The Life in the UK Test for Applicants for Indefinite Leave to Remain
Most applicants for indefinite leave to remain need to sit and pass the life in the UK test before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain. In this article, our immigration solicitors look at the life in the UK test.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors
For advice on your indefinite leave to remain application call the expert London immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Life in the UK test
The life in the UK test must be sat and passed by most indefinite leave to remain applicants. Failure to pass the test means you will not be able to successfully apply for indefinite leave to remain or for British citizenship.
If you have read about the separate British citizenship test then this test must be passed by British citizenship applicants unless the applicant has already passed the life in the UK test as part of their indefinite leave to remain application.
If a naturalisation applicant has already passed the life in the UK test, it is the same as the British citizenship test. Importantly once you have passed the life in the UK test you do not need to re-sit the test as the pass does not have an expiry date or validity period.
Exceptions to sitting the life in the UK test
You may think that you should be exempt from sitting the life in the UK test because of the length of time you have lived in England and you should therefore get an automatic pass from taking an examination as you have lived experiences of life in the UK that beat any test. Whilst you may be right, indefinite leave to remain lawyers say the length of your time in the UK is not an exception to the requirement to sit and pass the test.
The exceptions to sitting the life in the UK test are:
- You have already passed the life in the UK test and have evidence of your pass. For example, you may have taken the test for an earlier indefinite leave to remain application that was unsuccessful because you did not meet the residence requirement because of your absences from the UK during the qualifying residence period
- You are under the age of 18
- You are over the age of 65
- You have a long-term physical or mental condition and you have evidence in the form of an exemption form completed by a doctor confirming the condition. There is no list of specified conditions but the Home Office guidance says that Home Office officials need to consider whether the indefinite leave to remain applicant is either suffering from a long-term illness or disability that severely restricts their ability to learn English or prepare for the life in the UK test or has a mental condition that prevents the applicant from taking the test. If you have a disability but you believe that you can still take the test provided adjustments are made then it is best to discuss this with your indefinite leave to remain lawyer and, if you proceed to book a test, to discuss your access or other requirements with the test centre in advance of your test appointment
Taking the life in the UK test
The test forming part of the eligibility criteria to settle in the UK only takes 45 minutes to complete and involves answering 24 multiple-choice questions on a computer at an authorised testing centre.
As the test must be taken at a centre it must be booked in advance and to be able to proceed with the test you need to take the right paperwork with you so you can prove your identity. The rules are very strict on this point because of previous historical allegations of widespread fraud with people arranging for other people to sit the test for them.
The test includes questions on British customs, traditions, the UK political system, and laws. Most indefinite leave to remain applicants will not know the answers to all the questions without some advance study. Immigration solicitors say that British citizens born and brought up in the UK would similarly struggle with the test if presented with it without prior preparation.
Thankfully, you do not need to get all 24 questions right as the pass rate is getting 75% of the questions right or 18 out of the 24 questions. If you fail the test, you do not have long to wait as you are told about your failure at the end of the test. You cannot just keep repeating the 45-minute test until you have memorised the answers and got 18 questions right. You will need to rebook the test but you must wait 7 days between failing a test and taking another test. When you resit the test, the questions are likely to be different as they are randomly selected from a test handbook. That is why indefinite leave to remain lawyers recommend some preparation work takes place before you sit the test to avoid having to take the test multiple times, delaying your indefinite leave to remain application. The handbook provides sample tests to help with your studies.
Failing the life in the UK test
If you fail the life in the UK test you can continue to retake the test as many times as it takes to achieve a pass. However, each time you take the test you will need to pay a fee to sit the test. Your indefinite leave to remain application will be delayed as you cannot submit your application and tell the Home Office that you will submit your life in the UK pass results when you successfully complete the test.
Immigration solicitors warn that if your work visa or family visa or business visa is nearing expiry that you should start to sort out the life in the UK test as the test results will not expire. You should not risk failing the test and therefore not being able to submit your indefinite leave to remain application. That is because you then risk being an overstayer unless you are able to apply for another visa to cover you until you are in a position to make your indefinite leave to remain application.
If you have questions about any aspect of your indefinite leave to remain application, ask our expert indefinite leave to remain lawyers.
UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors and Indefinite Leave to Remain Lawyers
For advice on your indefinite leave to remain application call the expert London immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.
Related Posts
OTS Solicitors Celebrate the 2023 Legal 500 London Immigration Rankings
Business Immigration Solicitor Hans Sok Appadu Nominated for Rising Star Award 2022
Indefinite Leave to Remain and Settling in the UK After Twenty Years Long Residence