Permanent Residence in the UK is called Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). Indefinite Leave to Remain is granted to people who have already met the criteria for indefinite leave on their previous visa.
After a UK visa holder has lived in the UK for a specific period of time, they can apply for ILR which entitles them to live in the UK for as long as they wish, and even apply for naturalisation.
10 years continuous lawful residence
Paragraph 276A(a) of the immigration rules defines ‘continuous’ residence as residing in the UK with an unbroken period of leave. There are exceptions! You will not be considered to have broken your continuous residence in 3 situations; 1) if you have leave at the time you leave the country; 2) you do not leave the UK for more than 6 months at one time and; 3) when you return you have leave.
What happens if you leave the UK and your leave expires? Does that mean your continuous residence has broken?
Answer: NO! As long as you apply for entry clearance within 28 days of your leave expiring you will not break your continuous residence as long as you enter the UK within 6 months.
Are absences permitted?
You need to make sure you have not been absent from the UK for more than 18 months, in other words, if you add all your absences and they exceed 540 days in total, then your continuous residence would be considered as broken.
What if you have been absent from the UK for more than 540 days?
Exception: Home office has the power to exercise their discretion and consider your leave as not been broken if you can show evidence that you were prevented from returning the UK due to a situation beyond your control. E.g. an illness
What if you have continuous residence of 10 years will you qualify for indefinite leave to remain?
No, you need to make sure your residence of 10 years is ‘lawful’
What if you made an application after your leave expired, does that mean you’ve overstayed and your 10 years of lawful residence clock breaks?
This depends on the period you overstayed. Gaps are permitted in the following 2 scenarios:
* If you overstayed before 24 November 2016:
An application must be made within 28 calendar days
* If you overstayed on or after 24 November 2016:
An application must be made within 14 days of your leave expiring (this application must have been made in time) and must be granted by the SSHD in accordance of paragraph 39E of the Immigration rules.
Other requirements?
You need to have passed the life in the UK test and speak English at level B1 and there must be no reason why granting leave to you would be against public policy.
If you meet the above requirements then make an application without further delay!