Settlement for Pakistani nationals

The Settlement Routes

The Immigration Rules set no different requirements by nationality. These are the published routes:

• Spouse or partner visa: The partner route is reached after 5 years on the 5-year route. It is one of the routes where English is tested again at the settlement stage, at level B1 in speaking and listening.
• Skilled Worker visa: After 5 years on the Skilled Worker route, settlement follows. Paragraph SW 24.2 requires the sponsor to confirm that the applicant is still needed for the foreseeable future and is paid, and will be paid, at least the required salary — £41,700 a year in the general case, with the lower figures in the table at SW 24.3 for particular groups, and in every case at least the going rate for the occupation code.
• Long residence: After 10 years of continuous lawful residence, the long residence route is available.
• Parent route: If you are the parent of a British citizen child, the parent route may be available.

Dual Nationality with Pakistan

This is decided by Pakistani law, not by UK law, and the Government of Pakistan is the authority on it. Pakistan permits dual nationality with a defined list of countries, and the United Kingdom is on that list. Its scope and conditions are set by the Pakistani authorities and should be checked with them rather than with GOV.UK.

On the British side, the UK permits dual nationality and does not require anyone to give up another citizenship in order to naturalise. Settlement is not citizenship, so it does not affect nationality at all. GOV.UK says an application for British citizenship usually follows after a minimum of 12 months holding settlement, and costs £1,839: £1,709 to apply and a £130 citizenship ceremony fee. See our guide to the path from settlement to citizenship.

Document Requirements

The documents a settlement application asks for are the same whatever the applicant’s nationality; our settlement documents checklist lists them. Four points come up more often for applicants from Pakistan:

• Nikah nama: a marriage certificate that is not in English or Welsh needs a certified translation, and that includes a nikah nama. Registration with the National Database and Registration Authority produces a computerised certificate, which carries the registration details in a standard form.
• Passports: the application draws on all passports held during the qualifying period, because they carry the entry and exit stamps the continuous residence rules are measured against. A passport renewed during that period does not carry the earlier stamps, so the earlier one still matters.
• Civil registration documents: birth certificates, family registration certificates and identity cards issued by the National Database and Registration Authority need certified translations where they are not in English.
• Educational qualifications: where a degree awarded outside the UK is used to show English language ability, a UK ENIC statement (the body was formerly called NARIC) confirms what it is equivalent to.

English Language Considerations

Whether English is tested at the settlement stage depends on the route. GOV.UK states that it is not tested again when settling on a Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, T2 or Tier 2 visa, because it was proved when the visa was applied for. On routes that do test it, such as the partner route, the level is B1 of the Common European Framework in speaking and listening, rising to B2 from 26 March 2027 on Skilled Worker, Scale-up, Global Talent and Long Residence among others. The published ways of meeting it are:

• a secure English language test at the required level, from an approved provider;
• a degree taught or researched in English — where it was awarded outside the UK, a UK ENIC statement confirms what it is equivalent to;
• nationality of a country on the Home Office list of majority English-speaking countries. Pakistan is not on that list, so that route to the requirement does not apply. The list is fixed, and English being widely spoken or used in government or education in a country does not put it on the list.

For full details, see our English language requirements at settlement guide. Information on accepted tests is available on the GOV.UK SELT page.

Financial Requirements

The financial requirements depend on your route. On the spouse route, you need to meet the income threshold. On the Skilled Worker route, the salary threshold applies.

For spouse visa applicants using joint financial evidence, both partners' income can be combined. If using cash savings, see our cash savings guide.

Travel and Absences

Paragraph CR 3.1 of Appendix Continuous Residence sets the limit at not more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period during the qualifying period. See our guide to the travel and absence rules. The Home Office guidance counts whole days only: part-day absences of less than 24 hours are not counted, and the 12-month window rolls rather than following calendar years, so several shorter trips in one year are added together.

A separate rule applies while the settlement application itself is undecided: GOV.UK says the application is withdrawn if the applicant travels outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man before a decision.

After Settlement

Two published statuses follow settlement:

• Settlement on its own. GOV.UK says it allows the holder to work, run a business, study, use public services such as healthcare and schools, and apply for public funds and pensions. It is lost after more than 2 continuous years outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; where that happens, a Returning Resident visa costing £726 is applied for from outside the UK. See our guide to what settlement allows.
• British citizenship. GOV.UK says an application usually follows after a minimum of 12 months holding settlement, with the residence limits of not more than 450 days outside the UK in the 5 years before the application and not more than 90 days in the last 12 months. It costs £1,839 in total. See our citizenship guide for Pakistani nationals.

For the published routes to settlement, see the GOV.UK indefinite leave to remain page.

Questions and answers