Residency rule, United Kingdom

UK Settlement (ILR) — Getting It

Summary

To get indefinite leave to remain (ILR, also called settlement) in the UK you need a set number of years of continuous residence: 5 on most work routes, 3 on some, and 10 for long residence. In those years you must not be outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12 months. Every 12-month stretch is checked, not only calendar years. If you go over without an accepted reason, your continuous residence is broken. The Home Office decides each application.

Limit
180 days outside the UK
Period
Any 12 months inside your qualifying years
Qualifying years
5 on most routes, 3 on some work routes, 10 for long residence
A day counts when
You are outside the UK for the whole day. Travel days are days in the UK
Law
Immigration Rules, Appendix Continuous Residence, CR 3.1
Run by
The Home Office (UK Visas and Immigration)

Who it applies to

The rule

The absence rule is in Appendix Continuous Residence of the Immigration Rules. CR 3.1 says that you must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period during your qualifying period. The length of the qualifying period comes from your route. The rules give 5 years for most work visas, including Skilled Worker, 3 years for Innovator Founder, and 10 years for long residence. On the Global Talent route it is 3 years or 5 years, and it depends on how you were endorsed: people endorsed as exceptional promise by Arts Council England or Tech Nation need 5 years (GT 11.1 and GT 11.2).

For permission given on or after 11 January 2018, any 12 months are checked: the Home Office can start the 12 months on any day. For permission given before that date, absences are checked in fixed 12-month periods that end on the date of application (CR 3.2). Long residence has its own history. For time before 11 April 2024, the old limits apply: no single absence of more than 184 days and no more than 548 days in total. From 11 April 2024 the 180-day rule applies to long residence too (CR 3.3).

The qualifying period is counted back from the date that helps you most: the date you apply, any date up to 28 days after you apply, or the date of the decision (CR 1.1). In practice this lets you apply up to 28 days before your years are complete. If you were outside the UK for more than the limit and no exception applies, your continuous residence is broken (CR 4.1), and the time before the break does not count.

The Government has consulted on a plan called earned settlement, which would make the standard qualifying period longer. The consultation ran from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026. That plan is not in the Immigration Rules. The statements of changes made in 2026 (HC 1691, HC 259 and HC 584) left the 180-day limit and these qualifying periods in place.

Time away is only one requirement. Most adults also need to pass the Life in the UK Test, prove their English, and meet the conditions of their own route, such as salary for Skilled Workers. The Home Office looks at the whole application.

Why it exists

Settlement gives the right to live in the UK with no time limit. The state wants to give it to people who have really made the UK their home, not to people who hold a visa and live mostly somewhere else. A limit on days away in every 12 months is a simple way to test that. It still leaves room for holidays, work trips and family visits of up to half of any year.

Counting the days

You count the whole days you were outside the UK, and you check the total inside every 12-month period of your qualifying years. The day you leave and the day you return are not days away.

  1. Write down the start of your qualifying period, usually the day your first visa on the route was granted. If you entered the UK after that day, the days between the grant and your arrival count as days away.
  2. List every trip abroad with the date you left and the date you came back.
  3. For each trip, count only the days between those two dates. A trip from 1 June to 10 June is 8 days away.
  4. Take any day in your qualifying period and add up the days away in the 12 months that end on that day. Repeat this for each day on which a trip ended, because the total is highest there.
  5. If no 12-month total is above 180, the absence rule is met. Your earliest application date is 28 days before your years are complete.
How Countr counts it. Countr counts whole days outside the UK and checks every 12-month stretch of your qualifying years against 180 days. The day you leave and the day you come back count as days in the UK. When you set up the tracker you choose your route: 3, 5 or 10 years. Countr then shows the first day you can apply, 28 days before your years are complete, and warns you 30 days before the limit. If you go over 180 days, Countr starts your years again from the day you came back. For long residence it checks time before 11 April 2024 with the old limits of 184 days in one trip and 548 days in total. Countr treats all days in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man as days in the UK, which is simpler than the rule. It does not apply the exceptions for serious reasons, and it does not cover family visas for the partner or parent of a British or settled person. Only days the app can see count as days away, so with gaps in your photos your real time away can be higher.

Track UK Settlement (ILR) — Getting It on your phone.

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Examples

A Skilled Worker who can apply 28 days early

Priya was in the UK when her Skilled Worker visa was granted on 10 March 2022. Her 5 years are complete on 10 March 2027. She spent 40 to 60 whole days abroad in each year, and no 12-month period has more than 75 days away. The absence rule is met. She can send her application from 10 February 2027, which is 28 days before her 5 years are complete.

Two trips that are fine by calendar year but break the rule

Omar left the UK on 1 September 2024 and came back on 20 December 2024. That is 109 whole days away. He left again on 1 March 2025 and came back on 15 May 2025, which is 74 whole days. In 2024 he was away 109 days and in 2025 only 74, so each calendar year looks safe. But in the 12 months from 2 September 2024 to 1 September 2025 he was away 183 days. That is over 180, and his continuous residence is broken unless an exception applies.

Travel days decide a long trip

Elena left the UK on 1 June 2025 to care for her father and came back on 28 November 2025. If she counts both travel days, she gets 181 days. The Home Office counts whole days only, from 2 June to 27 November. That is 179 days, under the limit. She has no other trips in the 12 months around it, so the absence rule is still met. One more short trip in the same 12 months of more than 1 whole day would take her over.

Exceptions

Common misconceptions

“I can be away 180 days in each calendar year.”
The limit applies to any 12 months, not to the calendar year. A long trip at the end of one year and another at the start of the next can add up to more than 180 days in one 12-month period.
“The limit is 900 days in total over 5 years.”
There is no total for the 5-year routes. 5 times 180 is 900, but the rule is checked in every 12-month period. You could be away much less than 900 days and still break it.
“The day I fly out and the day I fly back are days away.”
Only whole days outside the UK count. The Home Office guidance says part of a day does not count, so both travel days are days in the UK.
“Only the last 12 months before I apply are checked.”
Every 12-month period inside your qualifying years is checked. An over-long absence in your second year breaks continuous residence in the same way as one in your last year.

Questions and answers

How many days can I be outside the UK and still get ILR?

No more than 180 days in any 12 months of your qualifying period. Only whole days away count. There is no extra total limit on the 5-year work routes.

What happens if I was away for more than 180 days in 12 months?

Your continuous residence is broken unless an exception applies, such as a serious illness or travel disruption. Time before the break does not count toward settlement. The Home Office decides whether a reason is accepted, and it asks for evidence.

When is the earliest day I can apply for ILR?

28 days before your qualifying years are complete. The rules let the Home Office count your period back from any date up to 28 days after you apply.

Do trips to Ireland count as time outside the UK?

Yes. Ireland is not part of the UK, so whole days there are days away. The special rule for Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man does not cover Ireland.

Does time on a Student visa count toward ILR?

It counts toward the 10 years of long residence, which accepts lawful time on most kinds of visa. Each work route has its own list of visas that count toward its 5 years, so check your route on GOV.UK. Time as a visitor does not count for long residence.

Do my partner's trips count if they are my dependant?

Yes. A dependent partner who applies for settlement must meet the 180-day rule with their own trips. Your record does not cover them.

Has the 5-year route to settlement changed to 10 years?

No. The Government has consulted on a longer standard period under the name earned settlement, but the Immigration Rules still give 5 years for most work routes. Check GOV.UK before you apply, because the rules can change.

Sources

Other rules for United Kingdom

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This page explains the rule and how the days are counted. It is not legal or tax advice. The authority decides each case on its own facts.