Settlement on the private life route

The Rule That Applies Now

Older guides describe this route as paragraph 276ADE(1) of the Immigration Rules. That paragraph was replaced by Appendix Private Life on 20 June 2022, and the appendix is what a new application is decided under.

Who the Appendix Covers

• Children, paragraph PL 3.1. A person under 18 who has been continuously resident in the UK for at least 7 years, where it would not be reasonable to expect them to leave.
• Young adults, paragraph PL 4.1. A person aged 18 to 24 who has spent at least half their life continuously resident in the UK.
• Adults, paragraph PL 5.1. A person aged 18 or over who has been continuously resident in the UK for more than 20 years, or who has been here for less than that but where there would be very significant obstacles to their integration into the country they would go to.

The 20-year category counts residence whether it was lawful or not, which is what distinguishes it from the long residence route, where the 10 years must have been lawful.

What Each Grant Looks Like

• Length. Paragraphs PL 10.1 and PL 10.2 let a child or young adult choose either 30 months or 60 months. Paragraph PL 10.3 grants 30 months to everyone else.
• Work. Permitted, including self-employment and voluntary work, under paragraph PL 10.5.
• Study. Permitted.
• Public funds. Normally not permitted. Paragraph PL 10.5(c) allows access where the applicant is destitute, where there are particular and pressing needs affecting a child's welfare, or in exceptional circumstances. See our lifting no recourse guide.

Choosing 60 months means half as many applications across the route, at a higher price each time. Which is cheaper overall depends on the fees in force when each application falls due, which nobody can state in advance.

Two Different Routes to Settlement

• 5 years, paragraph PL 14.1. For a person granted permission as a child under the 7-year provision, or as a young adult under the half-their-life provision.
• 10 years, paragraph PL 14.2. For everyone else, counting permission on qualifying family and private life routes.

This is the point most often got wrong. The private life route is not uniformly a 10-year route, and a person who was granted as a child does not become a 10-year case by turning 18.

The Settlement Requirements

• Continuous residence. Assessed under Appendix Continuous Residence: no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period. See our 180-day rule guide.
• English. Paragraph PL 16.1 requires speaking and listening at B1 for applications before 26 March 2027, and B2 from that date. See our English for settlement guide.
• Knowledge of life in the UK. Paragraph PL 17.1 applies the requirement in Appendix KOL UK, so the Life in the UK test unless an exemption applies.
• Suitability. The suitability grounds in the Immigration Rules apply. Good character is a citizenship test and is not part of a settlement application.

The full list of documents is in our documents checklist.

Evidence of a Private Life

The residence periods are what the appendix turns on, so the evidence is mostly evidence of being here across the years:

• GP and hospital records, which often cover the longest unbroken span
• School, college and university records
• Tenancy agreements, utility bills and bank statements
• Employment and tax records
• For the reasonableness and obstacles tests, evidence about schooling, language, family and connections

Cost and Timing

Each grant of permission has its own fee and its own immigration health surcharge, which is £1,035 a year for most people and £776 a year for under-18s. Across a 10-year route those repeat several times. The settlement application itself is £3,226, and no health surcharge is charged on it.

Where the fee cannot be afforded, the GOV.UK fee waiver guidance sets out when a waiver is available on the applications that carry a fee. See our cost breakdown.

GOV.UK publishes no standard service time for private life applications inside the UK. Its waiting times guidance gives a 12-month figure for that route rather than the 8 weeks that applies to some other in-country applications.

After Settlement

Settlement removes the no recourse to public funds condition and any restriction on work. It is held as an eVisa in a UKVI account, and it lapses after more than 2 continuous years outside the UK. See our rights and benefits guide and our settlement to citizenship journey.

See also our guide to getting help with an application and our fees guide.

Questions and answers