Most people think of Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) as something you earn after 5 years on a work or family visa. But the UK also runs a separate, often overlooked pathway: the 10-year Long Residence route, set out in Appendix Long Residence to the Immigration Rules. It allows anyone who has lived in the UK lawfully and continuously for at least 10 years — on almost any combination of long-term visas — to apply for settlement, even if no single visa category they held would, on its own, have led to ILR.
This route is particularly valuable for former students, intra-company transferees, and people who have moved between several visa categories over the years without ever completing 5 continuous years on one route. This guide, prepared by Imperial & Legal’s IAA-regulated immigration advisors, explains exactly how the 10-year route works in 2026, including the absence rules that most often catch applicants out.
Key takeaways
● You can combine time spent on almost any long-term UK visa to reach the 10-year qualifying period — switching categories does not reset the clock.
● Time as a visitor, short-term student, seasonal worker, or under the Ukraine schemes does not count and can break continuous residence.
● Absences are assessed in two parts: days outside the UK before 11 April 2024 must not total more than 548 days, and from 11 April 2024 onwards you must not exceed 180 days’ absence in any rolling 12-month period.
● You must still pass the Life in the UK test and meet the English language requirement (CEFR B1), unless exempt.
● The Home Office fee is £3,226 per applicant from 8 April 2026 — the same fee as the standard 5-year routes.
● The government has signalled its intention to reform settlement rules and may eventually replace this route, but no change has taken effect and the current rules remain fully in force.
What is the Long Residence route?
The Long Residence route lets you settle in the UK after 10 years of continuous, lawful residence, combining time spent on almost any mix of long-term visas rather than requiring one single qualifying category. Under paragraph LR 11.1 of Appendix Long Residence, you can apply for ILR once you have accumulated this 10 years — even where that time was spent across several different visa types, such as a Student visa followed by a Skilled Worker visa and then a Global Talent visa.
This is one of its biggest practical advantages: unlike the Skilled Worker or Spouse routes, where switching categories usually resets your qualifying clock, the long residence route allows you to “stack” different periods of lawful leave, provided each period is continuous and each visa type is eligible to count.
Which visas count towards the 10 years?
- Student and (former) Tier 4 visas
- Skilled Worker and (former) Tier 2 visas
- Graduate visa
- Global Talent visa
- Family visas under Appendix FM (spouse, partner, parent, child)
- Most other long-term work and business categories
- Since 29 July 2025, time spent in the Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man) on an equivalent route, provided your most recent permission was granted in the UK
Which periods do NOT count?
- Standard Visitor visa or visitor status granted at the border
- Short-term Student (English language) visa
- Seasonal Worker visa
- Permission under the Ukraine Schemes
- Immigration bail, temporary admission or temporary release
- Time spent as an overstayer, even briefly
Importantly, time spent as a visitor does not merely fail to count — re-entering the UK as a visitor between two periods of long-term leave will break your continuous residence entirely, forcing the 10-year clock to restart.
What is the 180-day continuous residence rule for Long Residence?
Your qualifying period is assessed in two separate parts, split at 11 April 2024. For the part of your 10 years that falls before 11 April 2024, add up every day you spent outside the UK — the total for that whole pre-2024 stretch must not exceed 548 days. For the part from 11 April 2024 onwards, a different test applies continuously: you must not be outside the UK for more than 180 days in any rolling 12-month period. Your residence must also be lawful throughout — valid leave to enter or remain at all times, with no overstaying and no breach of conditions.
| Period | Absence rule that applies |
| Before 11 April 2024 | Add up all absences falling in this part of your qualifying period — the total must not exceed 548 days |
| From 11 April 2024 onwards | No more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period, checked continuously (not just once) |
Both tests must be satisfied at the same time if your 10-year period straddles the 11 April 2024 cut-off, which is the case for almost every applicant at present. In practice this means keeping two separate absence counts — a running total for the pre-2024 years, and a rolling 12-month check for every period from 11 April 2024 to your application date — rather than applying a single rule across the whole 10 years. It is worth checking your full travel history carefully, ideally with a Subject Access Request for your official Home Office travel record, before applying.
How to calculate your 10-year qualifying date
● The 10-year period is usually counted from the date you first entered the UK on a qualifying visa, not the date that visa was issued.
● You may apply up to 28 days before you reach your 10-year anniversary — applying earlier risks refusal.
● The qualifying period must run continuously up to the date of application or decision; it is no longer possible to rely on a historic 10-year period that ended some years ago.
● Example: if you entered the UK on 1 July 2016 and have remained continuously and lawfully since, you could apply for ILR on or after 3 June 2026.
What are the full eligibility requirements for the 10-year route?
Five requirements apply on top of the 10-year residence period itself:
- At least 10 years of continuous, lawful residence in the UK on qualifying visa categories
- No breach of immigration conditions or period without valid leave at any point
- A pass in the Life in the UK test (unless you are under 18, 65 or over, or exempt on disability grounds)
- English language ability to at least CEFR B1 in speaking and listening, unless you qualify for an automatic exemption (for example, nationals of majority English-speaking countries, or Skilled Worker visa holders who already met this requirement)
- No outstanding suitability issues, such as undisclosed convictions or previous deception in an immigration application
How much does it cost and how long does it take?
| Item | Cost / time |
| ILR application fee (SET(LR)) | £3,226 per applicant, from 8 April 2026 — includes standard biometric enrolment |
| Life in the UK test | £50 per attempt |
| English test (if required) | Approx. £150 |
| Standard processing time | Up to 6 months (often faster in practice) |
| Super priority service | £1,000, decision by the next working day, where available |
Biometric enrolment is included in the application fee, not charged separately. If you want a faster or more convenient UKVCAS appointment slot — for example, a specific date, time or location — optional appointment fees are available starting from around £60, on top of the core application fee. Note that the 10-year Long Residence route (SET(LR)) does not offer the standard 5-working-day priority service available on some other routes; only the super priority (next working day) service can be used, where slots are available.
How do I apply under the Long Residence route?
- Reconstruct your full UK residence history: every visa held, every entry and exit date, and every visa switch, from your first entry to today.
- Request your official travel history from the Home Office if you are unsure of exact dates (a Subject Access Request is often worthwhile for long, complex cases).
- Check every absence against the applicable rule: the 548-day total test for the part of your qualifying period before 11 April 2024, and the 180-day rolling 12-month test for the part from 11 April 2024 onwards.
- Book and pass the Life in the UK test and an approved English test, if you do not already qualify for an exemption.
- Gather documentary evidence for each period of leave: visa grant letters, BRPs or eVisa records, passports with entry/exit stamps, and evidence of any excluded absences you wish to have disregarded.
- Complete and submit the SET(LR) application online, pay the fee and book your UKVCAS biometric appointment.
- Do not leave the Common Travel Area while the application is pending.
- Review your decision and eVisa/UKVI account details carefully as soon as you receive them.
Is the 10-year route worth it? Advantages and disadvantages
The 10-year route lets you combine time across different visa categories without needing 5 continuous years on one route — but it takes twice as long and demands flawless absence records.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Combines time across different visa categories — no need for 5 continuous years on one route | Requires twice as long as most work or family routes |
| Useful safety net for students, ICTs and others without a direct 5-year settlement route | Absence tracking across a full decade is complex and error-prone |
| Switching categories does not reset your qualifying clock, provided residence stays continuous | Any period as a visitor or overstayer can break continuity and force a restart |
| Same fee as the 5-year routes — no cost penalty for using this pathway | Potentially affected by future settlement reform, creating some planning uncertainty |
What mistakes cause Long Residence applications to fail?
Six recurring errors account for most refusals on this route:
- Assuming time spent as a visitor between visas is harmless — it actually breaks continuous residence
- Miscounting absences using calendar years instead of the correct rolling 12-month window
- Applying more than 28 days before reaching the 10-year point
- Relying on an old, historic 10-year period that has since lapsed under the current rules
- Overlooking a short period of overstaying between visa applications, however brief
- Failing to obtain a Home Office travel history to cross-check personal records before applying
What if you don’t quite qualify?
If your residence has not been fully continuous, or you cannot document all 10 years, you may still have options. Appendix Private Life of the Immigration Rules can, in some cases, provide a route to leave and eventually settlement based on long-established private life in the UK, particularly for people who arrived as children or have spent most of their life in the country. These cases are highly fact-specific and should always be reviewed individually by an immigration adviser before you decide how to proceed.
Will the 10-year Long Residence route change?
Not yet — the current rules remain fully in force, but a reform that could eventually replace this route has already been proposed. In 2025, the government published an Immigration White Paper proposing a new “earned settlement” model, under which the standard qualifying period for most routes would rise from 5 to 10 years, with eligibility linked to factors such as employment history, National Insurance contributions, English proficiency and civic participation. A public consultation on these proposals closed in February 2026, and in a Westminster Hall debate on 2 February 2026 the Minister for Migration and Citizenship confirmed the government’s intention to proceed, in principle, alongside a stated intention not to preserve the existing framework indefinitely.
As of publication, no new rules are in force. Applications continue to be assessed under Appendix Long Residence and Appendix Continuous Residence exactly as they stand today. However, transitional protection for people already partway through a qualifying period has not yet been confirmed, so anyone approaching their 10-year point should treat early, well-documented applications as a priority rather than something to defer.
FAQs
Can I combine different visa types to reach the 10-year Long Residence route?
Yes. Unlike most settlement routes, Long Residence allows you to add together time spent on almost any combination of long-term UK visas, provided each period was lawful and continuous.
Does time on a Student visa count towards the 10-year route?
Yes, time on a Student or former Tier 4 visa counts towards the 10-year Long Residence route, even though it does not count towards most 5-year settlement routes.
How many days can I spend outside the UK without breaking continuous residence?
It depends which part of your 10-year period the absence falls in. For time before 11 April 2024, your total absences for that part of the period must not exceed 548 days. For time from 11 April 2024 onwards, you must not exceed 180 days’ absence in any rolling 12-month period, checked continuously.
Does a period as a visitor between two visas count towards my 10 years?
No — time as a visitor does not count, and re-entering as a visitor between two grants of leave will break your continuous residence entirely.
When can I submit my Long Residence ILR application?
You can apply up to 28 days before you complete your 10-year qualifying period, but not before.
How much does the SET(LR) application cost?
The Home Office fee is £3,226 per applicant from 8 April 2026, the same as the standard settlement fee for 5-year routes.
Do I still need to pass the Life in the UK test on this route?
Yes, unless you are under 18, 65 or over, or have a disability-based exemption.
Will the 10-year Long Residence route be abolished?
The government has proposed a wider settlement reform that could eventually replace this route for some groups, but as of publication no changes are in force and the current rules continue to apply in full.
Can my family apply for ILR with me on this route?
Family members must generally qualify in their own right, based on their own residence history, though they may hold leave under a different route.
What happens if I find a gap in my residence history?
A short gap can sometimes be explained or disregarded in exceptional circumstances, but many gaps will reset the qualifying period. Speak to an immigration adviser before applying if you are unsure.
