The 10-year long residence route to settlement

Who it is for

People with 10 years of continuous lawful residence in the UK on any combination of visas

Counts

Student, Graduate, work, family and most other leave; time as a visitor does not qualify at the point of application

Fee

£3,029

Tests

Life in the UK and B1 English

Long residence is the route for people whose time in the UK has been spread across visas that do not individually lead to settlement: several years as a student, a Graduate visa, a couple of work visas, perhaps a period as a dependant. If the years add up to ten, all of them lawful, you can apply for ILR under Appendix Long Residence regardless of what visa you hold now.

What counts as lawful residence

Any period with valid leave to enter or remain, plus time on immigration bail or temporary admission that was followed by a grant of leave, plus time when an in-time application was pending (section 3C leave). Time as a visitor, on a short-term student visa or as a seasonal worker counts towards the ten years but you cannot apply while holding one of those. Time spent in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man does not count.

Periods of overstaying break continuity, with one tolerance: a gap of up to 14 days after your leave expired is disregarded if your next application was granted, and before 24 November 2016 the tolerance was 28 days. Any longer gap, or any period of illegal entry, resets the clock to zero.

Absences

For applications since 11 April 2024 the test is the same as the work routes: no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period, assessed under Appendix Continuous Residence. Absences before that date are assessed under the older rule, which allowed 180 days in any single absence and 548 days (18 months) in total over the ten years, and the Home Office applies whichever is more favourable to each period. If you began your ten years before 2024, read our absences guide and keep both sets of figures.

The other requirements

• You hold valid leave when you apply (not as a visitor or short-term student).
• You pass the Life in the UK test and meet English at B1.
• No general grounds for refusal apply: criminality, deception, NHS debt.
• You can apply up to 28 days before completing the ten years.

There is no income, sponsorship or relationship requirement, which is what makes the route valuable for people whose current visa has conditions they could not meet at settlement.

When long residence is better than your own route

Three common cases. A Skilled Worker who has been in the UK since university and whose ten years arrive before the five sponsored years do: long residence lets them settle without needing the salary threshold at that moment. A partner on the ten-year family route whose total UK time, including earlier visas, already exceeds ten years: they can apply now rather than waiting for the fourth grant. And anyone who moved between several unrelated visas and never built five years on any one of them.

Cost and timing

The fee is £3,029 and standard processing is six months; super priority is available. If the ten years complete before your current leave expires, apply then. If not, you must extend your current visa first, which means a further fee and surcharge, or wait on section 3C leave if an extension application is pending when the ten years arrive.