Office Address

Global Immigration Solutions
Hiltongrove Business Centre
Hatherley Mews
London
E17 4QP
Telephone: 08448 044 128

FACT SHEETS

 

Indefinite Leave to Remain

The UK immigration rules allow various categories of people who are not British nationals to settle in the UK. This is technically called being given ‘indefinite leave to remain’ or ‘ILR’ in the UK, but most people refer to it as ‘settlement’ or ‘permanent residence’.

Before ILR is granted you will have to show that you have sufficient knowledge of English (or Welsh or Scottish Gaelic) and of life in the UK. The Home Office have set tests which all applicants, other than those who are under 18 years old or over 65 years old at the time of application, have to pass to show that they meet this requirement. Click here for further information about the Life in the UK test.

The other main requirement before ILR is granted is that you should not have been dependent upon public funds during the time in which you had limited leave to remain in the UK, though a short, temporary dependence will not necessarily count against you.

Once you are given ILR there is no time limit on your stay in the UK, and you can come and go as you please, though if you are away for more than two years you may have difficulty in being readmitted and will have to prove your links to the UK before you are allowed to enter as a ‘returning resident’.

The main ways by which settlement or ILR is granted are:

On the basis of a relationship

Partners
Marriage, civil partnership, or a long-term unmarried relationship with someone who is ‘present and settled’ in the UK – that is, someone who normally lives in the UK and who does not have any time limit on their stay here, either because they are a British citizen with a right of abode, or because they themselves have been given ILR – can all lead to settlement. In such cases there is normally a ‘probationary period’ first, in which you will be given permission to live and work in the UK with your UK-based partner for two years, and if, at the end of that time, your relationship is still subsisting and you have not needed welfare assistance from the UK government to support and accommodate yourself, you may be given ILR.

Children
Once you have ILR you can apply for your minor children to be registered as British citizens. Such applications must be made before the child’s 18th birthday. Any children born to you after you are granted ILR will automatically be British citizens from birth, and will not need to be registered as such.

Dependent family members
It is not easy for family members other than partners and children to be given leave to live permanently in the UK with someone who is settled here, but in limited circumstances parents, grandparents, sisters and brothers and aunts and uncles may be given permission to do so. This is by no means automatic, and will depend upon arrangements for their care in their home country, as well as how much responsibility the UK sponsor can be shown to have taken for their care.

Working in the UK

After five years of employment in the UK, either as a work permit holder or as a highly skilled migrant, it is possible to apply for settlement. The families – that is, partners and children – of such applicants can also apply at the same time for settlement.

UK Ancestory

Commonwealth citizens with a grandparent born in the UK who have been working in the UK for a period of five years can apply for indefinite leave to remain.

Long Residence

If you have lived lawfully in the UK for a continuous period of 10 years, with permission to be here in categories that do not in themselves lead to settlement, you may apply for indefinite leave to remain. You should not have spent more than six months at a stretch out of the UK during the whole of the 10 year period. If you have lived in the UK for a continuous period of 14 years, even though you may have been an illegal immigrant during the whole or part of that time, you can apply for ILR.

Other Categories

Though these are the most common ways by which people settle in the UK, ILR is also granted after 5 years to ministers of religion, retired people of independent means, sole representatives of overseas companies, airline ground staff, domestic servants etc.

Our Services

Consultations and General Advice

If you want general advice about your immigration situation, you can make an appointment to meet with one of our lawyers. We will give you an assessment of the merits of your case and advise you on what we consider your best course of action to be. If our advice is that you can submit an application, you may decide to do this yourself, or to instruct us to take your case on and make the application on your behalf.

Making an initial application in the UK or abroad

The quality of an initial application can make the difference between the success and failure of that application. When you instruct us we will:

  1. Give you an assessment of the merits of your case and advise you on the best course of action
  2. Inform you of the legal requirements which you will have to meet for your application to be successful
  3. Explain how the legal requirements will be interpreted by the UK authorities, based on the internal instructions given to their caseworkers
  4. Complete the application form on your behalf based on the information you give us
  5. Give you detailed advice about the supporting evidence that will need to be submitted along with your application
  6. Submit your application form along with all evidence and with legal representations on your behalf. In the legal representations we will set out the particulars of your case and circumstances, details of the Immigration Rules under which you are asking for your application to be considered, and show how you meet the requirements of the law, or, if you do not meet the requirements, explain any compelling and compassionate circumstances and present your case in the best possible light to explain in legal terms why your application should be successful.
  7. Liaise with the appropriate authorities until a decision on your application is received

Appealing against a refusal

If your application is refused by the UK authorities you will have a right to appeal against the refusal. An appeal must be lodged within very short time limits, and the appeal form must give detailed reasons for the appeal (called ‘grounds of appeal’) if the appeal is to be valid. All appeals, even those against the refusal of entry clearance abroad, are heard by an Immigration Judge sitting at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in the UK.

We offer two levels of service:

Grounds of Appeal
We will review your papers (initial application and supporting documents, refusal letter) and will draft detailed grounds of appeal giving legal reasons as to why your application should not have been refused, for you to submit with your appeal. We may need further information, either face-to-face or over the telephone/email, from you to enable us to do this. We have no responsibility towards you other than drafting the grounds of appeal within the strict time limits given by the UK authorities.

Representation
As well as drafting grounds of appeal we will submit your appeal to the Tribunal within the given time limit, liaise with you and any witnesses you may have who will speak for you at your hearing, liaise with the UK authorities on your behalf, and represent you before the Immigration Judge when your appeal is heard, using legal arguments, case law and the government’s own immigration rules and policies to present your case in the best possible light.