Settling in the UK After 10-Year Residence

If you are unable to apply to settle in the UK after 5 years of residence another option is to look at the 10-year route, also known as long residence Indefinite Leave to Remain.

In this article, our Immigration Solicitors examine the new immigration rules and Appendix Long Residence and explain how to go about applying for indefinite leave to remain using the long residence route.

UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors 

For indefinite leave to remain and immigration law advice call London-based OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.

Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi

Settling in the UK

If you have done your research and decided you cannot apply for early settlement or settlement using the standard 5-year residence route it is still worth speaking to an Indefinite Leave to Remain Lawyer about your settlement and visa options to check if you fall within any exceptions, you have applied your facts and circumstances correctly to the rules and your best visa options if you cannot apply for ILR straight away.

Settling in the UK on the long residence route

As the name implies you need to have resided in the UK for a long time (10 years) if you want to use the long residence ILR route. In addition to the 10-year residence requirement you also need to:

• Meet the English language test or requirement – you may be exempt from sitting the test if you come from an English-speaking country. The Home Office keeps a list of countries where nationals do not need to sit the English language test. Alternatively, you may be exempt from sitting the test because of your qualifications or age
• Have passed the Life in the UK test

With effect from 11 April 2024, the Home Office has brought the long residence immigration rules into one place in a separate Appendix to the immigration rules. Indefinite Leave to Remain Lawyers say the rules have been changed but remain complicated. However, on the bright side, at least they are more easily locatable now.

The 10-year route to ILR and the new 12-month visa rule

Looking at your first UK entry clearance date and calculating 10 years forward is the process many ILR applicants assume is correct. Unfortunately, the immigration rules are a lot more complicated than that.

The rules set out what visas and types of entry count towards the 10 years and what time spent in the UK is excluded from the 10-year calculation.

Firstly, in a change to the immigration rules, where you apply for ILR on the 10-year route and:

• Your current visa was granted after 11 April 2024, the new rules say you must have had permission on your current immigration route for at least 12 months on the date of application, or have been exempt from immigration control in the 12 months immediately before the date of application
• Your current visa was granted before 11 April 2024, the 12-month visa rule does not apply to you.

The definition of 10 years for the long residence ILR route

The new Appendix says you must have spent a qualifying period of 10 years lawfully in the UK and for the entire 10-year period one or more of the following must apply to you:

1. You had permission to be in the UK but permission as a visitor, short-term student or seasonal worker (or previous type routes) does not qualify as permission or
2. You were exempt from immigration control or
3. You were in the UK as an EEA national or the family member of an  EEA national and exercising a right to reside under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 before 11 pm on 31 December 2020 and until 30 June 2021 or the final determination of a settled status application under Appendix EU made by that date

Visa overstaying and the 10-year ILR route

If during your 10 years of residence, you overstayed without a valid visa this breaks the 10-year calculation and continuity of continuous residence. This rule emphasises the importance of getting your visa application submitted in time so you do not later encounter problems with your 10-year ILR application.

Time that does not qualify as part of your 10-year residence

Whilst you may have been physically present in the UK the following time does not count toward your 10 years of residence:

• Time spent on immigration bail, temporary admission or temporary release or
• Periods of overstaying between periods of leave before 24 November 2016 even if a further visa application was made within 28 days of the expiry of the previous permission or
• Any period of overstaying between periods of leave on or after 24 November 2016 even if other rules apply to the overstay
• Any current period of overstaying where paragraph 39E of the immigration rules applies to you

Leaving the UK during the 10-year residence requirement

It would be unreasonable to say that you cannot leave the UK for 10 years if you want to apply for ILR using the 10-year route but Indefinite Leave to Remain Lawyers say the continuous residence requirement rules are strict and complex, only allowing you limited absences during the 10 years.

Under the new Appendix, the rules on absences can be summarised as:

• If your time abroad began before 11 April 2024, you will not have continuous 10-year residence if you were abroad for more than 548 days in total or 184 days in any 12-month period
• For any absences that began after 11 April 2024, the 180-day maximum absences in 12 months applies

Exceptions to the absence rules

Sometimes extended periods out of the UK are outside your control or necessary. The immigration rules recognise this and say that any period spent outside the UK will not count towards the period of absence if the absence was for a specified allowable reason. The main reasons are:

• Travel disruption due to natural disasters, military conflict or pandemics or
• Compelling and compassionate personal circumstances, such as your life-threatening illness the life-threatening illness or death of a close family member or
• You were assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis overseas, but if you are in the UK on a sponsored route your sponsor must have agreed to the absence
• If you are a skilled worker and you were doing research approved by your sponsoring employer and you were sponsored for one of the following jobs:
  • 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 (R&D) managers
  • 2162 Other researchers, unspecified discipline
  • 2311 Higher education teaching professionals

• If you are or were in the UK on the Global Talent Visa and doing research endorsed by The Royal Society, The British Academy, The Royal Academy of Engineering or the UKRI
• If you are an applicant under Appendix Settlement Family Life, absences for work, study or supporting family overseas, so long as the family has throughout the period of absence maintained a family life in the UK and the UK remained the place of permanent residence

Picking your 10 years and making an Indefinite Leave to Remain application

Indefinite Leave to Remain Lawyers say the new immigration rules do not allow you to pick your 10 years if you have been in the UK for decades but have had absences. The rules on residence requirements are complicated, and are not made easier by the transitional rules.

If you need help with the complexities of a 10-year Indefinite Leave to Remain application or advice on the rules for your planned future settlement application our expert Indefinite Leave to Remain Lawyers can help you and your family.

UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors 

For indefinite leave to remain and immigration law advice call London-based OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.

Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi

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