Time outside the UK before settlement
How much time you can spend outside the UK is one of the requirements for settlement — indefinite leave to remain, or ILR — that people most often get wrong. This guide sets out the limit route by route, how the days are counted, and which absences the rules leave out.
- Section
- ILR & Settlement
- Reading time
- 10 min
- Last checked
- 26 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
- The limit is 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months, as a rolling window.
- Since 11 April 2024 the same limit applies to the 10-year long residence route.
- An absence that began before 11 April 2024 is still measured by the older test: 184 days in a row, or 548 days in total.
- Departure day and return day both count as days outside the UK.
- GOV.UK publishes no day limit for settling as a partner, or with protection status.
Since 11 April 2024 there is one limit across the routes that have one: no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months, counted as a rolling window rather than a calendar year. That now covers the 10-year long residence route too, which used to have its own 184-day and 548-day test. Some routes have no published limit. The Home Office checks your travel history against Border Force records, and Appendix Continuous Residence lists the absences that do not count.
Absence Limits by Route
Since 11 April 2024 there has been one figure, set out at paragraph CR 3.1 of Appendix Continuous Residence: no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period.
- Skilled Worker, 5 years: no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months. See our guide to settling on the Skilled Worker route.
- Scale-up Worker, Global Talent, Innovator Founder, UK Ancestry, Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson: the same 180-day limit.
- Long residence, 10 years: also 180 days in any 12 months. This is the change people miss. The route used to have its own test — you broke continuous residence by being away more than 184 days in a row or 548 days in total — and GOV.UK says that older test still governs an absence that started before 11 April 2024. See our long residence guide.
- Partner on a family visa, 5 years: GOV.UK's page for this route publishes no day limit. See our guide to settling on the spouse visa route.
- Refugee or humanitarian protection, 5 years: GOV.UK publishes no day limit here either. It does say you can lose settlement once you have it by travelling back to the country you sought asylum from, or by staying outside the UK for more than 2 years. See our guide to settling with protection status.
How to Count Your Absences
The count is done in whole days:
- Day of departure: Counts as a day absent. If you fly out at 11pm, the entire day counts.
- Days abroad: Every full day outside the UK counts.
- Day of return: Counts as a day absent. If you land at 6am, the entire day counts.
Leave on 1 March and return on 15 March and that is 15 days outside the UK.
The Rolling 12-Month Period
The 180-day limit applies to any 12-month period, not to calendar years. It is a rolling window, which means:
- If you take a 3-month trip ending on 30 June, the 12-month period runs from 1 July of the previous year to 30 June.
- Any 12-month period inside your qualifying period can be checked for whether it holds more than 180 days.
- Multiple shorter trips can add up. Three 2-month trips in the same 12-month period would total 180 days.
Keeping Track of Your Travel
The application asks for exact dates. What holds them:
- A spreadsheet or calendar of all trips with exact dates
- Boarding passes (digital or paper)
- Flight booking confirmations
- Passport stamps (photograph all stamps)
- Entry and exit stamps from other countries
If you are working remotely from abroad, those days count as absences too, regardless of whether you are working.
Absences That Do Not Count Towards the Limit
Appendix Continuous Residence does not leave this to general discretion. It lists the absences that are left out of the 180-day count:
- 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 people endorsed on the Global Talent route
- Accompanying a partner on Crown service or UK government employment
What Happens If You Go Over the Limit
Continuous residence is broken, and the qualifying period starts again from the point residence resumes. The same appendix says continuous residence is also broken by any period without permission to be in the UK, by a conviction that results in a prison sentence, and by being subject to a deportation order, exclusion order or exclusion direction.
Rowan cannot say how any particular application will be decided. Only an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, or a solicitor or barrister, may look at your own facts and advise you for a fee; our guide to paying for help with a settlement application covers what that involves.
Travel While an Application Is Outstanding
GOV.UK is explicit about one thing: once you have applied for settlement, you must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision. A decision usually arrives within 6 months of you giving your fingerprints and photo.
For when the qualifying period starts and ends, see our qualifying period guide.
You may also find our Home Office Contact Guide andeVisa Guide helpful.
Questions and answers
How many days can I be absent from the UK for ILR?
On the work routes, Innovator Founder, Scale-up Worker and the 10-year long residence route, GOV.UK sets one limit: no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months. Long residence used to have a separate 184-day and 548-day test, and that older test still applies to an absence that began before 11 April 2024. GOV.UK publishes no day limit for settling as a partner on a family visa, or for settling with refugee or humanitarian protection status.
How does the Home Office count absence days?
The day you leave the UK and the day you return are both days you were outside the UK. A trip from Monday to Friday is 5 days. Travel records, passport stamps and airline records are used to check what you declare.
What happens if I exceed the absence limit?
Going over the limit breaks continuous residence, and the qualifying period starts again from the point residence resumes. Appendix Continuous Residence lists absences that do not count towards the limit at all, including a life-threatening illness of your own or the life-threatening illness or death of a close family member, and travel prevented by a natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic.
Does the Home Office check my travel history?
Yes. The Home Office has access to UK Border Force records showing your entries and exits. They will cross-reference this with the travel history you declare in your application. Discrepancies can cause serious problems.
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.