Indefinite Leave to Remain (UK Settlement), also known as settlement, is granted to those applicants who have spent a qualifying period of continuous residence in the UK and meet the eligibility criteria for their visa category. The qualifying continuous period is generally 5 years, but there are some other categories.
UK Settlement applicants are granted with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK and can remain in the UK without any restrictions on their stay. This means that a person granted ILR may live and work without limitations imposed on how long they can be in the UK. This is also referred to as settlement in the UK.
Applicants may be eligible for following routes:
The UK offers two routes to settlement by investment in the UK, under the Tier 1 Investor and Tier 1 Entrepreneur categories of the points-based system.
Each of the investment related settlement categories also have their own additional eligibility criteria, which are summarised below.
If you qualify for settlement by investment, or indefinite leave to remain, you will be able to stay in the UK without any time restrictions.
Your settled status will lapse if you are absent from the UK for more than 2 years. If your ILR has lapsed, you may wish to consider applying for a Returning Resident visa in order to return to the UK.
Achieving permanent resident status is central to qualifying for a British passport, since Naturalisation as a British Citizen requires that the applicant be settled in the UK.
You will not need to satisfy the English language requirement or pass the Life in the UK test if you are at least 65 years of age. The Home Office also has a discretion to waive the requirement if it would be unreasonable to expect you to fulfil that requirement due to a mental or physical condition. Various other exemptions also apply.
If you are already in the UK but are unable to satisfy the English language requirement, you may be able to extend your permission to stay, so that you can prove your knowledge of English.
The UK offers four routes to settlement for partners and family members of British citizens and settled persons in the UK:
If applying for indefinite leave to enter or remain as an Adult Dependent Relative or Child, applicant will need to demonstrate that they will be adequately maintained, accommodated and cared for without recourse to public funds. There is no English language requirement and it is not necessary to pass the Life in the UK test.
Applicant’s settled status will lapse if they are absent from the UK for more than 2 years. If applicant’s ILR has lapsed, they may wish to consider applying for a Returning Resident visa in order to return to the UK.
Applicant will not need to satisfy the English language requirement or pass the Life in the UK test if they are under 18 or at least 65 years of age. The Home Office also has a discretion to waive the requirement if it would be unreasonable to expect applicant to fulfil that requirement due to a mental or physical condition. Various other exemptions also apply.
The UK offers five routes to settlement by working in the UK, including routes below:
Applicant is a non-UK national and have lived in the United Kingdom continuously and lawfully for 10 years.
The qualifying 10 year period does not need to have been completed recently. Applicant can rely on a historic continuous period of 10 years lawful residence.
The Home Office has a discretion to grant long residence applications where the applicant has absences in excess of 540 days in total or a single absence of more than six months. Applicant would need to demonstrate that the absence(s) was/were for an exceptional or compelling reason.
Once applicant has been granted indefinite leave to remain on grounds of long residence, applicant will be free from any immigration time restrictions. applicant will not lose your indefinite leave to remain unless applicant is absent from the UK for more than two years or commit a serious offence.
Applicant is a non-UK citizen and is not currently in the UK, but has previously been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK, applicant may be eligible to return to the UK for settlement as a returning resident.
The requirements that applicant will need to satisfy in order to be admitted to the UK for settlement as a returning resident will vary depending upon whether they have been away from the UK for more, or less than, 2 years.
If applicant has been outside the UK for more than 2 years, applicant should apply for a Returning Resident visa before travelling. Applicant may also apply for a Returning Resident visa, if applicant has been away for less than 2 years. In each case, entry to the UK may be refused if the requirements of the Immigration Rules are not satisfied.
Applicant may be admitted to the UK for settlement as a returning resident, if the Immigration Officer on arrival is satisfied that applicant (absent from the UK for less than 2 years):
Had indefinite leave to remain in the UK when applicant last left the UK; and
Once applicant has been absent from the UK for over two years then they should apply for a Returning Resident visa before travelling to the UK. Applicant will need to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration that applicant:
Our aim with this session is to make your case optimally strong, show all your strong points as visa applicant.
We will send you our Customer Care Letter (CCL) which states all legal information about how we work as an Immigration Law Firm.
You will receive our automated email with invoice attached. Payment of 50% of the invoice value needs to be done before we start your application process. Remaining 50% needs to be paid 3 days before submission of your case to Home Office.
We will send you a ’tailored’ list of documents which you need to provide for your application, Our adviser will consult you and fully assist on arranging all documents, prepare case strategy and fully comply with UK immigration law for your application form, then prepare professional and detailed Representation letter to support your case in Home Office.
Our adviser will submit all necessary forms online and arrange an appointment date for YOU to attend UK Visa Centre in your city to bring all original documents.
The Home Office will send your documents and the result of your application to our office within 6 months of submitting your application, but in some cases this period can be longer.
Our Immigration adviser will guide you with next steps regarding immigration law and compliance of the Visa extension, ILR and British Passport.
Fill in our form and one of our immigration advisers will reach out to you shortly.
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Mann’s Solutions Case officer had provided very detailed information and guidance at each step of the process. Their expertise and experience have always given me confidence and encouraged me to proceed further even when it was looking difficult and more on that the final stages of visa have just completed. I would like to say that they are the best for UK immigration with very high success rate. Special thanks to My Case officer Shazia & Evgeny.
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