Settlement for refugees

The 5-Year Qualifying Period

When you are granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, you are given a period of permission to stay. GOV.UK sets out two positions, depending on when you claimed asylum. If you claimed before 2 March 2026, you will have permission to stay for a minimum of 5 years. If you claimed on or after 2 March 2026, you will have permission to stay for a minimum of 30 months, so reaching 5 years means holding that permission across more than one grant.

The settlement rule itself is in Appendix Settlement Protection of the Immigration Rules. Paragraph STP 3.1 says the applicant must have spent a continuous period of at least 5 years in the UK with either refugee status or humanitarian protection. That period runs from the date protection was granted, not from the date you claimed asylum or the date you arrived.

During those years you can work, use the NHS, claim benefits and study.

Announced on 2 November 2026: Earned Settlement for Refugees

On 2 November 2026 the government announced how settlement will work for people with protection under "earned settlement", in its response to the consultation (CP 1707). It is not yet in the Immigration Rules. The Home Secretary told Parliament the changes will begin to be laid from the December 2026 rules and will be brought in during 2027. Until a rule change takes effect, the rules described on this page apply.

The response sets out these protection paths (pages 33 to 36, and Table 2 on pages 43 and 44):

• Safe and Legal routes, meaning the UK Resettlement Scheme and specified resettlement and sponsorship routes: 5 years. Entering the UK on another route and then claiming asylum does not lead to this path.
• Protection Work and Study: 10 years, counted from the move onto this route. Time on Core Protection before the move does not count. The response asks for earnings of at least £12,571 in three qualifying years.
• Core Protection: 20 years.
• Illegal entry: an extra 10 years, which makes 20 years through Protection Work and Study or 30 years on Core Protection. The extra time does not apply where Article 31 of the Refugee Convention protects the person (page 35).

The response also says:

• Refugees who claimed asylum before 2 March 2026, other than on Safe and Legal routes, "will move to Core Protection. Any time spent with refugee status will count towards settlement" (page 34, footnote 14). It says more detail on how time already spent will apply is still to come.
• English at B2 and the Life in the UK test will apply on the protection paths. Refugees on the UK Resettlement Scheme need English at A2 (basic) instead, and do not need the Life in the UK test until a version at A2 level exists (pages 5 and 33).
• A person who received asylum support and has to repay it must have repaid it, or be keeping to an agreed repayment plan (page 35).
• Outside the Safe and Legal routes, refugees will generally be expected not to have used public funds in the 5 years before settlement to use a path shorter than 20 years, with "targeted safeguards for the most vulnerable" (page 35).

These are separate from the 30-month grants of protection that have applied to claims made on or after 2 March 2026. Our guide to earned settlement sets out the whole framework.

The Safe Return Review

Unlike other settlement routes, the protection route includes a review of whether you still need protection. Home Office guidance calls this a safe return review. It says caseworkers must consider, using relevant country information reports, whether there have been any significant and non-temporary changes to the situation in your country, such that a fear of persecution can no longer be regarded as well-founded.

Caseworkers also check whether there are grounds to revoke protection status. The guidance says they check whether the person has travelled back to their country of origin, or to their country of former habitual residence, without the Home Office knowing. Returns on several occasions, or for long periods of time, may lead to revocation being considered.

The Home Office does not publish an outcome rate for these reviews. If you want help with your own case, only a person regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority or a solicitor can advise on it. See our guide to getting help with an application.

Suitability, Not Good Character

“Good character” is a citizenship test. It is not part of a settlement application. The protection route uses the suitability grounds in Appendix Settlement Protection instead. Paragraph STP 2.1 sets out when an application must be refused on criminality grounds, including:

• A custodial sentence of 4 years or more, with no time limit.
• A custodial sentence of at least 12 months but less than 4 years, unless 15 years have passed since the end of the sentence.
• A custodial sentence of less than 12 months, unless 7 years have passed.
• A non-custodial sentence or out-of-court disposal recorded on a criminal record, unless 24 months have passed.
• Persistent offending, offences causing serious harm, and conduct making the person's presence not conducive to the public good, including national security grounds.

What the Application Costs

GOV.UK states there is no fee if you have protection status, meaning permission to stay as a refugee or as a person with humanitarian protection, or section 67 leave. The £3,226 settlement fee applies to people applying on the discretionary leave route, not to the protection route.

The immigration health surcharge is not charged on a settlement application on any route, so there is none to pay here either. Because there is no fee at all on the protection route, there is nothing for a fee waiver to waive. Fee waivers exist for other applications, and the GOV.UK fee waiver guidance explains those.

For what other routes pay, see our settlement cost breakdown.

The Life in the UK Test and English Do Not Apply Today

Appendix Settlement Protection sets no knowledge of language and life requirement. Its requirements are validity, suitability, and the 5 years of continuous residence with protection status.

GOV.UK's list of people who do not need to prove knowledge of English when applying to settle names a refugee living in the UK, and a person with humanitarian protection or discretionary leave. So neither a Secure English Language Test nor the Life in the UK test is part of a settlement application made with protection status.

Under the earned settlement decision announced on 2 November 2026, this would change: English at B2 and the Life in the UK test would apply on the protection paths, with A2 English and no Life in the UK test for UK Resettlement Scheme refugees until an A2 version of the test exists (CP 1707, pages 5 and 33). That is not yet in the Immigration Rules.

Those requirements do return later. If you go on to apply for British citizenship, the knowledge of language and life requirement applies to that application. See our English language for settlement and Life in the UK test guides for how it works there.

Documents and Proving Your Status

Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024. Immigration status is now an eVisa held in a UKVI account, and you prove it with a share code, which lasts 90 days. See our eVisa guide for how to set the account up.

Documents commonly needed for the application include:

• Your UKVI account details, so your status can be checked
• Your Home Office travel document, if you were issued one, or any other travel document you hold
• Evidence of your time in the UK across the qualifying period, such as bank statements, tenancy or utility records and employment records
• Details of any travel outside the UK

See our settlement documents checklist for the general list.

Travel While You Hold Protection Status

• Travel to the country you fled: Home Office guidance treats travel back to your country of origin as a reason to consider revoking protection status, particularly where it happens on several occasions or for long periods.
• Travelling elsewhere: If you need to travel to other countries, you can apply for a Home Office travel document.
• Absences: The 180-days-in-any-12-months limit that applies on work and family routes is not set out in Appendix Settlement Protection, and GOV.UK's settlement pages for protection status do not state an absence limit. The rule you have to meet is the continuous 5-year period in STP 3.1. Our absence rules guide covers the routes where the 180-day limit does apply.

How Long a Decision Takes

GOV.UK says you will be told whether your application has been successful within 6 months of submitting it or of giving your biometric information, whichever is later. The super priority service is offered on the discretionary leave route, not on the protection route.

After Settlement: Citizenship

After settlement you may go on to apply for British citizenship. That application does carry a fee, and it does have the knowledge of language and life requirement. See our settlement to citizenship journey and our citizenship for refugees guide.

For what settlement itself gives you, see our settlement rights and benefits guide.

Questions and answers