The 28-day early application rule

Where the 28 Days Come From

GOV.UK states: “The earliest you can apply is 28 days before you’ve been in the UK for 5 years on a qualifying visa… Your application may be refused if you apply earlier.”

The mechanism behind that sentence is paragraph CR 1.1 of Appendix Continuous Residence. It says the qualifying period is calculated by counting back from whichever of these dates is most beneficial to the applicant: the date of application, any date up to 28 days after the date of application, or the date of decision. The second of those is what lets an application be made 28 days before the period is actually complete.

So if the qualifying period completes on 1 May 2026, the earliest date of application is 3 April 2026. The Life in the UK test, which applies at ages 18 to 64, has to have been passed by the time the application is made. Whether English has to be proved again depends on the route: GOV.UK says it does not on the Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, T2 and Tier 2 routes, because it was proved at the visa stage. Our guides to the Life in the UK test and the English language requirement set out both.

Working Out the Qualifying Date

The length of the qualifying period depends on the route:

• Skilled Worker: 5 years lived and worked in the UK, counted from the start of the permission that began the period, including time on a Tier 2 visa on the same route.
• Spouse visa: 5 years on the 5-year partner route, counted from the start of the first grant of permission as a partner.
• Long residence: 10 years of continuous lawful residence. See our guide to the 10-year route.
• Protection routes: 5 years for people with refugee status, humanitarian protection or section 67 leave. On discretionary leave it is 6 years where it was first granted on or before 8 July 2012, and 10 years where it was first granted from 9 July 2012.

The start dates of each grant of permission are held in the UK Visas and Immigration account and in the decision letters. Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024, but an expired permit still carries the dates it was issued with. See our guide to settlement requirements.

What the 28-Day Window Does

• It can keep permission continuous. Where an application is made before the existing permission expires, section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 continues that permission until the application is decided. GOV.UK says not to wait until the current visa expires: if it does, it has to be extended before settlement can be applied for.
• It does not shorten the qualifying period. CR 1.1 still counts a full qualifying period; it just allows the count to end up to 28 days after the date of application.
• The decision timetable is unchanged. A decision usually follows within 6 months of the fingerprints and photograph, with the priority service at £500 for 5 working days and the super priority service at £1,000 for the next working day.
• The move from 5 to 10 years is a proposal. It is not law, and no date has been set for it. Our guide to the proposed 10-year qualifying period sets out what has and has not been announced.

Avoiding Mistakes

Points where the dates are commonly misread:

• The period runs from the start date of the permission, not the date of arrival in the UK. The dates are in the UK Visas and Immigration account.
• Paragraph CR 4.1(d) breaks continuous residence for any period without permission, subject to the exceptions listed there, so gaps between grants of permission matter.
• The 28 days here are the window before the qualifying period completes. They are a different 28 days from the overstaying provisions and from the administrative review deadline.

See our application mistakes guide for more common errors to avoid.

For official guidance, visit GOV.UK: indefinite leave to remain.

Questions and answers