How long does ILR take?

Short answer

Two different clocks. Most work and family routes need five years of continuous qualifying residence before you can apply — and once you do, a standard decision currently takes around six months. Paying for the Priority (£500) or Super Priority (£1,000) service cuts that to five working days or one.

"How long does ILR take" has two answers, and it helps to keep them apart: the years you have to build up before you are eligible, and the time UKVI then takes to decide the application.

The qualifying period

The standard requirement is five years of continuous lawful residence on an eligible route. Skilled Worker (and its predecessor, Tier 2), spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner, and UK Ancestry all count. Two routes run to a different clock: the Innovator Founder visa can lead to settlement after three years, and the Long Residence route requires ten years of continuous lawful residence.

Continuous is the word that catches people out. You must not have spent more than 180 days outside the UK in any single 12-month period during the qualifying years. Exceeding that can reset your clock or lead to refusal, and UKVI checks your travel history against border control records — so count the absences before you apply rather than after. Our 180-day absence calculator shows whether any rolling 12-month window breaches the limit.

How long the decision takes

Standard processing is currently around six months. Two paid upgrades exist: the Priority Service (an extra £500) gives a decision in five working days, and the Super Priority Service (an extra £1,000) gives a same-day or next-working-day decision. The application fee itself is £3,226 per person. There is no Immigration Health Surcharge to pay on an ILR application, because settlement is not time-limited leave.

Before applying you must normally have passed the Life in the UK test — £50, 24 multiple-choice questions, 75% (18 correct) to pass, with no limit on attempts but a seven-day wait between them. The pass certificate is valid for life, so you will not have to retake it if you later apply for citizenship. Applicants aged 65 or over, and those with a long-term physical or mental condition that prevents them studying, are exempt.

Start gathering documents early, because that is where the real delay usually sits: your current passport and every passport used during the qualifying period, evidence of your qualifying status, route-specific evidence such as employment or relationship documents, and your test certificate.

Read the full guide: Settlement and Indefinite Leave to RemainCovers eligibility, the process, deadlines, and next steps in depth.

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