🇬🇧 UK Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) & the 2026 "Earned Settlement" Reform

Worked example

How Settlement Currently Works (Still in Force)

After 5 years of continuous lawful residence on most work, family, or study-linked visa routes, you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain — provided you've maintained your sponsored job and salary (or family relationship), passed the Life in the UK test, and met B1-level English. ILR removes time limits on your stay and is the standard stepping stone to British citizenship, available after a further 12 months.

Earned Settlement: what was confirmed on 2 November 2026

On 2 November 2026 the Home Office published its response to the Earned Settlement consultation. The standard qualifying period for ILR will rise from 5 to 10 years, with 5 years for people earning above £50,270 in three of the last five years (and some public service workers and partners of British citizens), and 3 years above £125,140. The proposed 15-year route was dropped. The law has not changed yet: the Home Secretary said rules will start to be laid from the December 2026 immigration rules, with implementation expected during 2027, so the current 5-year route still applies today.

Every pathway also needs the mandatory requirements, built on four ideas:

• Residence — continuous lawful UK residence
• Integration — B2 English (from 26 March 2027) and the Life in the UK test
• Contribution — earnings of at least £12,571 a year, with higher earners qualifying sooner
• Character — criminal record, immigration compliance and no unpaid government debt (NHS, tax or Home Office)

The consultation drew 204,667 responses. Couples can combine earnings to meet a £25,142 household threshold. Time on temporary routes such as Student, Graduate and Visit will not count towards settlement, and the 10-year Long Residence route will close (no date yet). Source: GOV.UK: Earned settlement consultation and government response (2 November 2026).

What's in force now, and what is still to come

One change is already confirmed in law though not yet in force: a March 2026 Statement of Changes (HC 1691) will raise the English requirement for settlement to CEFR B2, up from B1, effective 26 March 2027 — distinct from the B2 requirement for new Skilled Worker/Scale-up/HPI work-visa applicants, which took effect earlier, on 8 January 2026. The 10-year framework is government policy since 2 November 2026 but is not yet in the Immigration Rules: the detailed rules, technical guidance and commencement dates are still to be published, starting with the December 2026 rules. Settlement applications are normally decided under the rules in force on the decision date, so applying before the new rules start matters if you already qualify under the 5-year route.

A further detail worth knowing: under the proposed model, a No Recourse to Public Funds condition would reportedly attach to ILR itself, meaning full access to specified benefits would only arrive with British citizenship, not settlement — effectively making citizenship, not ILR, the practical target for full integration rights under the new system.

Why This Matters Right Now

There is no general protection for people already in the UK: most people without ILR when the new rules start will be assessed under them. Targeted protection was announced for care workers who entered or switched into the Health and Care route before May 2025 (5 years if they earn at least £25,000 and meet the other conditions), and for certain health and education workers below RQF level 6 who arrived before May 2025. Skilled Workers on the pre-April 2024 lower salary thresholds can keep extending on those terms until 2035. If you will reach 5 years before the new rules apply, plan to apply as soon as you are eligible.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming the 10-year rule already applies. It was confirmed as policy on 2 November 2026 but the rules have not been laid; the 5-year qualifying period remains current law until they take effect.
• Assuming existing visa holders are automatically protected. Only some care, health and education workers who arrived before May 2025 have announced protection; everyone else moves to the new framework.
• Confusing Earned Settlement with a points test like Australia's. It is a set of pathways (3, 5, 10 or 20 years) plus mandatory requirements, not a single numeric score.
• Not checking GOV.UK directly before major life decisions. Given how actively this is moving, any secondary source (including this page) can go stale within months.

The Trap Inside the Five-Year Countdown: Absences Are Counted in Rolling Windows

Most people planning for ILR track two things: the calendar and their salary. The requirement that quietly ends more applications is neither — it's how many days you spent outside the UK. For most settlement routes, you must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any rolling 12-month period during the qualifying period. All travel counts, whether business, holiday or family, unless a specific exception applies, and only whole days are counted (days of departure and return aren't).

The word that matters is rolling. The Home Office doesn't check calendar years; it checks every possible 12-month window, and a single window over the limit is enough — even if your totals over five years look fine.

A worked example. Suppose you're abroad for 100 days from 1 October to 8 January, then again for 95 days from 1 February to 6 May. In calendar 2025 you were away 92 days; in calendar 2026, 103 days. Both look comfortably under 180, so it feels safe. But the 12-month window running from 1 October to 30 September contains both trips: 195 days. That single window breaches the limit, and it's exactly the kind a calendar-year mindset never catches. If you're anywhere near 180 in any window, treat it as a planning problem before you book the next trip, not a calculation to do at application time.

• Exceptions exist but are limited and evidence-heavy. The Home Office guidance allows certain permitted circumstances to be disregarded, and practitioners report that being unable to return because of travel restrictions or illness has been treated this way. They have to be explained and documented, and the Home Office's own list is what counts, not a summary. Don't assume work travel qualifies: earlier published caseworker guidance said long absences for work or economic reasons aren't treated as exceptional.
• Build your travel record now. One list covering the whole qualifying period: every trip, exact dates, and the proof (passport stamps, boarding passes, bookings, employer travel records). The Home Office can ask for evidence covering the whole qualifying period, so it's far easier to build the record as you go than to reconstruct it years later.
• ILR absence limits aren't the citizenship limits. British citizenship applies its own, different absence tests, so a pattern of travel that's fine for ILR isn't automatically fine for the naturalisation application that follows. Check GOV.UK for each stage separately.
• ILR can lapse later. Once you hold it, spending a long continuous period abroad (generally more than two years) can cause it to lapse, so the absence rules don't stop mattering the day it's granted.

If your ILR is refused

The cost of getting this wrong is concrete: the ILR fee (£3,226 per person) is generally not refunded on refusal, and a refusal stays on your immigration record. What happens next depends on why it was refused. If a caseworker miscounted your days, applied the wrong route's absence rules (the 10-year long residence route has its own limits, which changed for absences starting on or after 11 April 2024), or overlooked evidence you did submit, an administrative review may correct it if your decision letter says you can ask for one. If the refusal was justified because you genuinely exceeded a window, no review will change the count — the realistic path is a properly prepared fresh application at a point when you meet the requirement, with an appeal available only in limited circumstances. Be aware that GOV.UK says an administrative review request is withdrawn if you make any other immigration application, so decide between the two before you file. In either case, the first step is reconstructing your absences day by day against the refusal letter, and it's worth doing that with an IAA-regulated (formerly OISC) adviser or solicitor before spending another application fee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the UK settlement period now 10 years instead of 5?

Not yet. On 2 November 2026 the government confirmed a 10-year baseline under Earned Settlement (5 years above £50,270, 3 years above £125,140), but the rules will only start to be laid from December 2026, with implementation expected during 2027. Until then the 5-year route remains the law.

What will Earned Settlement require?

Good character with no criminal record, no unpaid government debt, B2 English, the Life in the UK test, and earnings of at least £12,571 a year for the qualifying period. Children, people aged 65 or over and people with a qualifying condition are exempt from the English, Life in the UK and earnings requirements.

Will existing visa holders be protected from the new settlement rules?

Mostly not. The 2 November 2026 response gives no general protection: people without ILR when the new rules start will usually be assessed under them. Care workers who joined the Health and Care route before May 2025 and certain health and education workers who arrived before May 2025 keep a 5-year route if they meet the conditions.

How many days can I spend outside the UK before applying for ILR?

For most routes, no more than 180 days in any rolling 12-month period during the qualifying period. The Home Office checks every 12-month window, not calendar years, and a single window over the limit can break continuous residence even if your five-year total looks fine.

Do the ILR absence rules also apply to British citizenship?

No. British citizenship has its own, different absence tests, so travel that's acceptable for ILR isn't automatically acceptable for the naturalisation application that follows. Check GOV.UK's rules for each stage separately.