Routes to Settlement in the UK

Settlement in the UK is known legally as Indefinite Leave to Remain, or Indefinite Leave to Enter if granted from outside the UK. This status removes immigration restrictions on how long you can remain in the UK. 

The benefits of obtaining settlement include:

• full rights to work, without sponsorship or work‑related restrictions
• the ability to study without time limits or sponsorship
• access to public funds, subject to each benefit’s eligibility criteria
• the ability to sponsor certain family members to join you in the UK
• important consequences for citizenship for children, providing routes to citizenship for children born inside of the UK. 

Indefinite leave to remain, as the name suggests, does not expire. However, it can lapse if you spend too long outside the UK. 

The government has proposed changes to how long it takes for some people to qualify for settlement in the UK. The Earned Settlement proposals aim to alter the residence periods required on different visa routes, meaning many applicants could face new qualifying timelines if the changes are implemented.

While the Earned Settlement proposals have been delayed, following the consultation which closed in February 2026 the current rules remain in force.

Each immigration route has its own rules on whether, and when, an individual can qualify for indefinite leave to remain. Not all routes lead to settlement in the UK. 

Routes that lead to settlement have different residence requirements. At present, most require either five years or ten years of residence, which is what the Earned Settlement proposals aim to change.

These routes may lead to settlement if you meet the residence requirements and other eligibility criteria:

• Innovator Founder visa - typically 3 years to settlement 
• Global Talent visa, (applicants must secure an endorsement to qualify) – this has both 3 years and 5-year routes to settlement
• Skilled Worker visa, (including the Health and Care visa) - 5 years 
• Tier 2 Minister of Religion - 5 years
• Refugee status and Humanitarian protection - 5 years
• EU Settlement Scheme - 5 years 
• Family life routes for partners, parents and children, depending on eligibility - 5- or 10-year routes 
• Private life routes - 10-year route, unless applying as a child or young adult which provide for a 5-year route

This is not an exhaustive list; for example, some immigration routes are now closed to new applicants, but individuals already on those routes may still be able to apply for settlement.

Various immigration routes do not offer a path to settlement in the UK. These include visit visas, study‑related routes such as the Student visa and Graduate visa, the Global Business Mobility routes, the Youth Mobility Scheme and other temporary work categories.

In addition, some routes have time limits on how long an individual can stay. If your current visa route does not lead to settlement, you may be able to switch into one that does from within the UK. Switching means applying for a new category without leaving the UK.

Options always depend on your circumstances, so we suggest you seek legal advice to consider the best options for you.

Only some applications, such as Private Life and certain Family Life categories, are available if you do not currently have permission to stay. If you have insecure or unclear immigration status and are unsure of your rights and entitlements, you may wish to seek legal help on how to regularise your status in the UK.

Learn more about regularising your stay here.

Not to be confused with a ten‑year route to settlement, the ten‑year long residence application allows a person to apply directly for settlement on the basis of long residence. An individual may combine different visas or forms of leave to remain, provided they have completed ten years of lawful residence in the UK.

You cannot include time spent as:

• a visitor 
• a short-term student 
• seasonal worker
• or leave on the Ukrainian scheme.
  

However, you can include other forms of leave, such as time on the Student visa, Graduate visa and global business mobility routes which do not lead to settlement on their own.

This 10 year long residence application is useful if most of your time in the UK has been spent on visas that do not lead to settlement. For example, if you have held a Student visa, then a Graduate visa, and later switched to another category. In this situation you can apply under long residence once you reach ten years of lawful residence, rather than waiting to complete the full qualifying period of your current visa route.

After obtaining Indefinite Leave to Remain, you can remain in the UK indefinitely. However, there are some further steps you may want to take.

• Naturalisation as a British Citizen - which requires you to be settled already. 
• No Time Limit (NTL) application - if you have indefinite leave to remain and you have not transferred your status to an eVisa, this application enables you to do so.

Indefinite leave to remain does not expire, but it can lapse if you spend too long outside the UK:

• Up to 2 years of continuous absence for most holders
• Up to 5 years of continuous absence for those with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

To maintain your status, you must keep absences below these limits. 

If you find that you have spent more time away and your leave has lapsed, you will need to apply as a returning resident to reinstate your settlement in the UK. This applies even though you were previously granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. You will need to provide evidence of strong ties in the UK, your current circumstances, and the reasons you have lived outside the UK.