuous Residence?

Appendix Continuous Residence applies to settlement applications under routes including:

Skilled Worker and former Tier 2 (General);
Global Talent;
Innovator Founder;
Scale-up Worker;
T2 Minister of Religion;
International Sportsperson;
Representative of an Overseas Business;
UK Ancestry;
Hong Kong British National (Overseas);
certain dependant-partner routes;
certain family and private-life settlement routes;
Long Residence;
specified domestic-worker and international-agreement routes; and
certain historic Tier 1 routes.

The length of the qualifying period differs between routes. It can be three, five or ten years depending on the applicant’s immigration category.

The 180-day rule

For most routes covered by Appendix Continuous Residence, the applicant must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days during any rolling 12-month period.

Exactly 180 days can normally be permitted. More than 180 days can break continuous residence unless an applicable exception allows some or all of the absence to be disregarded.

The current Home Office continuous-residence caseworker guidance explains how decision makers calculate and assess these periods.

What does “rolling 12-month period” mean?

The rule is not based only on:

calendar years;
tax years;
visa years; or
each separate year counted backwards from the application date.

Every possible overlapping 12-month period within the qualifying period may need to be checked.

For example, suppose an applicant was outside the UK for:

100 days between September and December 2024; and
90 days between April and July 2025.

Each absence is individually below 180 days. However, there may be a rolling 12-month period containing 190 absence days. Continuous residence could therefore be broken unless some days qualify as permitted absences.

Only whole days outside the UK are counted

Part-days of travel are not normally counted.

If an applicant leaves the UK on 1 June and returns on 10 June, the days ordinarily counted as absent are:

2 June to 9 June.

The departure date and return date are not normally counted because the applicant was present in the UK for part of each day.

A same-day trip outside the UK will therefore normally count as zero whole days of absence.

Travel dates must nevertheless be listed accurately. Applicants should not simply subtract dates without accounting for the departure and return days correctly.

Time between visa approval and first UK entry

Where entry clearance has been granted before the applicant travels to the UK:

the qualifying immigration permission can begin from the grant date; but
the period between the grant of entry clearance and actual UK arrival is treated as absence from the UK.

For example, if a Skilled Worker entry clearance begins on 1 January but the applicant enters the UK on 1 March, the period before arrival can count towards the absence total.

The applicant may still be able to count the permission period towards the qualifying residence period, but the late-entry days must be included in the absence calculation.

Evidence of the actual entry date may include:

passport stamps;
boarding passes;
travel tickets;
bank-card activity;
an employer letter confirming the first working day; or
a tenancy agreement showing when UK residence began.

Qualifying periods for different routes

The required period depends on the immigration route.

Route	Usual qualifying period
Skilled Worker or Tier 2 (General)	5 years
Scale-up Worker	5 years
UK Ancestry	5 years
Hong Kong BNO	5 years
Some Global Talent applicants	3 years
Other Global Talent applicants	5 years
Innovator Founder	3 years
Long Residence	10 years
Qualifying Skilled Worker dependant partner	5 years

Meeting the required time period does not by itself guarantee settlement. Each route has additional requirements involving matters such as sponsorship, salary, endorsement, employment, relationship, English language, knowledge of life and suitability.

Combining different visa categories

Whether time on another immigration route can be counted depends on the settlement route.

A Skilled Worker applicant can currently include qualifying time spent in a permitted combination of routes including:

Skilled Worker or Tier 2 (General);
Global Talent;
Innovator Founder;
T2 Minister of Religion;
International Sportsperson;
Representative of an Overseas Business;
qualifying Tier 1 categories; and
Scale-up Worker.

Time as a Student, Graduate or Skilled Worker dependant does not normally count towards the main applicant’s five-year Skilled Worker qualifying period.

However, Student and Graduate time may potentially count towards a separate ten-year Long Residence application, subject to the Long Residence rules.

Applicants should not combine visa categories simply because they all involved lawful residence. The settlement rules for the route must expressly permit the combination.

The official Skilled Worker time-in-the-UK guidance identifies the categories that can currently be combined for Skilled Worker settlement.

Applying up to 28 days before completing the period

Many settlement routes allow the application to be submitted up to 28 days before the qualifying period is completed.

Appendix Continuous Residence allows the Home Office to calculate the qualifying period by counting backwards from the date most beneficial to the applicant, including:

the application date;
a date up to 28 days after the application date; or
the decision date.

Applying more than 28 days early can result in refusal. Applicants should confirm their earliest qualifying date rather than relying only on the expiry date of their current visa.

Absences during permission granted before 11 January 2018

Different calculation provisions can apply to absences taken during immigration permission granted under the rules in force before 11 January 2018.

Those absences may be assessed in separate consecutive 12-month periods ending on the same date as the settlement application, rather than under the current rolling calculation.

Permission granted on or after 11 January 2018 is generally assessed using the rolling 12-month method.

These transitional provisions are now most relevant to ten-year routes, historic visa categories and some dependant applications.

Long Residence absence rules

Long Residence has specific transitional rules.

Under the current rules, absences beginning on or after 11 April 2024 are generally subject to the requirement that the applicant must not exceed 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period.

For the part of the qualifying period before 11 April 2024, the applicant must normally not have:

spent more than 184 days outside the UK in any single absence beginning before 11 April 2024; or
accumulated more than 548 days of relevant absence before 11 April 2024.

Only the appropriate pre-11 April 2024 absences are considered towards the historic 548-day limit.

Current Long Residence rules also exclude certain periods, including time spent:

as a Standard Visitor;
as a Short-term Student;
as a Seasonal Worker;
under specified Ukraine schemes;
on immigration bail;
in prison or specified detention;
after immigration permission expired; or
without qualifying lawful permission.

Applicants will also usually need to have held their current immigration permission for at least one year.

The official current requirements are available on the Long Residence eligibility page.

Family-route settlement is different

The standard five-year partner family route does not apply the Skilled Worker 180-day rule in exactly the same way.

A partner must normally demonstrate that:

they have completed the required period on the relevant family route;
the relationship remains genuine and subsisting;
the couple have lived together since the last grant; and
they intend to continue living together permanently in the UK.

Lengthy absences can create concerns about whether the couple genuinely intended to live together permanently in the UK, even where there is no simple automatic 180-day refusal rule.

Applicants on the ten-year settlement family-life route can be subject to Appendix Continuous Residence. Certain absences for work, study or supporting family overseas may be disregarded where:

family life was maintained in the UK throughout; and
the UK remained the family’s place of permanent residence.

The applicant may need evidence of a retained UK home, continuing family relationships, employment, temporary overseas arrangements and an intention to return.

Current partner settlement information is available on the family visa ILR page.

Permitted absences that may be disregarded

Certain absences do not count towards the applicable limit where the required conditions and evidence are satisfied.

Humanitarian or environmental crisis

An absence may be disregarded where the applicant was assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis overseas.

For sponsored routes, the sponsor must have agreed to the absence for that purpose.

Evidence may include:

a sponsor’s letter confirming approval and dates;
evidence from the organisation coordinating the response;
payslips showing continuing employment; and
independently verifiable evidence of the crisis and assistance provided.

Travel disruption

An absence may be disregarded where return travel was disrupted by:

a natural disaster;
military conflict; or
a pandemic.

The existence of a crisis does not automatically exempt every related absence. The applicant should show how the event prevented or significantly delayed their return.

Suitable evidence might include:

cancelled-flight records;
airline correspondence;
border-closure evidence;
official travel advice; and
evidence of attempts to return.

Compelling and compassionate circumstances

An absence may be disregarded because of compelling and compassionate personal circumstances.

Examples include:

the applicant’s life-threatening illness;
the life-threatening illness of a close family member;
the death of a close family member;
urgent unplanned medical treatment; or
circumstances outside the applicant’s control that prevented return.

The applicant should provide a detailed explanation with evidence such as medical records, hospital letters, death certificates or evidence of caring responsibilities.

An ordinary family visit, wedding, holiday or planned medical appointment is not automatically a permitted compassionate absence.

Approved Skilled Worker research

Research-related absence can be disregarded for a Skilled Worker where:

the absence was for research activity;
the sponsor approved it; and
the applicant was sponsored in one of the specified occupation codes.

The current qualifying codes include:

2111 – Chemical scientists;
2112 – Biological scientists;
2113 – Biochemists and biomedical scientists;
2114 – Physical scientists;
2115 – Social and humanities scientists;
2119 – Natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified;
2161 – Research and development managers;
2162 – Other researchers;
2311 – Higher education teaching professionals.

A sponsor’s letter should normally confirm the purpose and exact dates. Evidence of continuing employment may also be required.

Ordinary overseas work or business travel in other occupation codes continues to count as absence.

Global Talent research activity

Research absences may also be disregarded for certain Global Talent applicants endorsed by:

The Royal Society;
The British Academy;
The Royal Academy of Engineering; or
UK Research and Innovation.

The exception can also apply to certain applicants who qualified through a listed prestigious prize.

Accompanying a partner on Crown service

An absence can potentially be disregarded where the applicant accompanied a partner serving overseas as:

a regular member of HM Armed Forces;
an employee of the UK Government or specified devolved administration; or
a permanent member of the British Council.

Official confirmation of the service and overseas dates may be required.

Do work trips count towards the 180 days?

Ordinary work-related travel normally counts towards the absence limit.

This can include:

business meetings;
overseas client visits;
conferences;
training;
temporary work postings;
remote working from another country; and
work performed for the UK sponsor while abroad.

Employer approval does not automatically prevent the days from counting.

Only a specific permitted-absence provision—such as qualifying sponsored research or humanitarian assistance—can remove the relevant days from the calculation.

Travel to Ireland, the Channel Islands or Isle of Man

Applicants should not assume that every journey within the Common Travel Area counts as presence in the UK.

Ordinary travel to the Republic of Ireland will generally be an absence from the UK.

In limited circumstances, lawful residence in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man on an equivalent immigration route can be treated as time spent in the UK, provided the most recent permission was granted in the UK and the relevant requirements are met.

Because Common Travel Area journeys may not produce passport stamps, applicants should retain independent travel records.

Immigration gaps and overstaying

The qualifying period must normally be spent with valid immigration permission.

A valid in-time application can extend existing permission under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 while the application remains pending. That period will generally be lawful residence.

Continuous residence can be broken where the applicant:

remained in the UK after permission expired;
submitted an invalid or late application;
left the UK without valid permission;
was refused entry;
was removed or deported; or
became subject to an exclusion or deportation order.

There are limited circumstances in which a successful application made under an overstayer exception may prevent a full break in continuity. However, the period without permission will not necessarily count towards the qualifying period.

A gap should be examined against the rules in force at the relevant time. It should not be assumed that a short gap is automatically ignored.

Imprisonment and detention

For most Appendix Continuous Residence routes, a sentence of imprisonment or detention following conviction breaks continuous residence.

The period in prison or detention is not treated as lawful qualifying residence.

Different provisions apply to certain ten-year settlement family-life or private-life applications where a sentence of 12 months or less may not break continuity, although the imprisonment period itself does not count towards the qualifying period.

Criminality and imprisonment require careful assessment because separate suitability grounds may also affect the settlement application.

Continuous residence for dependant partners

A dependant partner applying for settlement may need five years of continuous residence as a dependant.

Where the absence rule applies, the partner must normally also remain within 180 days in any rolling 12-month period.

A dependant partner cannot normally use time spent:

as the main applicant on an unrelated route;
as a Student;
as a visitor; or
in another category not permitted by the relevant dependant-settlement rules.

Some dependant absences taken during permission granted before 11 January 2018 may not count towards the limit.

Children can have different settlement and absence requirements. Their eligibility should be checked separately.

Preparing an absence schedule

An applicant should prepare a complete travel schedule before submitting the application.

A useful schedule should include:

Information	Details to record
Departure date	Date the applicant left the UK
Return date	Date the applicant returned
Whole days absent	Excluding departure and return days
Destination	Country or countries visited
Reason	Holiday, work, family, study or emergency
Immigration permission	Route held during the absence
Employer approval	Where relevant
Supporting evidence	Tickets, letters or medical evidence
Rolling total	Highest absence total in any 12-month window

The schedule should be checked against:

all current and expired passports;
travel documents;
passport stamps;
boarding passes and tickets;
flight-booking emails;
bank and card transactions;
employer holiday records;
university records;
Home Office immigration history; and
any records of travel through the Common Travel Area.

Applicants should explain discrepancies rather than leaving them unresolved.

Evidence for continuous residence

Depending on the circumstances, relevant documents may include:

current and previous passports;
current eVisa evidence;
previous immigration decision letters;
an accurate absence schedule;
employer letters confirming employment and authorised travel;
payslips, P60s and HMRC records;
boarding passes and travel itineraries;
tenancy agreements or mortgage evidence;
council-tax and utility records;
bank statements showing UK activity;
education attendance records;
medical evidence;
birth or death certificates;
sponsor approval for research or humanitarian work;
evidence of disrupted travel; and
certified translations of documents not in English or Welsh.

Passport stamps alone may be incomplete because many travellers use electronic gates or travel through Common Travel Area routes.

Additional ILR requirements

Continuous residence is only one element of settlement.

Depending on the route, an applicant may also need to demonstrate:

a valid current immigration category;
continuing sponsorship or employment;
the applicable settlement salary;
endorsement or business-achievement requirements;
a genuine and continuing relationship;
English-language ability;
successful completion of the Life in the UK Test;
compliance with immigration conditions; and
suitability, including relevant criminality and immigration history.

For Skilled Worker settlement, applicants aged 18 to 64 must normally pass the Life in the UK Test. They do not usually need to prove English again because this was addressed when obtaining Skilled Worker permission.

ILR fees and processing time

From 8 April 2026:

the standard ILR application fee is £3,226 per person;
the Life in the UK Test fee is £50;
there is no separate biometric enrolment fee; and
the Immigration Health Surcharge is not payable for an ILR application.

A standard application is normally decided within six months after biometric enrolment.

Where available for the particular route:

priority service costs an additional £500 and normally provides a decision within five working days;
super-priority service costs an additional £1,000 and normally provides a decision by the end of the next working day, or within two working days after a weekend appointment.

Faster services are not available for every route or application.

Current Skilled Worker settlement costs and processing information are published on the official ILR overview.

Travel after submitting the ILR application

The applicant must not travel outside:

the UK;
Ireland;
the Channel Islands; or
the Isle of Man

while an in-country ILR application is pending.

Travelling before a decision will normally cause the application to be treated as withdrawn.

Common continuous-residence mistakes

Common errors include:

calculating absences by calendar year instead of rolling 12-month periods;
counting each trip separately without checking overlapping periods;
forgetting the period between entry-clearance approval and first UK arrival;
failing to count business or employer-authorised travel;
assuming all compassionate absences are automatically disregarded;
counting departure and return dates as full absence days;
missing travel through Ireland because no passport stamp exists;
combining immigration categories that the settlement route does not permit;
including Student or Graduate time in a five-year Skilled Worker calculation;
overlooking immigration gaps or invalid applications;
applying more than 28 days early;
using the standard work-route calculation for a family or Long Residence case;
failing to obtain sponsor confirmation for research absences;
not retaining evidence of disrupted travel; or
submitting absence dates that conflict with Home Office travel records.

Frequently asked questions

Is the ILR limit 180 days per calendar year?

No. For most current routes, it is 180 days during any rolling 12-month period.

Can I be absent for exactly 180 days?

Generally yes. The rule normally prohibits absences of more than 180 days. The calculation must still consider every rolling 12-month period.

Do departure and return days count?

Normally only whole days outside the UK count. The departure and return dates are usually excluded.

Do work trips count?

Ordinary work and business travel normally count. Limited exceptions apply to specified research, humanitarian and other permitted absences.

Does late entry after my visa grant count?

Yes. The period between the start of entry clearance and actual UK entry can count as absence, although it can still form part of the lawful qualifying permission period.

Does Student or Graduate time count for Skilled Worker ILR?

No. Student and Graduate time does not normally count towards the five-year Skilled Worker qualifying period. It may potentially count towards qualifying Long Residence.

Do the same rules apply to spouse visa ILR?

Not always. The standard five-year partner route focuses on continuous family-route residence, living together and an intention to live permanently in the UK. The work-route 180-day calculation should not automatically be applied.

What if I have exceeded 180 days?

Check whether any absences qualify as permitted absences supported by evidence. If not, the applicant may need to wait until they complete a new qualifying period that satisfies the relevant route.

Can COVID-related absences be ignored?

Not automatically. The applicant should show that pandemic-related travel disruption prevented or delayed their return.

What if my old passport is missing?

Travel history can be reconstructed using airline records, tickets, bank transactions, employer records, immigration documents and other reliable evidence. Any missing document should be explained.

Are citizenship absence rules the same?

No. British citizenship has separate residence and absence requirements. Meeting the ILR continuous-residence rule does not automatically mean the citizenship requirements are met.

How James Immigration Solutions Ltd can help

Subject to an initial assessment and our regulatory authorisation, James Immigration Solutions Ltd can assist with suitable, straightforward Level 1 ILR matters, including:

preliminary settlement eligibility assessment;
qualifying-period review;
review of permitted visa combinations;
preparation and checking of an absence schedule;
assessment of the standard 180-day rule;
document checklists;
application preparation and submission support; and
identification of cases requiring specialist referral.

Our professional fee depends on the circumstances and work required. A written quotation is provided after assessment.

We do not guarantee approval. All settlement decisions are made independently by the Home Office.

JISL does not accept matters beyond its authorisation or competence. Appeals, judicial reviews, asylum merits, complex human-rights claims, deception or document-genuineness allegations, substantial credibility disputes, serious overstaying, disputed immigration histories and significant criminality matters may require referral to an appropriately authorised adviser or solicitor.

Contact JISL

James Immigration Solutions Ltd
Company No. 15056317
IAA organisation reference: F202538614

Adviser: Fahad Zohaib Asghar
IAA adviser number: 061760

Phone/WhatsApp: +44 7944 222484
Email: admin@jisl.co.uk
Website: www.jisl.co.uk

Registered office:
Building No. 167–169, 5th Floor
Great Portland Street
London, England
W1W 5PF

Appointments are available by prior arrangement.

Important notice

This article provides general information based on the Immigration Rules and published fees available on 2 August 2026. It is not a substitute for advice based on individual circumstances. Immigration Rules, fees and settlement requirements can change. Always check the requirements applicable to the particular ILR route before applying.