10 Years Long Residence Solicitors

Appendix Long Residence requires ten years of lawful and continuous qualifying residence. Time across several eligible immigration categories can count, but the route does not accept every lawful visit or every period physically spent in the UK.

Visitor, Short-term Student, Seasonal Worker and Ukraine Scheme permission, including the relevant predecessor routes, are excluded. Immigration bail, temporary admission or release and overstaying do not count. An exception that prevents a gap from breaking continuity does not necessarily make the gap qualifying residence.

Settlement normally also requires at least twelve months on the current immigration route at application, or the relevant exemption-from-control period. The current-route requirement does not apply where current permission was granted before 11 April 2024. This is a separate check from the ten-year calculation.

• Immigration Rules: Appendix Long Residence
• Long residence caseworker guidance

Absences need to be divided using the applicable historical rules. Under Appendix Continuous Residence, a single absence beginning before 11 April 2024 must not exceed 184 days, subject to permitted exceptions. The historical 548-day total concerns the pre-11 April 2024 part of the qualifying period; it is not a lifetime absence cap that automatically includes all later travel.

For absences starting from 11 April 2024, assess the normal limit of 180 days in any rolling twelve-month period. Counting only calendar years can miss a breach. For a trip that began before the change and ended afterwards, caseworker guidance says the rolling period begins with the next absence.

The rules, public eligibility summary and caseworker guidance express the historical total differently. A mixed-period or borderline calculation needs individual review against the rule and guidance together. Do not use the old 180/540-day summary as a substitute for that assessment.

• Immigration Rules: continuous residence
• Calculating continuous residence and absences

List each departure and return, permission held and reason for the absence. Caseworker guidance counts whole days abroad, rather than part-days spent travelling. Check records for inconsistencies instead of assuming passport stamps show every journey.

Specified exceptions can cover matters such as pandemic travel disruption, natural disaster or compelling and compassionate circumstances. They require supporting facts and evidence; a long absence is not automatically disregarded because it was difficult or unexpected.

• Current and previous passports, immigration decisions and application records.
• A dated list of trips reconciled with available travel records.
• Documents explaining any gap, extended absence or exception relied upon.
• Certified translations for documents not in English or Welsh.

• Long residence documents

Unless exempt, long-residence settlement requires the applicable English level and the Life in the UK requirement to be met. Appendix Long Residence specifies B1 speaking and listening for applications before 26 March 2027, and B2 for applications on or after that date.

Check accepted evidence and exemptions under the relevant language rules. Age or a qualifying medical condition can affect the requirements, but language and Life in the UK exemptions must each be considered. A previously accepted qualification should not be assumed to meet a later, higher requirement.

Where the qualifying residence, suitability and other temporary-permission requirements are met but settlement language or Life in the UK requirements are not, the rules provide for a possible 24-month grant of permission. This is temporary leave, not ILR.

• Immigration Rules: English language
• Life in the UK Test and exemptions
• Further permission to stay

Assess the full qualifying period before selecting a submission date. Guidance allows qualifying applications within the 28-day early window, but applying too early risks refusal. The twelve-month current-route rule is assessed at application and needs a separate check.

An applicant must be in the UK and meet the validity and suitability requirements. Follow the online form’s identity and document instructions and check the current charges and processing guidance. Do not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man while awaiting the decision.

There is no dependant application route under Appendix Long Residence. A partner or child needs a separate assessment of their own available route; one person’s ten-year history does not settle the whole family.

• Long residence applications, fees and processing
• Family immigration routes

Earlier overstaying, COVID-era permission arrangements, EEA residence, imprisonment, missing decisions or an absence crossing the rule-change date can materially affect the result. These issues should be identified before a conclusion is drawn from the total number of years.

Highfin’s existing long-residence material covers immigration histories and travel evidence. Ask the team to confirm the review and application assistance available for your records. Advice on an individual calculation, professional fees and the responsible solicitor remain to be agreed.