Continuous residence for settlement
Settlement — indefinite leave to remain — asks you to have lived in the UK continuously for a qualifying period. On most routes that comes with a 180-day limit on time spent abroad. This guide explains how continuous residence is counted, and where the limit does not apply.
- Section
- ILR & Settlement
- Reading time
- 10 min
- Last checked
- 13 February 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- Most routes to settlement ask for 5 years of continuous residence.
- Where the 180-day limit applies it is a rolling 12-month window, not a calendar year.
- GOV.UK publishes no absence limit for settlement as a partner on a family visa.
- Continuous residence is also broken by any gap in permission, by prison, and by a deportation or exclusion order.
- Appendix Continuous Residence lists absences that do not count towards the limit.
Settlement asks for continuous residence in the UK for a qualifying period, usually 5 years. On the work routes, Innovator Founder, Scale-up Worker and long residence, GOV.UK sets a limit of 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months. Break continuous residence and the qualifying period starts again. Appendix Continuous Residence lists the absences that do not count, and GOV.UK's page on settling as a partner publishes no day limit at all.
What Continuous Residence Means
Continuous residence for settlement, which GOV.UK calls indefinite leave to remain, means you have been living in the UK as your main home throughout the qualifying period for your route. The rules are in Appendix Continuous Residence of the Immigration Rules, which applies to Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator Founder, Scale-up, T2 Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson, UK Ancestry, Representative of an Overseas Business, Domestic Worker in a Private Household, Hong Kong British National (Overseas), long residence, and the settlement family life and private life routes.
This is different from the continuous residence requirement for citizenship, which has its own rules and absence limits.
The 180-Day Absence Rule
Appendix Continuous Residence puts it plainly at paragraph CR 3.1: the applicant must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period. GOV.UK repeats it on the settlement pages for the work routes, Innovator Founder, Scale-up Worker and long residence. It does not appear on the page for settling as a partner on a family visa. The Home Office checks your travel history against it. For a longer look at the rule, see our 180-day absence rule guide.
Key points about the 180-day rule:
- It is a rolling calculation. It is not based on calendar years (January to December). The 12-month period can start on any date. The Home Office checks whether any 12-month window during your qualifying period contains more than 180 days of absence.
- Most absences count. Holidays, business trips and family visits all count towards the 180 days.
- Some do not. Appendix Continuous Residence excludes time abroad because of a life-threatening illness of your own, or the life-threatening illness or death of a close family member; travel prevented by a natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic; assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis overseas; approved research for some Skilled Worker science and research roles and for Global Talent endorsees; and accompanying a partner on Crown service or UK government employment.
- Going over the limit breaks continuous residence. So does any period without permission to be in the UK, a conviction that results in a prison sentence, and being subject to a deportation order, exclusion order or exclusion direction.
Qualifying Periods by Visa Route
The length of continuous residence required depends on your visa route:
- Skilled Worker visa: 5 years. See our Skilled Worker guide.
- Partner on a family visa (5-year route): 5 years. See our spouse visa guide.
- Partner or parent on the 10-year route: 10 years, for people who cannot meet the requirements of the 5-year route.
- Global Talent visa: 3 years for an exceptional talent endorsement or an eligible prize, 5 years for exceptional promise.
- Innovator Founder visa: 3 years, counting only time on an Innovator Founder or Innovator visa.
- Scale-up Worker visa: 5 years.
- Long residence route: 10 years of continuous lawful residence.
- UK Ancestry visa: 5 years.
GOV.UK states the 180-day limit on the settlement pages for the work routes, Innovator Founder, Scale-up Worker and long residence. It does not state one on the page for settling as a partner on a family visa.
What Happens If You Break Continuous Residence?
If you exceed 180 days of absence in any 12-month period, the consequences depend on your situation:
The Qualifying Period Starts Again
Where continuous residence is broken, the qualifying period restarts from the point residence resumes. On a 5-year route that means another 5 years.
The Exceptions Are Written Down
Appendix Continuous Residence does not leave this to general discretion: it lists the absences that do not count towards the 180-day limit. They are a life-threatening illness of your own, or the life-threatening illness or death of a close family member; travel prevented by a natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic; assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis overseas; approved research on certain Skilled Worker and Global Talent permissions; and accompanying a partner on Crown service or UK government employment.
A caseworker applies those rules to the evidence sent with the application. Rowan cannot say how a particular case will be decided.
How to Track Your Absences
Keeping accurate records throughout your qualifying period is critical:
- Maintain a spreadsheet logging every trip: departure date, return date, days absent, destination, and reason
- Keep passport stamps, boarding passes, and booking confirmations
- Regularly calculate your rolling 12-month totals to ensure you stay below 180 days
- Note that a day of departure and a day of return are days you were outside the UK
Reconstructing dates years later is hard, and the application asks for them.
How the Count Behaves
- The window moves. Splitting a long trip does not help if both halves fall inside the same 12 months.
- Short trips accumulate. A Christmas visit, a summer holiday and a run of business trips are counted together.
- Evidence of living here is separate. Utility bills, tenancy agreements, doctor registration, bank statements and employment records are the records that show where you were based.
Continuous Residence vs Lawful Residence
Continuous residence requires two things: that you were physically present in the UK (with limited absences) and that you had lawful immigration status throughout. A gap in your immigration status (for example, an expired visa before a new one was granted) could break your continuous lawful residence even if you remained physically in the UK.
Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 continues your existing permission, on the same conditions, if you apply to extend it before it expires and the application is still undecided. An application made after the old permission has run out gets no such protection.
Where to Look Next
Continuous residence is one requirement among several. The others are the Life in the UK test and, on most routes, an English language qualification. Settlement costs £3,226 for each person applying, with no fee for giving fingerprints and a photo, and no healthcare surcharge on the settlement application itself; our guide to visa fees sets out the rest.
Someone who wants their own travel history looked at can pay for that: only an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, or a solicitor or barrister, may give immigration advice for money. Our guide to what advisers charge covers the fees. Rowan is information, not advice, and does not assess anyone's case.
Questions and answers
What is the continuous residence requirement for ILR?
You must have lived in the UK for the qualifying period your route sets, usually 5 years. On the work routes, on Innovator Founder, Scale-up Worker and the 10-year long residence route, GOV.UK also says you must not have spent more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months. GOV.UK's page on settlement as a partner on a family visa publishes no day limit.
What is the 180-day absence rule for ILR?
On the routes where it applies, you must not spend more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months during your qualifying period. It is a rolling window, not a calendar year. Appendix Continuous Residence in the Immigration Rules lists absences that do not count towards it, including a life-threatening illness of your own or the illness or death of a close family member, and travel prevented by a natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic.
What happens if I break continuous residence for ILR?
Appendix Continuous Residence says continuous residence is broken by going over the absence limit without one of the listed exceptions, by any period without permission to be in the UK, by a prison sentence, and by a deportation, exclusion order or exclusion direction. Where it is broken, the qualifying period starts again. The appendix sets out the exceptions; a caseworker applies them to the evidence you send.
How long do I need to be in the UK for ILR?
Most routes are 5 years: Skilled Worker, Scale-up Worker, UK Ancestry, partner on a family visa, British National (Overseas). Global Talent is 3 years for exceptional talent and 5 for exceptional promise. Innovator Founder is 3 years. Long residence is 10 years, and the family and private life routes for people who cannot meet the 5-year requirements are also 10.
Does time on different visas count towards ILR?
It depends on the route. For settlement on a Skilled Worker visa, GOV.UK says the 5 years can include time on any Tier 1 visa except Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur, Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Tier 2 (General), Scale-up Worker, Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson, Innovator Founder, Global Talent, and Representative of an Overseas Business. Student and Graduate route time is not on that list. Time spent as someone else's partner or child on a visa does not count either. Settlement on an Innovator Founder visa counts only Innovator Founder and Innovator time.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.