How settlement can be lost

Indefinite Does Not Mean Unconditional

"Indefinite" in indefinite leave to remain means there is no end date attached to the permission. It does not mean the permission cannot end. Two different mechanisms are published: it lapses automatically after a long enough absence from the UK, and it can be revoked on the grounds set out in section 76 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. A deportation order also invalidates any permission the person holds.

Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024. Immigration status is now held online in a UK Visas and Immigration account and is shown to employers, landlords and carriers with a share code that lasts 90 days. There is no card whose expiry date signals any of this, and none of these mechanisms produces a notification.

The 2-Year Absence Rule

The GOV.UK Returning Resident visa page states: “You lose your indefinite leave to remain if you’ve been outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man for more than… 2 continuous years for anyone else” — that is, for anyone who does not hold settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

What the published rule does and does not say:

• The three places count together. Time in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man is not time outside for this purpose.
• The absence must be continuous. The threshold is more than 2 continuous years, so the count runs from the last departure, not from a total added up across separate trips.
• No notification. The loss happens by operation of law. No letter is sent, and the online record is not a warning system.
• No published exception. GOV.UK sets out no exception to the threshold itself for the reason behind the absence. Reasons are dealt with in the separate Returning Resident visa, below.

Deportation and Revocation

Separately from lapse through absence, indefinite leave to remain can be revoked. Section 76 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 sets out the grounds:

• Deception. Section 76(2) allows revocation where the leave was obtained by deception.
• Liable to deportation but not removable. Section 76(1) allows revocation where the person is liable to deportation but cannot be deported for legal reasons.
• Refugee status has ceased. Section 76(3) applies where a person or their dependant stops being a refugee by, for example, voluntarily re-availing themselves of the protection of their country of nationality or re-acquiring a lost nationality.
• Deportation order. A deportation order invalidates any permission the person holds. Section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 makes deportation automatic for a foreign criminal sentenced to at least 12 months in prison, subject to the exceptions in section 33 of that Act.

Where a decision carries a right of appeal, it is heard by the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber); our guide to the visa appeal process sets out which decisions do.

The Returning Resident Visa

Where indefinite leave to remain has been lost through absence, GOV.UK publishes a Returning Resident visa, applied for from outside the UK by someone who previously held it.

The published requirements are to show:

• strong ties to the UK — GOV.UK gives the example of the applicant or their family having lived here most of their life;
• information about their current circumstances and why they have lived outside the UK.

The fee is £726. Fingerprints and a photograph are taken at a visa application centre. Each application is decided on its own facts. GOV.UK describes the outcome as being able to “re-enter the UK and get indefinite leave to remain”.

Re-Entry Permits and Travel Documents

The UK does not publish a re-entry permit for settled people. Some countries issue one; the absence rule here has no equivalent document that pauses or extends it.

Home Office travel documents exist for refugees and stateless people who cannot use a national passport. They are travel documents rather than permission to be absent for longer, and the absence rule applies whatever document is carried. Our guide to proving status now that permits have ended explains what replaced the biometric residence permit.

EU Settled Status: Different Rules

If you have EU Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme, the absence rules are different:

• Settled status: 5 years in a row. GOV.UK says holders “can spend up to 5 years in a row outside the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man without losing” their status, and that entering the UK for any amount of time during that period allows up to 5 more years.
• Swiss citizens: 4 years in a row. The same treatment applies to their family members, who do not have to be Swiss citizens.
• Pre-settled status: more than 5 years in a row. GOV.UK says pre-settled status is lost automatically beyond that point, and separately that continuous residence must be maintained, which the Home Office may cancel the status for breaking.

Our guide to indefinite leave to remain compares the routes.

The Effect on a Citizenship Application

GOV.UK states that a person can apply for British citizenship if they have lived in the UK for 5 years and have held indefinite leave to remain (or settled status, or permanent residence) for 12 months. Permission that has lapsed is not held, so the 12-month period runs from a fresh grant.

Absences also count towards the residence requirement. GOV.UK says an applicant should not have spent more than 450 days outside the UK during the 5 years before the application, or more than 90 days outside the UK in the last 12 months. Naturalisation costs £1,839: £1,709 to apply and a £130 citizenship ceremony fee.

What the Rules Turn On

• Dates of departure and return. The absence rule is measured in continuous time outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, so it turns on the dates of each departure and return. Boarding passes, tickets and passport stamps are the usual records of those dates.
• Ties to the UK. The published Returning Resident requirements ask for strong ties to the UK and for the applicant’s current circumstances, so records of a UK address, employment and family in the UK are the evidence those questions call for.
• Citizenship removes the absence rule. British citizenship is not immigration permission, so it does not lapse through absence. The published requirements for naturalisation include holding indefinite leave to remain for 12 months and the residence limits above.
• Regulated advice on an individual case. Only an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, or a solicitor, may advise on a particular person’s circumstances. Our guide to immigration solicitor costs sets out what that typically costs.

Where to Read the Rules

The absence thresholds, the Returning Resident visa and its £726 fee are published on GOV.UK. The revocation grounds are in section 76 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, and automatic deportation is in section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, both on legislation.gov.uk.

For the absence thresholds and the Returning Resident visa, see the GOV.UK Returning Resident visa page.

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