Indefinite leave to remain
Indefinite leave to remain is an immigration status granted to a person who does not hold the right of abode in the United Kingdom, but who has been admitted to the UK without any time limit on their stay and who is free to take up employment, engage in business, self-employment, or study. When indefinite leave is granted to persons outside the United Kingdom it is known as indefinite leave to enter.
It approximates to the concept of permanent residency in other countries, but that term had a different and specific meaning under the EU law on freedom of movement while the UK was in the EU. ILR is granted under UK domestic legislation, PR was acquired automatically, if certain conditions were met, under EU law.
A person who has indefinite leave to remain, the right of abode or Irish citizenship has settled status if resident in the United Kingdom. A person with indefinite leave to remain is eligible for access to public funds and welfare in the UK.
Settled status is central to British nationality law, as the most usual route to naturalisation or registration as a British citizen requires that the applicant be settled in the UK. Settled status is also important where a child of non-British citizen parents is born in the UK, as unless at least one parent has settled status the child will not automatically be a British citizen.
A person who is resident in the UK under the Work or Family route will be able to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after completing qualifying period of legal stay in the UK.
Indefinite leave can lapse where the holder has stayed outside the United Kingdom for a continuous period of more than two years. It is retained indefinitely if the holder remains resident in the UK with limited absences.
Advantages
Acquisition of British citizenship
Holders of ILR may apply for British citizenship if they have held ILR for twelve months or longer, are over 18 and have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom for the last five years.Certain ILR holders may apply for British citizenship under the registration clauses if they are qualified to do so. Registration normally costs less than naturalisation and applicants are not required to meet knowledge and language requirements.
Children born in the UK
A child born in the United Kingdom after 1983 to persons who are not British citizens will not automatically be a British citizen.Prior to 1 July 2006, only a legitimate child could automatically derive British citizenship from the father, if the father was a British citizen or "settled" in the United Kingdom. However, if the parents are not married when the child is born in the United Kingdom, but then get married, and the marriage legitimates the child, then if the father was a British citizen or "settled" in the UK when the child was born, the child would become a British citizen and would be regarded as having been one from the date of marriage. This affects only children where the mother is neither a British citizen nor "settled" in the UK.
For children born on or after 1 July 2006, an unmarried father has broadly equivalent rights to pass on British citizenship to a child.
Where a child would be a British citizen but for the fact that the parents are not married, the Home Office will usually register the child as a British citizen under section 3 of the British Nationality Act provided that the child is still under 18.
If ILR is acquired after the child's birth, the child will not automatically be a British citizen. However the child can be registered as a British citizen under s1 of the British Nationality Act 1981 provided application is made before the age of 18. Alternatively, if the child lives in the UK until age 10, they will have a lifetime entitlement to registration as a British citizen under s1 of the Act.
Children born in the United Kingdom before 1983 are British citizens regardless of the immigration status of their parents.
Public funds
Unlike people with Limited Leave to Remain in the UK, ILR holders have access to public funds. "No recourse to public funds" is not written in ILR holders' visas. As a result, they are able to claim job seekers' allowances and other benefits that are usually available only to British and Irish citizens.Home student status
ILR holders pay home student rates for study at higher education institutions in the UK. That is, they are not charged as international students, unlike LTR visa holders, if they want to study courses in any UK institutions.Right to stand in elections
s who have ILR and are resident in the UK have the right to vote and stand as candidates in all elections.Acquisition of ILR
ILR can be acquired in a number of ways.No residence
A child aged under 18 who holds leave to enter or remain with a view to settlement with a parent, parents or a relative who is a settled person and resident in the UK can apply for ILR using Form SET.A parent, grandparent or other dependant relative aged 18 or over of a person who is a settled person and resident in the UK can apply for ILR using Form SET.
People satisfying all of the below criteria can apply for ILR using Form SET:
- were given permission to come to the UK for up to 27 months or to extend his/her stay for two years as the husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried partner or same-sex partner of a permanent resident
- were still in that relationship at the time they came to the UK or extended their stay as their husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried partner or same-sex partner
- can produce evidence that the relationship has broken down permanently since then as a result of domestic violence.
2 years' residence
Note that a person living in the UK as the husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried/same-sex partner of a British citizen or a settled person who either arrives in the UK or applies for permission to stay in the UK on or after 9 July 2012 must live in the UK for 5 years to obtain ILR.
4 years' residence
- A person who has lived in the UK for 4 years with a visa issued before 3 April 2006 under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme and Employment Not Requiring Work Permit can apply for ILR using Form SET.
- A commonwealth citizen who has served in the British Armed Forces for a minimum of four years: after leaving the Army can apply for ILR using Form SET.
5 years' residence
- Tier 1 or Tier 2 of the points-based system
- work permit
- businessperson
- innovator
- investor
- representative of an overseas newspaper, news agency or broadcasting organisation
- private servant in a diplomatic household
- domestic worker in a private household
- overseas government employee
- minister of religion, missionary or member of a religious order
- airport-based operational staff of an overseas-owned airline
- self-employed lawyer
- writer, composer or artist
- UK ancestry
- highly skilled migrant under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme
- Hong Kong BN
- retired person of independent means
- sole representative of an overseas firm.
A person who has lived in the UK for 5 years under the Gateway Protection Programme can apply for ILR using Form HPDL.
A person who has lived in the UK for 5 years with temporary permission to remain in the UK as the husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried/same-sex partner of a British citizen or a settled person and who intends to continue living together can apply for ILR, as long as he/she arrived in the UK or applied for permission to stay in the UK on or after 9 July 2012. For those who arrived in the UK or applied for permission to stay in the UK on or before 8 July 2012, a 2-year period of residence applies.