UK indefinite leave to remain (settlement): routes and requirements

Skilled Worker, Health and Care, Scale-up, Representative of an Overseas Business and ECAA visa holders usually qualify after 5 years. Global Talent and Innovator Founder holders can qualify after 3 years depending on the route. Partners and parents on family visas qualify after 5 continuous years (10 years where they did not meet the income or English rules). Ten years of continuous lawful residence on any combination of visas gives the long residence route. Refugees and people with humanitarian protection follow separate rules. Graduate and HPI time does not count.

Applicants aged 18 to 64 must pass the Life in the UK Test (£50) and meet the English requirement at B1, which work-route applicants may already have met. For work routes you must not have spent more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period, and Skilled Workers must still meet a salary threshold such as £41,700 or the going rate. Criminality and immigration breaches can lead to refusal.

The ILR fee is £3,226 for each person. Settlement applications are not charged the health surcharge. The priority service costs £500 and super priority £1,000 on routes where they are offered; GOV.UK lists settlement on work and Innovator Founder routes as eligible for priority, and partner or parent settlement (form SET(M)) for super priority only.

The Home Office ran a consultation from November 2025 on an “earned settlement” model in which settlement would no longer be granted automatically after a fixed period and the default qualifying period would be longer. At the time of checking, the GOV.UK settlement pages still state the 5-year periods above; check the current rules before you apply.

You can live, work and study without restrictions and apply for benefits if eligible. ILR can lapse if you stay outside the UK for more than 2 years at a time. Most people can apply for naturalisation as a British citizen 12 months after ILR (or immediately if married to a British citizen), with a fee of £1,709 plus the £130 ceremony fee.