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 cancels any permission the person holds.

Biometric residence permits were issued to people granted permission on or before 31 October 2024, and all of them have now expired. 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.

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 outside the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, not a total added up across separate trips.
• Automatic. The Home Office lapsing leave and returning residents guidance says settlement “lapses through the operation of law”: it ends without a decision being made.
• Published exceptions. GOV.UK lists some people whose indefinite leave to remain does not lapse after 2 years away: members of the British armed forces posted overseas, and partners who join them on the posting; and, where the partner is a British citizen or settled in the UK, people who work, or whose partner works, for the Diplomatic Service, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Home Office or the British Council outside the UK. Outside these, GOV.UK sets out no exception for the reason behind the absence. Reasons are considered in the separate Returning Resident visa, below.

Deportation and Revocation

Separately from lapse through absence, indefinite leave to remain can be revoked. The Home Office revocation of indefinite leave guidance sets out the grounds in section 76 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002:

• 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 cancels any permission the person holds. The Home Office deportation on conducive grounds guidance explains that section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 requires a deportation order for a person who is not a British or Irish citizen and has been given a single sentence of at least 12 months for an offence in the UK. Since 22 March 2026 this includes a suspended sentence of at least 12 months. The exceptions in section 33 of that Act apply.

The revocation guidance says there is no right of appeal against revocation under section 76, except where the leave was settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Our guide to the visa appeal process sets out which other decisions carry a right of appeal.

The Returning Resident Visa

Where indefinite leave to remain has been lost through absence, GOV.UK publishes a Returning Resident visa for someone who previously held it. The Home Office guidance says it must be applied for and granted before the person arrives in the UK.

GOV.UK asks for evidence of:

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

The Home Office guidance adds that the applicant must genuinely intend to return to the UK to settle, and must not have received public funds towards the cost of leaving the UK.

The fee is £726. Fingerprints and a photograph are taken at a visa application centre. The guidance says each case is considered on its individual merits. 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

GOV.UK publishes no document for settled people that pauses or extends the absence rule.

Home Office travel documents exist for people living in the UK who cannot get a passport from their own country, including refugees and stateless people. They are travel documents rather than permission to be absent for longer. Our guide to proving status now that permits have ended explains what replaced the biometric residence permit.

EU Settled Status: Different Rules

For settled or pre-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 had indefinite leave to remain, settled status or indefinite leave to enter for 12 months. The same GOV.UK page says indefinite leave to remain may have been lost after more than 2 years away at any time since it was granted, in which case a Returning Resident visa is needed.

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. GOV.UK asks Returning Resident applicants for documents that prove ties to the UK, for example proof of income earned, or property rented or owned, in the UK.
• Citizenship requirements. 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. GOV.UK says immigration advisers must be registered with the Immigration Advice Authority or be a member of an approved professional body, such as a solicitor; only they 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 exceptions, the Returning Resident visa and its £726 fee are published on the GOV.UK Returning Resident visa page. The Home Office sets out the revocation grounds in its revocation of indefinite leave guidance, and automatic deportation in its deportation on conducive grounds guidance.

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