ILR through 10 Years’ Long Residence: Who Qualifies in 2026

1. What the 10-year long residence route gives you

Most people settle in the UK through a sponsored work route, a family route, or a route specifically built around settlement (such as Skilled Worker after five years, or Spouse Visa after five years). Long residence is different. It does not depend on who you work for, who you are married to, or whether your route was designed to lead to settlement. It depends on the simple fact of how long you have been here lawfully.

If you have spent 10 continuous years in the UK with valid permission, you can apply for ILR under Appendix Long Residence. That gets you settled status: no time limit on your stay, no work restrictions, and the right to apply for British citizenship 12 months later (or immediately, if you are married to a British citizen).

The route is most useful for people whose path through the immigration system was not linear. Students who moved into work routes, work-route holders who became dependants, dependants who later became students again. None of those routes settle on their own under five years, but the 10-year clock keeps ticking through every period of lawful permission.

2. The qualifying period: what counts as lawful residence

Under paragraph LR 11.1 of Appendix Long Residence, you need 10 continuous years lawfully in the UK. “Lawfully” has a specific meaning. It includes:

• Time with valid permission to be in the UK (entry clearance, leave to enter, or leave to remain).
• Time exempt from immigration control (for example, certain diplomatic posts).
• Time exercising EEA rights under retained law.

What does not count:

• Time on immigration bail.
• Time on temporary admission or temporary release.
• Permission as a Visitor, Short-term Student (English language), or Seasonal Worker.
• Overstaying that is not formally disregarded under the Suitability rules.

Two consequences worth noting. First, if you spent any of your 10 years on a visitor visa while you were waiting for a different visa to come through, that time does not count. Second, periods of “section 3C leave” (the automatic extension of leave while a valid in-time application is pending) do count, because you are still lawfully present.

3. The continuous residence test

The qualifying period must also be continuous. Continuous residence is governed by Appendix Continuous Residence and is the thing that catches most people out.

The standard test (CR 3.1) is that you cannot be outside the UK for more than 180 days in any rolling 12-month period during the qualifying period. The 12-month window slides, so a six-month absence from January to June 2024 still counts against any 12-month period that includes those months.

A separate older rule (CR 3.3) applies if any of your absences began before 11 April 2024. In that case the 10-year route uses two thresholds: an aggregate of no more than 548 days outside the UK across the whole 10 years, and no single absence over 184 days. Most people in 2026 will have at least one absence after April 2024, which means the rolling 180-day rule applies to at least part of their qualifying period.

Continuous residence is broken outright in several ways (CR 4.1):

• A custodial sentence (with limited exceptions for Settlement Family Life or Private Life routes).
• A deportation, exclusion, or removal order.
• Periods without required permission, beyond the limited grace periods.
• Exceeding the absence limits.

There are exceptions for compelling circumstances (CR 3.4): humanitarian work overseas, travel disruption from natural disaster or conflict, life-threatening illness or bereavement, certain approved research, and Crown service postings. Each of these requires evidence. None of them are automatic.

Practical step: pull every passport stamp and entry/exit record you have for the past 10 years and reconcile them against your travel history. Any 12-month window with more than 180 days outside the UK is a problem. Catch it before the Home Office does.

4. English language and Life in the UK

Two knowledge requirements sit at the end of the route.

The English requirement (LR 13) is currently CEFR B1 in speaking and listening. From 26 March 2027 it rises to B2. If you are close to qualifying and your English is at B1 but not yet B2, the date matters. Apply before the change if you can.

You can satisfy the English requirement in three main ways:

• A nationality exemption (citizens of majority-English-speaking countries listed in Appendix English Language).
• A degree taught in English from a UK institution, or an Ecctis-confirmed equivalent from outside the UK.
• A pass at the required level on a Secure English Language Test.

Life in the UK is a separate test administered through approved test centres, currently £50 to book. You need a pass certificate that is not more than two years old at the date of application. People over 65 and certain medical exemptions apply.

If you meet the residence requirements but not English or Life in the UK, you can apply for 24 months of temporary permission instead of immediate settlement. That gives you time to clear the gap without losing the years you already have.

5. Suitability and immigration history

Long residence is generous on which routes count, but strict on conduct. Under the Suitability rules in Part 9 of the Immigration Rules, you can be refused for:

• Criminal convictions, particularly any custodial sentence.
• Deception in any previous immigration application.
• Significant unpaid NHS debt or unpaid Home Office fees.
• Persistent breach of immigration laws.

The rule of thumb is that any conviction that is not “spent” under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act needs careful attention before you apply. So does any application where the Home Office previously found that you (or someone on your behalf) used false documents or made false statements.

For overstayers, there is a narrow disregard. If you overstayed but submitted a valid further application within 14 days, the overstaying period is disregarded for suitability purposes, although it does not count towards the 10 years.

6. Settlement now or 24-month temporary stay

Under Appendix Long Residence you can apply on either of two bases:

Settlement application. You meet residence, English, Life in the UK, and Suitability. Outcome is ILR.

Temporary stay application. You meet residence and Suitability but not English or Life in the UK. Outcome is 24 months of further permission, after which you can re-apply for settlement.

The temporary route is often used by older applicants who need more time to prepare for the Life in the UK test, or by people whose English certificates have lapsed. The 24 months counts as a continuation of lawful residence for any future settlement bid.

7. Fees, timelines, and travel rules during the application

The fee for ILR under long residence is £3,226 per applicant. The fee for the 24-month temporary stay is £1,407. Biometric appointments are included in those fees.

Standard processing is up to six months. Super priority service is available for an additional £1,000 and gives a decision by the end of the next working day for weekday biometric appointments, or two working days for weekend appointments. Priority and super priority slots can be limited.

Travel rule: you must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man until you receive the decision. If you do travel, your application is treated as withdrawn and you do not get a refund. Plan the application around any work or family travel commitments.

8. Six places long residence applications fall down

These are the patterns we see when reviewing files for clients who are close to applying.

Hidden gaps in permission. A late application during the COVID transitional concessions, a switch where the new permission did not start the day the old permission ended, or a period spent on a visitor visa while a fresh entry clearance was prepared. Any of these can break the chain.

Travel that the applicant did not realise was a problem. A six-month sabbatical to look after a parent overseas. A long stretch back home during the pandemic. The 180-day rule is rolling, so the days outside the UK are added across whichever 12-month window the Home Office uses to test it.

Old immigration bail. Applicants who spent time on bail many years ago sometimes assume that period counts because they were physically here. It does not.

Custodial sentences. Even short sentences from years ago can break continuous residence. This is one to confirm before lodging the application, not after.

Out-of-date Life in the UK certificates. A pass certificate older than two years at the date of application is not accepted. Re-take if necessary.

Underestimating the English bar. B1 sounds easy. The speaking and listening test is not. Book the test, take it early, and plan around the 26 March 2027 step-up to B2.

9. What to do if you think you qualify

If you are within 12 months of completing the 10-year qualifying period, work backwards from your application date and check four things.

First, build a continuous residence timeline from your immigration history. Every grant of permission, every refusal, every section 3C extension, every period of bail. Reconcile it against your passport stamps and any digital records.

Second, list every absence over 90 days from the UK in the last 10 years. For each one, work out the rolling 12-month window it sits inside and the total days within that window. Anything close to or over 180 days needs explanation evidence.

Third, audit your immigration history for anything Suitability could catch: convictions, NHS debt, prior refusals on credibility grounds, prior deception findings.

Fourth, plan English and Life in the UK on a calendar. If you can apply before 26 March 2027, you only need B1. After that, B2.

If any of those four checks raises a question, talk to an adviser before you apply. Long residence applications that fail are not just refused: a refusal can complicate your immigration position going forward. A 30-minute review before lodging is significantly cheaper than rebuilding a case after a refusal.

Sources

• Appendix Long Residence, Immigration Rules (current version)
• Appendix Continuous Residence, Immigration Rules
• Long residence caseworker guidance, Home Office (29 July 2025)
• gov.uk: Indefinite leave to remain if you have been in the UK for 10 years (long residence)
• Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 1333 (14 October 2025)

This article is general information, not legal advice. Long residence applications turn on the specific facts of your immigration history. Speak to a qualified adviser before applying.