10 year 'Long residence' ILR

Longer 10 year qualifying periods for ILR and citizenship

On 12 May 2025 the government published an immigration white paper setting out their plans for changes to immigration rules and requirements to make it harder to move to and settle in the UK, with a view to reducing immigration. Further details and the timescale for these changes have not yet been published.

One of the main, and most surprising, changes mentioned is to increase the qualifying periods for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and citizenship to 10 years. 

While the current 10 year 'long residence' ILR route was not specifically mentioned in the immigration white paper, if the qualifying period for the standard ILR route will be increased to 10 years it is logical to assume that the qualifying period for the 'long residence' ILR route may be increased even further.

Statements since the original announcement imply that the changes will apply to everyone, not just new visa applicants, but mentions of ‘earned settlement (ILR)’ and ‘earned citizenship’ may mean that some could have shorter qualifying periods potentially based on their employment or other activities in the UK.

The government have stated there will be a consultation on these changes and SIT will work with other universities and sector bodies to do everything possible to contribute to this and any other discussions around these changes, and to provide more details as soon as possible when they are published.

Until more details of the ILR changes are published it is difficult to advise visa holders when they may be eligible to apply for ILR. SIT is assisting visa holders who have already reached, or are close to, the point they are eligible to apply for ILR (under the current rules) to hopefully apply before the ILR rules change.

The information below is based on the current ILR rules and will be updated as soon as possible after details of the new ILR rules are published.

 

 

Those who have spent a continuous period of 10 years in the UK under different visas may be eligible to apply for ILR under the ‘Long residence’ route. Time under visas which do not lead to settlement under the standard 5 year route (such as Student/ Tier 4, Graduate etc.) can be counted towards 10 year ILR.

Points to note:

  • Applicants normally will need to have spent 12 months under their current visa before they can apply for 'long residence' ILR. This requirement was introduced on 11 April 2024.
  • The ‘continuous residence’ limit on absences from the UK changed on 11 April 2024:
    • The absences limit for periods spent in the UK after 11 April 2024 is the same requirement as the standard ILR route - no more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12 month period.
    • The original absences limit - no more than 548 days outside the UK in total, with no single absence longer than 184 days outside the UK, still applies to time spent in the UK before 11 April 2024.
  • Periods spent outside the UK between visas can be accepted as long as the applicant held a valid visa when they left and when they returned. These periods are also counted towards the limit on absences.

More information on applying for ‘Long residence’ ILR is found in Home Office guidance.

 

Contact us


Medical Sciences / Humanities / GLAM / UAS / Continuing Education

Angelina Escott, Email: angelina.escott@admin.ox.ac.uk 

Paul Deeble, Email: paul.deeble@admin.ox.ac.uk

 

MPLS / Social Sciences / Colleges

Lyn Davis, Email: lyn.davis@admin.ox.ac.uk

Richard Birt, Email: richard.birt@admin.ox.ac.uk

 

 

 

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