ILR 10-Year Long Residence Route UK — Who Qualifies and How It Works

People who have lived in the UK lawfully for 10 continuous years — across any combination of visa types — can apply for ILR under the long residence route. The fee is £3,226 from 8 April 2026. You must not have had any gaps in your lawful leave during those 10 years.

Key Facts at a Glance

Detail	Information
Qualifying period	10 years continuous lawful residence
Visa types that count	Any lawful leave — Student, Skilled Worker, Family, Ancestry, etc.
ILR fee (from 8 April 2026)	£3,226 (non-refundable if refused)
Life in the UK test required	Yes
English language requirement	B1 now; B2 from 26 March 2027
Absence rule	No more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month window (for absences from 11 April 2024)
Application form	SET(LR)
Standard processing time	6 months

Quick Overview

✅ You can combine different visa types to reach 10 years — Student + Skilled Worker + Spouse visa all count
✅ The long residence route is available to people who could not get ILR at 5 years — e.g. those on Student visas who could not switch to a work route
✅ Time spent on a Visitor visa does NOT count toward the 10-year qualifying period
⚠️ Any gap in lawful leave — even a single day between visas — breaks the continuous residence chain
⚠️ Time on a Student visa counts — but Student visa holders cannot typically get ILR at 5 years, making the 10-year route their main option
⚠️ The long residence route is not faster than the 5-year route — it is an alternative for people who cannot use the 5-year routes
📌 Time spent as an overstayer or with no valid leave counts as 0 toward the 10 years — gaps in leave are disqualifying
📌 The absence rule is a rolling 180-day window per 12-month period — there is no separate "total days" cap for absences after 11 April 2024
💡 Use our absence calculator to check all 10 years of absences across every rolling 12-month window
💡 A solicitor can help confirm your qualifying start date and check for any gaps in your leave history

Who Uses the 10-Year Long Residence Route?

The 10-year route is most commonly used by people who spent years on a Student visa before switching to a work or family route.

Under the standard Skilled Worker or Family visa route, ILR is available after 5 years. But Student visa time does not count toward the 5-year qualifying period for those routes. A person who spent 4 years on a Student visa and then switched to a Skilled Worker visa would need 5 more years on the Skilled Worker visa — 9 years total.

But under the long residence route, all 9 years (or 10 if that is what it takes) count together. Anyone who has maintained continuous lawful leave for 10 years qualifies — regardless of the mix of visa categories.

Other people who commonly use this route:

People on domestic worker visas or creative worker visas who cannot access the 5-year routes
People who switched visa types multiple times and do not qualify under any single route's 5-year requirement
People who had periods on visa types not qualifying for the standard 5-year ILR routes

What Counts as "Lawful Residence"

Every day of your 10-year period must be covered by a valid form of leave. The types of leave that count include:

Student visa (including old Tier 4)
Skilled Worker visa (including old Tier 2)
Family (Spouse, Partner, Parent) visas
Ancestry visa
Tier 1 visas (Exceptional Talent, Investor, etc.)
Refugee Leave or Humanitarian Protection
Any other form of limited leave to remain

What does NOT count:

Visitor visa time
Time as an overstayer (no valid leave)
Time spent outside the UK (except in calculating the total — those days do not count positively toward the 10 years)
Leave exempt from immigration control (e.g. diplomats), unless you qualify separately

The Gap Problem — Why Continuous Residence Is So Strict

"Continuous" means unbroken. Even a single day with no valid leave breaks the chain. If your Student visa expired on 1 March and your new visa was granted on 3 March, those 2 days as an overstayer break your 10-year chain.

The Home Office does not accept innocent mistakes as an excuse for gaps. If there is a break in leave, your 10-year qualifying period restarts from the date your new leave was granted.

Common situations that create gaps:

Applying for a visa extension too late (the old visa expired before the extension was granted)
Switching visa categories with a delay between applications
Returning to the UK on a visit and applying for a new visa from within the UK with a gap
Administrative delays in processing where a bridging period was not properly maintained

The key protection is "Section 3C leave." If you apply to extend your visa before the current visa expires, you are automatically covered by Section 3C leave while the application is pending. This prevents a gap even if processing takes months. But if you apply after the visa expires — even one day after — you are an overstayer and the chain is broken.

Absence Rules on the Long Residence Route

The absence rules for the 10-year route differ slightly from the 5-year routes:

Pre-11 April 2024 absences: Must not exceed 548 days total for the period before this date (plus no single absence over 184 days)
Per-year limit: No more than 180 days in any single rolling 12-month window

For absences after 11 April 2024, only the rolling 180-day window applies. For absences before that date, the old rules also apply (548-day total and 184-day single absence limits). Most applicants will have a mix — use our absence calculator to check all windows.

Use our absence calculator to check both:

Your total days outside the UK across the full 10 years
Every possible 12-month rolling window during those 10 years

Life in the UK Test — No Exemption for Long Residents

The Life in the UK test is required for all ILR applications, including the long residence route. There is no exemption for people who have been in the UK for 10+ years, regardless of how well-integrated you are or how long you have been here.

The test has 24 questions drawn from the official handbook. You need 18 correct (75%) to pass. It costs £50 per sitting.

Practice with our free mock tests. The hardest questions page covers the questions that long-term residents most often get wrong — usually the historical and constitutional details that are not part of everyday UK life.

English Language on the Long Residence Route

The English language requirement is B1 or above (CEFR). From 26 March 2027, this rises to B2.

For long residence applicants, English is often satisfied by:

A UK degree or postgraduate qualification (very common for those who entered on Student visas)
A professional qualification taught in English
An approved SELT result

People who entered on a Student visa typically have a UK degree by the time they apply for ILR — which satisfies the English requirement without needing a separate test.

How Is Long Residence ILR Different from 5-Year Routes?

Both produce the same outcome: ILR. But there are key differences in the requirements and evidence:

	Long Residence (10 years)	5-Year Route (e.g. Skilled Worker)
Qualifying period	10 years	5 years
Visa types	Any lawful leave	Usually one specific category
Absence rule	Rolling 180-day window per year (post-Apr 2024)	Same rolling 180-day window per year
Evidence burden	Higher — must document 10 years	Lower — typically just employment for 5 years
Application form	SET(LR)	SET(O) or SET(M)

The long residence route is harder evidentially — you need to document 10 years of lawful residence and absence compliance. But it is available to people who cannot access the 5-year routes.

Documents Required for Long Residence ILR

You need to evidence every year of your 10-year qualifying period. This is the biggest challenge of this route.

Identity documents:

Current passport
All passports held during the 10-year period (including expired ones)
BRP cards from each visa

Leave history:

Visa endorsements or BRP cards covering each period
Home Office decision letters if any applications were made

Residence evidence (all 10 years):

Bank statements (6 months of recent statements minimum, more if possible)
Employer letters or payslips
HMRC records (can request via GOV.UK)
Tenancy agreements or mortgage statements
GP or NHS registration letters

Life in the UK test pass letter
English language evidence

Use our ILR documents checklist for the complete list.

Common Mistakes

❌ Including Visitor visa time in the 10-year count — Visitor leave does not count toward long residence. If you spent 6 months on a Visitor visa at any point in the 10 years, those months do not count and your qualifying start date may be later than you think.

❌ Not realising Section 3C leave protects you — If you apply for a visa extension before your current visa expires, Section 3C leave covers you automatically. Many people worry unnecessarily about gaps during processing — but the gap is only real if you applied after the visa expired.

❌ Losing old passports — You need to evidence the full 10 years. If you cannot produce passports from the early years of your qualifying period, you will need to request your travel history and leave history from the Home Office — a process that takes months.

❌ Assuming the 10-year period starts from first UK entry — Your qualifying period starts from the first day of your first valid leave, not the day you physically entered the UK. These are usually the same, but can differ if you entered on a visit before switching to a work or study visa.

❌ Submitting without checking every 12-month absence window — A single year with more than 180 days outside the UK disqualifies you. The rolling window is checked across every consecutive 12-month period, not just calendar years. This mistake appears repeatedly in long residence applications.

Expert Tips

Request your full immigration history from the Home Office early. A Subject Access Request or Home Office travel history check takes 4–8 weeks. If you have any gaps in your visa paperwork, you need this information before applying.
Start gathering evidence from year 1 of your qualifying period, not just recent years. Bank statements from 8–10 years ago can be difficult to obtain. Contact your bank as soon as you decide to apply — some banks keep records for only 6–7 years.
If you had a Student visa, request your UKVI leave history to confirm it was continuous. Student visa holders sometimes have overlapping applications or small gaps they are unaware of. The Home Office holds the definitive record.
Pass the Life in the UK test in year 9. With 10 years to qualify, do not leave the test until the last minute. Pass it a year before you plan to apply — removing one time pressure.
Get a solicitor if you have any uncertainty about gaps. The £3,226 fee is non-refundable. A solicitor who can confirm your qualifying start date and absence compliance before you submit is worth every penny. This is especially important if you had any visa refusals, overstays, or unusual leave categories.

FAQs

What is the 10-year long residence route to ILR? It is a route that allows people who have been lawfully resident in the UK for 10 continuous years — across any combination of visa types — to apply for ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain). The qualifying period must have no gaps in lawful leave.

Who qualifies for ILR after 10 years? Anyone who has maintained continuous lawful leave in the UK for 10 years, has not exceeded the absence limits, passes the Life in the UK test, meets the English language requirement, and meets the good character standard.

Can I combine different visas for the 10-year ILR route? Yes. The long residence route explicitly allows different visa types to count together. Student + Skilled Worker + Family visa time can all combine toward the 10 years, as long as there are no gaps in lawful leave between them.

Do I need to take the Life in the UK test for long residence ILR? Yes. The Life in the UK test is required for all ILR applications, including the 10-year route. There is no exemption based on length of UK residence.

Is long residence ILR harder to get than the 5-year route? Not harder in terms of requirements — but harder evidentially. You must document 10 years of lawful residence, absence compliance across every rolling 12-month window, and residence across all those years. The document bundle is significantly larger than for a standard 5-year route application.

How This Aligns With Official Guidance

The 10-year long residence route to ILR is set out in the Immigration Rules, Part 7, paragraphs 276A–276D. The continuous residence requirement, absence limits, Life in the UK test, and English language requirements are detailed in the Home Office guidance on long residence, published on GOV.UK. All figures and rules in this article reflect current guidance as of May 2026.

Official Resources

Our Free Tools

Pass the Life in the UK test — required for your ILR application — with our free mock tests and practice questions. Use the absence calculator to check every rolling 12-month window across your full 10-year period. The ILR checklist covers every document you need for a long residence application.

What to Do Next

Calculate your qualifying start date — the first day of your first valid leave in the UK. Count 10 years forward. If that date is within 12 months, start gathering your passport history and residence evidence now. Request your Home Office immigration history immediately — it takes 4–8 weeks. Then use our absence calculator to verify every year of your qualifying period.