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UK Long Residence ILR: The 10-Year Route Explained for 2026

Someone may have lived in the UK for ten years, studied here, worked here, changed immigration categories several times and built almost their entire adult life here.

That does not necessarily mean they qualify for settlement under the Long Residence route.

Long Residence is one of the few UK settlement routes that can allow different periods of lawful immigration permission to be combined towards one qualifying period. A person might, for example, have spent part of their ten years as a Student, later as a Graduate, then as a Skilled Worker or under a family route.

But the calculation is rarely as simple as finding the date on which they first entered the UK and adding ten years.

The Home Office looks closely at the applicant's immigration history, the type of permission held during each period, any gaps between applications, section 3C leave, time spent outside the UK and whether continuous residence has been broken.

Appendix Long Residence replaced the previous long residence provisions in Part 7 of the Immigration Rules on 11 April 2024. The current Home Office caseworker guidance is version 25.0, published on 3 August 2026.

This guide explains how the 10-year Long Residence route operates in 2026 and some of the issues that should be examined before an application for Indefinite Leave to Remain is submitted.

What is the UK Long Residence route?

Appendix Long Residence allows a person who has completed 10 years of continuous lawful residence in the UK to apply for settlement, provided the other requirements of the route are satisfied.

One of the important features of Long Residence is that the qualifying period can normally consist of a combination of different immigration categories.

This is different from settlement routes that require a person to spend a specified period continuously on one particular visa.

The Immigration Rules expressly allow most types of immigration permission to contribute towards the ten-year period.

A person who has completed the ten-year qualifying period but cannot yet meet the English-language or Knowledge of Life in the UK requirements may, in appropriate circumstances, apply for permission to stay under Appendix Long Residence rather than settlement. Permission granted under this part of the route is normally for 24 months.

What counts towards the 10 years?

Most periods during which the applicant held valid UK immigration permission can potentially count.

This may include periods under Student or the former Tier 4 route, Skilled Worker or former Tier 2 categories, family routes and many other categories.

Certain historic periods can also count. The Rules permit qualifying residence while a person was exempt from immigration control and certain residence as an EEA national, or qualifying family member of an EEA national, exercising relevant residence rights before the end of free movement. Time spent in the UK as a British citizen can also count unless that citizenship was subsequently deprived.

The important point is therefore not simply which visa the applicant holds today.

A Long Residence assessment normally requires the entire relevant immigration history to be reconstructed.

Which immigration categories do not count?

There are important exclusions.

Time spent with permission as a Visitor, Short-term Student studying English, Seasonal Worker, or under the Ukraine Scheme does not count towards the Long Residence qualifying period.

The exclusion also applies to predecessor versions of those routes.

More importantly, the current Home Office guidance confirms that a period on one of these excluded routes does not merely fail to count. It breaks continuous residence for Long Residence purposes.

That distinction can completely change an application.

For example, an applicant may have spent several years lawfully in the UK, left, returned as a visitor and then later switched into another long-term immigration route. The visitor period cannot simply be removed from the calculation while preserving the years before it. It can break the continuity required for the ten-year route.

Ordinary Student or former Tier 4 permission is different. Home Office guidance expressly confirms that these periods can count; they should not be confused with the separate Short-term Student route.

Why continuous residence is often the difficult part

Applicants must satisfy both the ten-year qualifying period and the continuous residence rules.

Appendix Continuous Residence now governs how absences and breaks in residence are assessed.

For Long Residence cases containing periods both before and after 11 April 2024, this can involve two different absence calculations.

The date of every trip can therefore matter.

A person who has lived in the UK for considerably more than ten calendar years may still fail to establish a qualifying ten-year period if an absence, excluded immigration category or unlawful period broke continuity.

Long Residence absences before 11 April 2024

Special transitional rules continue to apply to historic absences.

For an absence that started before 11 April 2024, the applicant must not normally have been outside the UK for more than 184 days on a single occasion.

There is also a historic 548-day total absence limit. Under the current wording, the applicant must not have reached more than 548 days of absence during the relevant qualifying period before 11 April 2024.

This is more precise than simply applying a blanket 548-day limit to every absence throughout the entire ten years.

Where a qualifying period crosses 11 April 2024, the calculations may need to be divided between the transitional rules and the newer rolling absence requirement.

What about absences from 11 April 2024 onwards?

For the post-11 April 2024 period, the general rule is that the applicant must not have spent more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period.

This is not the same as 180 days in each calendar year.

A rolling calculation can cross two calendar years, so simply adding the number of trips taken between January and December can produce the wrong result.

The Home Office guidance gives examples specifically showing how applications covering both the historic and new absence regimes must be calculated.

Can some excessive absences be disregarded?

Appendix Continuous Residence contains exceptions for certain absences.

These can include travel disruption caused by natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic, compelling and compassionate personal circumstances such as life-threatening illness or the death of a close family member, and certain qualifying overseas research activity.

These exceptions are fact-sensitive.

It is therefore dangerous to assume that an absence exceeding the normal limit will automatically be disregarded simply because the applicant had a serious personal reason for travelling.

The reason and supporting evidence need to be considered against the wording of Appendix Continuous Residence.

Can an applicant leave the UK between different visas?

Potentially, yes.

The current Long Residence rules recognise circumstances where an applicant held valid permission when leaving the UK and later returned with valid immigration permission, including on a different route, provided the relevant absence limits were not exceeded.

This is an important feature of the transitional Long Residence framework because lawful residence does not necessarily require the applicant to have physically remained inside the United Kingdom throughout every day of the ten years.

Historic cases involving gaps between UK permission and entry clearance applications can nevertheless become technically complicated, particularly where the events occurred before 24 November 2016.

A detailed chronology is usually necessary.

Does section 3C leave count towards Long Residence?

Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 can be extremely important in Long Residence applications.

Where a person makes a valid in-time application before their existing permission expires, section 3C can extend their existing permission while that application, and in relevant circumstances an appeal or administrative review, remains pending.

Where the underlying immigration category is one that counts towards Long Residence, the period of permission extended by section 3C can also count towards the ten-year qualifying period.

But the underlying route matters.

If someone held permission on an excluded route, such as Visitor or Seasonal Worker, and section 3C extended that permission following an in-time application, the extended period remains excluded from the Long Residence calculation.

This is why simply seeing a long period during which an immigration application was pending does not tell you whether the period counts.

The immigration category immediately before section 3C began needs to be identified.

What happens with overstaying?

Overstaying requires careful distinction between whether a period breaks continuity and whether the period itself counts towards the ten years.

Under the current rules, no period of overstaying counts towards the ten-year qualifying period.

However, certain periods of overstaying may be disregarded under the Exceptions for Overstayers provisions in Part Suitability. Where such an exception applies, the period may not break continuous residence even though those days themselves do not count towards the ten years.

Non-disregarded overstaying can break continuous residence.

Applicants with historic gaps should therefore not simply remove the days of overstaying and assume that everything before and after can still be combined.

The legal effect of the particular gap must first be established.

Immigration bail, temporary admission and temporary release

Periods spent on immigration bail, temporary admission or temporary release do not count towards the Long Residence qualifying period.

The Long Residence caseworker guidance also identifies these periods as capable of breaking continuous residence.

Part Suitability was amended in 2026 so that being on immigration bail does not operate as an automatic suitability refusal in certain cases where the Exceptions for Overstayers provisions apply. However, that suitability exception should not be confused with the separate qualifying-period and continuous-residence requirements.

The 12-month current immigration route rule

One of the most important changes introduced with Appendix Long Residence is the requirement concerning the applicant's current immigration route.

For settlement, the applicant must normally have had permission on their current immigration route for at least 12 months at the date of application.

The person does not necessarily need to have received one single grant lasting 12 months. What matters is that they have been on the same current route for at least that period.

There is an important transitional exception.

If the applicant's current permission was granted before 11 April 2024, the 12-month requirement does not apply.

This rule can create an unexpected problem for somebody who has already completed ten years of otherwise qualifying residence but has recently switched immigration routes.

They may have completed their ten years and still need to wait before becoming eligible for Long Residence settlement.

Can you apply 28 days before completing ten years?

The Home Office's continuous residence framework allows the qualifying period to be calculated using a date up to 28 days after the application date.

The Long Residence caseworker guidance therefore allows an application to succeed where it is considered no more than 28 days before completion of the qualifying period, provided all other requirements are met.

Where an application is considered more than 28 days before the ten-year period will be completed, the guidance requires refusal.

Applicants should therefore calculate the qualifying date carefully rather than relying simply on the anniversary of their first arrival.

Can you rely on an old ten-year period?

Not necessarily.

The current guidance expressly states that the qualifying period is calculated by counting backwards from the relevant date under Appendix Continuous Residence.

This means an applicant cannot necessarily point to a historic ten-year period completed many years earlier and rely upon it irrespective of what happened afterwards.

This has become particularly important in cases where a person later experienced a significant break in lawful immigration status.

English language requirement for Long Residence ILR

For Long Residence settlement applications made before 26 March 2027, the current English-language requirement is normally B1 speaking and listening, unless an exemption applies.

A significant change has already been written into the Immigration Rules.

For applications made on or after 26 March 2027, the required level will increase to B2 speaking and listening, subject again to applicable exemptions.

Applicants planning their settlement date close to March 2027 should therefore be particularly careful about which requirement will apply on the date they submit the application.

Life in the UK Test

An applicant for Long Residence settlement must also satisfy the Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement unless an exemption applies.

This will normally involve passing the Life in the UK Test.

The public GOV.UK guidance currently states that applicants aged between 18 and 65 will ordinarily need to satisfy the language and Life in the UK requirements, subject to the relevant rules and exemptions.

What if you have completed ten years but do not meet English or Life in the UK requirements?

Appendix Long Residence provides a separate route for permission to stay.

A person who satisfies the suitability, ten-year qualifying period and continuous residence requirements but does not yet meet the English-language and/or Knowledge of Life in the UK requirements may be granted 24 months' permission to stay.

That permission allows work, including self-employment and voluntary work, and study subject to any applicable ATAS requirement, but normally carries no access to public funds.

It is important to understand that this is not a route allowing somebody who has only completed nine years to extend their stay simply so that they can reach ten years.

Home Office guidance expressly says permission under Appendix Long Residence should not be granted simply to allow an applicant to complete the qualifying period.

Suitability requirements

Completing ten years of lawful residence does not create an automatic entitlement to ILR.

Long Residence applications are subject to Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules.

Criminality, deception, previous immigration breaches and other suitability issues can therefore affect the outcome even where the residence calculation itself is satisfied.

Cases involving old immigration breaches should be reviewed in context rather than assuming that an issue is irrelevant simply because it occurred many years ago.

Can dependants be included in a Long Residence ILR application?

No.

Appendix Long Residence does not allow a partner or child to be included as a dependant on the main applicant's Long Residence application.

Each family member who has independently completed ten years of qualifying residence can potentially make their own Long Residence application. Otherwise, the family member may need to apply under an appropriate family or other immigration route once the main applicant settles.

This can make family planning particularly important.

Settlement for one member of a household does not automatically settle the immigration position of everyone else.

Does time in Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man count?

The position is different across the Common Travel Area.

Time spent with immigration permission in the Republic of Ireland does not itself count towards the Long Residence qualifying period.

By contrast, qualifying time spent lawfully in the Crown Dependencies — Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man — on an equivalent immigration route can count in specified circumstances.

These cases should be checked carefully because the fact that all of these territories form part of the Common Travel Area does not mean they are treated identically for Long Residence purposes.

What happens if a Long Residence settlement application cannot be granted?

The current Appendix Long Residence contains an important variation mechanism.

Where the Home Office is not satisfied that the requirements for Long Residence settlement are met but considers that the applicant may qualify for permission to stay under Long Residence, Appendix FM or Appendix Private Life, the settlement application can be varied to an application for permission to stay.

If variation occurs, the settlement fee is not refunded and the Home Office can require payment of any applicable Immigration Health Surcharge.

This should not be treated as an alternative application strategy.

An applicant should still submit the application they genuinely qualify for rather than relying on the Home Office to find another route after a Long Residence application fails.

Important change from 8 October 2026

A further change to Appendix Long Residence takes effect on 8 October 2026.

Where an applicant has applied for Long Residence permission to stay but does not meet that route's requirements, and the Home Office considers that they may instead qualify as a partner, parent or child under Appendix FM or under Appendix Private Life, the Rules will provide for the application to be formally varied to that alternative permission-to-stay route.

The Home Office will notify the applicant of the variation. No additional application fee will be required, although any applicable Immigration Health Surcharge must be paid or successfully waived.

This is an important procedural change, particularly for applicants whose long residence position overlaps with family or private-life arguments.

How much does a Long Residence ILR application cost in 2026?

The current Home Office fee for an application for Indefinite Leave to Remain is £3,226.

An application for permission to stay under Long Residence currently costs £1,407, in addition to any applicable Immigration Health Surcharge.

The standard service for Long Residence applications normally has a published decision timeframe of up to six months after biometrics.

For settlement applications, a Super Priority service may be available for an additional £1,000, subject to availability.

Applicants should check the current fee and service availability immediately before applying because Home Office charges can change.

Can you travel while a Long Residence application is pending?

Applicants should be particularly careful about travelling after submitting an in-country Long Residence application.

GOV.UK states that an applicant must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man while the application is pending. Doing so can result in the application being treated as withdrawn, with no refund of the application fee.

Travel plans should therefore be considered before submission.

Common Long Residence problems we see in practice

Many Long Residence cases become difficult because an applicant begins with the assumption that they have “been in the UK for ten years” and only later examines whether every part of those ten years qualifies.

The legal question is different.

The Home Office needs to be satisfied that there is a qualifying ten-year period of lawful and continuous residence under the rules.

A visitor period in the middle of the chronology, an historic period of overstaying, a lengthy absence, a section 3C period attached to an excluded visa category, or a recent change of immigration route can materially alter the calculation.

This is why the immigration history should normally be reconstructed before the application is prepared.

Why an absence audit matters

Applicants often rely on passport stamps or their own memory when calculating travel.

That can be risky after ten years.

Old passports, flight records, email confirmations, employment records and information obtainable from the Home Office may all become relevant where the dates are uncertain.

This is especially important for applicants whose qualifying period crosses 11 April 2024, because the application may involve both the historical 184-day/548-day framework and the newer 180-days-in-any-12-month-period test.

A single incorrectly recorded date can change the result.

A practical example

Consider someone who first arrived in the UK as a Student in September 2016.

They subsequently held Graduate-type or work permission, made several in-time extension applications and eventually switched to another qualifying immigration category.

At first sight, September 2026 may appear to mark ten years.

But before advising them to apply, several questions still need to be answered.

Were there any periods as a Visitor or another excluded category? Did every application preserve lawful status? Did section 3C apply during any gaps? Were there any periods of overstaying? How many days were spent outside the UK before 11 April 2024? What do the rolling absence calculations look like afterwards? Has the applicant remained on their current immigration route for the required 12 months?

Until those questions are answered, the ten-year anniversary alone tells us very little about whether the person qualifies for settlement.

How GigaLegal Solicitors can help with Long Residence ILR

At GigaLegal Solicitors, we advise on Long Residence applications where the immigration history is straightforward as well as cases involving multiple visa categories, historic gaps, section 3C leave, overstaying, extensive travel histories and previous refusals.

Before an application is submitted, we can reconstruct the applicant's immigration chronology, identify which periods count, review section 3C leave, calculate absences under the applicable transitional and current rules, consider the 12-month current-route requirement and assess any suitability concerns.

Where the history contains a potential break, we can advise on whether the earlier residence can still be relied upon and whether Long Residence is the appropriate settlement route at that point.

We also advise on Long Residence refusals, permission-to-stay applications and alternative family or private-life routes where settlement cannot yet be established.

Disclaimer

This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Long Residence applications are highly fact-specific, particularly where there are historic absences, changes of immigration category, section 3C leave, periods without permission or previous immigration breaches. Immigration Rules, Home Office guidance and fees can change, and applicants should obtain advice based on their individual immigration history before submitting an application.

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