Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) — also called settlement — is the immigration status that allows a non-UK national to live, work, and study in the United Kingdom without time limits and without needing a sponsor. It is the gateway to British citizenship and is the endpoint that most long-term visa holders are working toward. The Home Office sets out detailed eligibility rules under the Immigration Rules, and the requirements differ markedly depending on which visa route the applicant has been on. Getting the route right, satisfying the continuous residence rules, and passing the Knowledge of Language and Life (KoLL) requirements are the three pillars of a successful ILR application.
The five main routes to ILR
The most common path is the 5-year route, available to holders of Skilled Worker visas, Global Talent visas, Innovator Founder visas, and most family-route visas. Five years of continuous residence on a qualifying visa leads to eligibility for ILR. The Skilled Worker route requires the applicant to be employed by a Home Office-approved sponsor at the point of application and to meet the salary threshold (currently £38,700 for new applicants, with transitional arrangements for those who entered before April 2024).
The 3-year route is available only to spouses, civil partners, and unmarried partners of British citizens — not those settled persons. A partner of someone with ILR must still complete five years. The 3-year route reflects Parliament's view that integration is presumed faster when the partner is a citizen. The 10-year long residence route is open to anyone who has accumulated ten years of lawful, continuous residence in the UK on any combination of qualifying visas — student, work, family, even discretionary leave. The Tier 1 Investor route historically offered accelerated ILR in two years (with £10 million invested) or three years (with £5 million), though the Investor visa closed to new applicants in February 2022; those already on the route can still qualify on the original timelines.
Finally, the UK Ancestry route allows Commonwealth citizens with a grandparent born in the UK to apply for ILR after five years on an Ancestry visa. This route is one of the most flexible, with no salary threshold and no sponsor requirement — only a demonstrated intention to work in the UK.
The continuous residence requirement
For the 5-year route, applicants may be absent from the UK for no more than 180 days in any rolling 12-month period during the qualifying five years. The 180-day limit is calculated by looking at each rolling 12-month window — not aligned to calendar years or visa anniversaries — and counting total days absent. The Home Office allows some absences to be disregarded for compelling or compassionate reasons, such as the death of a close family member, serious illness of the applicant or a family member, or work-related travel for sponsored workers.
For the 10-year long residence route, the absence limits are stricter: no more than 540 days total across the ten years, and no single absence longer than six months. A single absence of more than six months breaks the chain of continuous residence — with very limited exceptions, such as a single period of compulsory military service or a posting abroad by a UK employer. A prison sentence breaks continuity permanently. For a deeper dive, see our continuous residence rules guide.
Knowledge of Language and Life (KoLL)
Every ILR applicant aged 18 to 65 must meet the KoLL requirement, which has two components: passing the Life in the UK test and demonstrating English language ability at B1 CEFR level. The Life in the UK test is a 24-question multiple-choice exam based on the official Home Office handbook (currently the 3rd edition), covering British history, government, values, and traditions. The pass mark is 75% — 18 correct answers out of 24 — and the test costs £50. Applicants who fail can rebook as many times as needed, with at least a 7-day gap between attempts.
The English language requirement can be met in three ways: being a national of a majority-English-speaking country (such as the United States, Canada, Australia, or Ireland), holding a degree taught or researched in English (with a NARIC equivalence statement), or passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT) at B1 level from an approved provider — currently Trinity College London or IELTS SELT Consortium. The test costs approximately £150 and the pass certificate is valid for two years. Applicants who already passed an A2 or B1 test for a previous visa application can reuse that certificate if it is still within validity.
Application forms: SET(M), SET(O), SET(LR)
The correct application form depends on the route. SET(M) is for partners (spouses, civil partners, unmarried partners, fiancés) applying after the 5-year route — or 3-year route if the partner is a British citizen. The form requires extensive evidence of the genuine and subsisting relationship: joint financial documents, correspondence addressed to both partners at the same address, photographs, and statements from friends and family. SET(O) is for work-related routes: Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator Founder, UK Ancestry, and the older Tier 1 routes. It focuses on continuous employment and salary rather than relationship evidence.
SET(LR) is the form for the 10-year long residence route. The key challenge on SET(LR) is documenting every entry and exit from the UK over ten years — a request that often requires applicants to obtain travel records from airlines, passport stamps from multiple passports, and a complete history of addresses. SET(LR) applicants must also demonstrate that none of their visas were obtained by deception and that they have not spent significant time in the UK unlawfully. The Home Office cross-references the application against border exit data, so undocumented absences are usually detected.
Fees, decision timelines, and super-priority
The 2025 ILR application fee is £2,885 per person — a substantial increase from the £2,404 fee charged as recently as 2023. The fee is payable online at the time of application and is non-refundable, regardless of the outcome. Applicants on most routes must also pay the Immigration Health Surcharge for any extension period; for ILR itself the IHS is not charged, but any dependent children included on the application who are not yet settling must still pay the IHS for their remaining leave.
The standard decision time is six months from the date of biometric enrollment. During this period the applicant's existing leave is extended under Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971, meaning they can continue to work and travel. The Home Office offers a super-priority service for an additional fee of £1,000, which gives a decision by the end of the next working day after biometric enrollment. Super-priority is available only for straightforward cases — applications with complex absence histories, criminal convictions, or document gaps are typically routed back to standard processing even if the fee was paid. A priority service (£500) gives a five-working-day decision and is available for a broader range of cases.
After ILR: citizenship and absences
Once ILR is granted, the holder is free of immigration time limits and can work, study, and access public funds (subject to any conditions on the original visa). ILR is not, however, irrevocable. It lapses automatically if the holder is absent from the UK for more than two continuous years, after which they must apply as a Returning Resident or start over on a new visa.ILR can also be revoked on grounds of national security, fraud in the original application, or a serious criminal conviction leading to deportation.
Most ILR holders become eligible to apply for British citizenship one year after ILR is granted (or immediately, for spouses of British citizens). The citizenship application requires a further Life in the UK test pass if the original has expired, an English language demonstration at the same B1 level, and a residence requirement of no more than 450 days absent in the five years before application (270 days for spouses of British citizens). To estimate your ILR eligibility date and check your continuous residence position, try our UK ILR calculator.
Last reviewed July 7, 2026. This article is informational and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.