# UK Settlement (ILR) — Keeping It Residency rule, United Kingdom. Page: https://usecountr.com/trackers/residency-gb-ilr-lapse/ ## Summary Indefinite leave to remain (ILR, also called settlement) in the UK ends if you stay outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man for more than 2 years in a row. The status lapses by law on its own, with no decision from the Home Office. Any return to the UK before the 2 years are complete ends the absence. If you were away longer, you normally need a Returning Resident visa to come back and live in the UK. Settled status from the EU Settlement Scheme has a longer limit. - Limit: 2 years in a row outside the UK - Period: One continuous absence. Earlier trips are not added - A day counts when: You are outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man - If you go over: ILR lapses. You need a Returning Resident visa, fee 726 pounds - Law: Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) Order 2000, article 13(4) - Run by: The Home Office (UK Visas and Immigration) ## Who it applies to - People with ILR who move abroad for a job or a posting and plan to return to the UK later. - People with ILR who go back to their home country for a long time to care for a parent. - Retired people with ILR who spend most of their time in another country. - People with ILR who study or work abroad for some years and have not become British citizens. ## The rule The rule is in article 13 of the Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) Order 2000. Normally leave to stay in the UK ends when you leave the country. Article 13 makes an exception: leave given for more than 6 months, which includes ILR, does not end when you travel. Paragraph 4 then sets the limit. Where the holder has stayed outside the United Kingdom and Islands for a continuous period of more than two years, the leave lapses. The Islands are the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Time there is not time away. Ireland and every other country count as outside the UK. The word continuous decides most cases. The law looks at one absence without a break. It does not add up separate trips, and it has no rule about how many days a year you must spend in the UK. A return to the UK ends the absence, and the next absence is counted from zero. If the 2 years have passed, GOV.UK says you can usually come back and get ILR again through a Returning Resident visa. You apply from abroad, the fee is 726 pounds, and you must show strong ties to the UK, explain why you lived abroad, and show your present circumstances. The Home Office looks at the whole situation and can refuse. Leave under the EU Settlement Scheme follows a different limit in the same article: more than 5 years, or 4 years for Swiss citizens. It has its own tracker, EU Settled Status - Keeping It. Why it exists: ILR is given to people who have made the UK their home. The state accepts that settled people travel, work abroad for a time or care for family in another country, so the status does not end at the border. But it does not want the status to stay with a person who has left for good. A limit of 2 years in a row is the line the law draws between a long trip and a move away. ## Counting the days You count one unbroken period outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, from the day you leave to the day you next enter the UK. Trips before that are not part of the count. 1. Find the date you last left the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. 2. Add 2 years to that date. Your absence must not go past that day. 3. Check that you have not entered the UK since you left. If you have, count from the date you left after that visit. 4. Plan your return with time to spare before the 2 years are complete, and keep proof of your entry, such as a boarding pass. 5. If you cannot return in time, read the GOV.UK page on the Returning Resident visa before the date passes. How Countr counts it: Countr counts the whole days of your current trip outside the UK. The day you leave and the day you return are not days away. It counts 2 years as 729 days away and warns you 60 days before that, so the tracker reaches its limit a little early and never late. Days in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man count as days in the UK. The tracker watches your current absence only. If an earlier absence already went over 2 years, your ILR may have lapsed even when the tracker shows nothing, so check your history in the app. If the app cannot see where you were on a day, the count starts over. Gaps in your photos make the count smaller and never bigger. The exceptions for armed forces and government families are not applied. ## Examples ### Back one day before the 2 years end Ahmed has ILR. He left the UK on 10 January 2025 for a job in Dubai and did not visit. Two years from that date is 10 January 2027. He lands at Heathrow on 9 January 2027. His absence is shorter than 2 years, and his ILR is still valid. In Countr his whole days away run from 11 January 2025 to 8 January 2027, which is 728 days, one day under the 729 the app uses. ### A visit that starts a new count Grace left the UK on 5 May 2024 to live in Kenya. She spent two weeks in London from 1 to 15 April 2026. Her first absence lasted less than 2 years and ended when she entered the UK on 1 April 2026. A new absence started on 15 April 2026, and it must not go past 15 April 2028. Without the visit, her ILR would have lapsed after 5 May 2026. ### Three months too long Wei left the UK on 1 March 2024 to care for her mother in Shanghai. She planned to return in early 2026, but her mother's illness kept her there until June 2026. On 1 March 2026 her absence reached 2 years, and after that day her ILR lapsed. She cannot use her old status to move back. She applies for a Returning Resident visa, pays 726 pounds, and shows her years of work in the UK, her adult children there and the medical reason for the delay. ## Exceptions - GOV.UK says members of the British armed forces who are posted abroad keep their ILR, and so do their partners who join them on the posting. For partners and children, article 13A says the time spent with them on the posting does not count toward the 2 years. - GOV.UK says you keep ILR if your partner is a British citizen or settled in the UK and one of you works abroad as a permanent member of the Diplomatic Service, for the British Council as UK-based staff, or for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office or the Home Office. - People with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme have a limit of 5 years in a row, and Swiss citizens and their family members 4 years. - Time in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man is not time outside the UK for this rule. - After a lapse, a Returning Resident visa can give ILR back when you show strong ties to the UK. It is a new application and can be refused. ## Common misconceptions - "I lose ILR if I spend more than 180 days a year outside the UK." The 180-day limit is part of getting ILR, not of keeping it. Once you have ILR, it ends only after one absence of more than 2 years in a row. - "My time abroad is added up over the years." Only a continuous absence counts. Many trips of some months each do not end ILR, as long as no single absence is longer than 2 years. - "ILR is permanent, so it can never end." ILR has no end date, but it lapses by law after more than 2 years in a row away. It can also be taken away for other reasons, such as deportation. - "If my ILR lapses, I can enter and show my old residence card." After a lapse the old status no longer exists. You normally need a Returning Resident visa before you travel. ## Questions and answers ### How long can I stay outside the UK with ILR? Up to 2 years in a row. If one absence lasts more than 2 years, your ILR lapses automatically. There is no limit on the total number of days abroad across separate trips. ### Does a short trip back to the UK reset the 2 years? Yes. The law counts a continuous period outside the UK, so an entry to the UK ends the absence and the next one starts from zero. Keep proof that you entered and left. ### Do days in Ireland count as days in the UK for keeping ILR? No. Only the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man count as inside. Time in Ireland is time outside the UK for this rule. ### What is a Returning Resident visa? It is the visa for people whose ILR lapsed because they were away for more than 2 years. GOV.UK says it costs 726 pounds, and you must prove strong ties to the UK and explain why you lived abroad. If it is granted, you have ILR again. ### Is the 2-year rule the same for EU settled status? No. Settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme lapses after more than 5 years in a row outside the UK, or 4 years for Swiss citizens and their family members. ### Does becoming a British citizen end this problem? Yes. A British citizen can live abroad for any length of time. Many people with ILR apply for citizenship before a long stay abroad, and citizenship has its own limits on days away in the years before you apply. ## Sources - [Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) Order 2000, article 13](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1161/article/13) - [Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) Order 2000, article 13A (armed forces families)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1161/article/13A) - [GOV.UK, Returning Resident visa](https://www.gov.uk/returning-resident-visa) --- Countr is an app for iPhone that counts your days in every country for visa, tax and residency rules, from the photos on your phone and your location. It explains rules and counts days. It does not give legal or tax advice. https://apps.apple.com/app/country-days-tracker-countr/id6810720800