INDEFINITE LEAVE TO REMAIN (ILR), PERMANENT RESIDENCY AND SETTLEMENT APPLICATIONS
Legal Centre's lawyers can assist you at every stage of preparing and lodging of your Settlement application.
Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) means you are free from immigration control. There are no restrictions on your work or length of your stay. To qualify for indefinite leave to remain you must have been in the UK for a certain length of time. This differs depending on your current visa status.
Indefinite Leave to Remain or Permanent Residency depends on the status of your stay in the UK to date and consequently how long you need to have been here to qualify.
This UK visa has no immigration related restrictions on the type of work or business a person on this visa class may undertake in the UK. Indefinite Leave to Remain can be granted to people who have previously held a UK visa in a category leading to settlement. UK visa categories that lead to Indefinite
Leave to Remain include:
| Status (type of your current visa) | Qualifying period for Settlement |
| Spouse of a Settled person or a UK citizen | 5 years |
| Investors (depending on investment) & Entrepreneurs (depending on turnover or creation of jobs places) | 2-5 years |
| Ancestry, Work Permit, Tier 1 & 2, Sole Representative | 5 years |
| EEA nationals and their family members | 5 years |
| Refugee & Humanitarian Protection (if granted on or after 30 August 2005) | 5 years |
| Long Residence (lawful) | 10 years |
| Long Residence (unlawful) | 20+10 years |
Permanent residence removes any immigration based restrictions. After one year of permanent residence you can apply for Naturalization.
The Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) visa class offers the applicant UK permanent residency (also commonly known as Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK).
Settlement under the current Immigration Rules
Can I leave the UK if I have Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)?
There are a number of Home Office requirements that need to be met to keep your Indefinite Leave to Remain status. For example, you are not allowed to spend more than 2 years outside the UK and you should consider the UK as your home. If you do not meet these requirements your Indefinite Leave to Remain status may be withdrawn.
A person with Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK may be eligible to apply for naturalization as a British citizen.
How do I qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain (Settlement)?
An Indefinite Leave to Remain applicant must have settled status in the UK. This usually means that you have been resident in the UK on the same visa class for at least five years (excluding student visas).
The only exception to this are periods of exceptionally Long Term UK Residency (10 years legal UK residency or 20+10 years as a combination of illegal and legal UK residency).
You and your spouse now also need to take and pass "Life in the UK" and the "B1 CEFR" tests. These tests are obligatory, unless you are exempt. The tests will confirm that you and members of your family can speak English as well as know the life and history of the UK. You can now use the results of your tests for Naturalization applications, that is, you do not have to take the tests again when you will be applying for Naturalization as a British Citizen.
Ways to obtain your Settlement status
You can have your Settlement application lodged by post with consideration times being from a few months to well in excess of one year. Most of our clients value their time and instruct us to apply and obtain their Settlement status via the so-called Same Day Service/Fast Track Visa Service, when our clients' Settlement applications are usually considered within 2-3 hours on the day of application.
The above options are not exhaustive as we treat every client's case individually. Please do not hesitate to book a phone, Skype or office consultation with us for a professional immigration advice and possible further representation before the UK Border Agency or the First Tier or Upper Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (FTT/UTT IAC).
We are here to help: www.legalcentre.org , 077 911 45 923 (Mob/Viber/WhatsApp), 0330 001 0342 and, of course, the helpful instant and same day Legal Centre Skype, Phone, Viber and WhatsApp Consultations
