From refugee status to settlement
After 5 years with refugee status in the UK, you can apply for indefinite leave to remain. This guide walks you through every step of the process, from preparation to the active review, so you know exactly what to expect and how to give yourself the best chance of success.
- Section
- Asylum & Refugee
- Reading time
- 11 min
- Last checked
- 16 March 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
- Under the rules today, settlement is possible after 5 years with refugee status.
- On 2 November 2026 the government announced longer paths for most refugees under earned settlement. It is not yet law.
- Start preparing at least 6 months before your qualifying date.
- The active review checks whether conditions in your home country have changed.
- There is no fee for settlement with protection status, and no healthcare surcharge.
- Each family member must submit their own application.
A person with refugee status can apply for settlement after 5 years of continuous residence. There is no fee, and the Life in the UK test and English language requirement do not apply to this route. What the application does turn on is continuous residence and the safe return review of the protection status. This guide covers the documents, the review, and what happens if something goes wrong.
The 5-Year Qualifying Period
Your 5-year qualifying period starts from the date your refugee status was granted, not the date you arrived in the UK or the date you claimed asylum. This date is shown on your Biometric Residence Permit or grant letter.
The rule, paragraph STP 3.1 of Appendix Settlement Protection, is "a continuous period of at least five years in the UK" with refugee status or humanitarian protection. Unlike the work routes, this appendix does not apply the 180-days-in-12-months limit from Appendix Continuous Residence, and GOV.UK's settlement page for protection status states no day limit on absences. Our guide to settlement with refugee status covers how absences and return visits are looked at.
You can submit your ILR application up to 28 days before your 5-year anniversary. This is called the 28-day early application window.
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.
Requirements for Refugee ILR
The Life in the UK Test and English Do Not Apply Today
Most settlement routes require the knowledge of language and life requirement: the Life in the UK test and an English qualification. The Home Office caseworker guidance on that requirement lists people applying for settlement as a refugee, and people applying on the basis of humanitarian protection, among the categories exempt from it. So neither the test nor an English test is part of this application, and there is no test fee to budget for. The earned settlement decision of 2 November 2026 would change this once it is in the rules (see above).
Suitability
Settlement on this route uses the suitability grounds in Appendix Settlement Protection (paragraph STP 2.1), not the good character requirement, which is a citizenship test. The grounds include mandatory refusal for some criminal sentences, depending on their length and how long ago they ended, and discretionary grounds such as persistent offending or conduct that makes settlement "not conducive to the public good". Our guide to settlement with refugee status sets out the thresholds. The earned settlement decision would add a stricter criminal record rule once it is in the rules (see above).
No Outstanding Debt to the NHS
If you have any unpaid NHS charges of 500 GBP or more, your application will be refused. Check whether you owe anything before applying.
The Active Review
The active review is unique to the refugee route. Before granting ILR, the Home Office checks whether conditions in your home country have changed since you were granted refugee status. This review considers:
- Country of origin information reports
- Changes in government or conflict situations
- Whether the specific persecution you faced still exists
If the Home Office decides that conditions have improved significantly, it may consider revoking refugee status. Only an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority or a solicitor can advise on an individual case. The person has the right to make representations and, if status is revoked, to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.
The active review process is described in more detail in our ILR for refugees guide.
Documents to Prepare
Gather these documents well before you apply:
- Current BRP or eVisa confirmation showing refugee status
- Valid passport or Convention Travel Document (if you have one)
- Evidence of continuous residence: Utility bills, bank statements, payslips, letters from employers, council tax bills covering the 5-year period
- Travel history: A record of all trips outside the UK with dates
- Police clearance: Any police certificates or criminal record disclosures if applicable
See our ILR documents checklist for the complete list.
Costs
There is no fee. GOV.UK states that there is no fee to apply for settlement if you have protection status, meaning permission to stay as a refugee or as a person with humanitarian protection, or section 67 leave. The healthcare surcharge is not charged on this application either, and the Life in the UK test and English test do not apply, so they carry no cost here.
That is a difference in kind from the other settlement routes, where the fee is £3,226 for each person applying. Nothing about a fee waiver arises on this route, because there is no fee to waive.
For a full breakdown, see our ILR cost guide.
After ILR
Once you have ILR, you have the right to live and work in the UK permanently without immigration conditions. You can access all public services and benefits. After 12 months with ILR, you can apply for British citizenship.
Be aware that ILR can be lost if you spend more than 2 years outside the UK continuously. See our guide to losing ILR for details.
For official guidance on refugee settlement, see the GOV.UK indefinite leave to remain page and the GOV.UK asylum page.
Questions and answers
When should I start preparing my ILR application as a refugee?
You can submit the application up to 28 days before completing the qualifying period. Settlement with protection status has no fee, and people applying as a refugee or on the basis of humanitarian protection are exempt from the Life in the UK test and the English language requirement, so preparation is mainly a matter of gathering documents and the evidence of continuous residence. That is the rule today. Under the earned settlement decision announced on 2 November 2026, which is not yet law, the Life in the UK test and English at B2 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.
What is the active review for refugee ILR?
The active review is a check by the Home Office on whether conditions in your home country have changed significantly since you were granted refugee status. If conditions have improved enough that you no longer need protection, your refugee status could be revoked instead of ILR being granted. In practice, most refugees pass the active review, but it can cause anxiety and delays.
Is there a fee for settlement as a refugee?
No. GOV.UK states there is no fee to apply for settlement if you have protection status, meaning permission to stay as a refugee or as a person with humanitarian protection, or section 67 leave. The healthcare surcharge is not charged on this application either. Because there is no fee, no fee waiver arises.
What happens if my ILR application is refused?
If your ILR application is refused, you may be able to request an administrative review. If your refugee status itself is revoked as part of the active review, you may have the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal. Get legal advice immediately if your application is refused, as there are strict time limits for appeals.
Do my family members need to apply for ILR separately?
Each family member submits their own settlement application, and each is assessed individually. Where family members joined through refugee family reunion, their permission usually expires at the same time as yours, so the applications can be made together. There is no fee where the person holds protection status.
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.