After completing the relevant qualifying period on a partner or family route, you may be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. Settlement removes the time limit on your stay and most immigration restrictions, provides access to a wider range of rights and is usually required before applying for British citizenship.
Two issues frequently cause difficulty. First, the requirements are assessed under the Immigration Rules in force on the date of application, not those that applied when you first entered the route. Financial thresholds, English-language requirements and other conditions may have changed during the intervening years.
Second, residence and absences must be assessed under the rules for the particular route. The five-year partner route does not have the same fixed 180-day absence limit that applies to many work routes. However, lengthy or frequent absences may raise questions about whether the applicant has genuinely made the UK their home and, for partners, whether the couple intends to live together permanently in the UK. The ten-year partner and parent route applies separate continuous-residence requirements.
Position as at 25 August 2026: The government’s consultation on an “earned settlement” model closed on 12 February 2026. The proposed general model, including a longer default qualifying period and additional settlement requirements, has not yet been implemented. The existing five-year and ten-year family settlement routes therefore remain in force.
A separate confirmed change is that, unless an exemption applies, the English-language requirement for settlement applications under these routes will increase from B1 to B2 in speaking and listening for applications made on or after 26 March 2027.
Applicants who have completed the relevant qualifying period as a partner or parent under the family route and meet the applicable settlement requirements may apply. Eligible dependent children may also qualify, subject to their own age, dependency, care and parental-settlement requirements.
The precise requirements depend on whether the applicant is applying under the five-year or ten-year route and on their current and previous immigration permission.
Correct as at 25 August 2026. This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice.
Under the current rules, applicants on the standard partner or parent route will generally qualify after five years. Applicants on the longer family settlement route will generally need to complete a ten-year qualifying period.
For the five-year partner route, the qualifying period must normally have been completed as a partner with the same partner. Time spent in the UK as a fiancé, fiancée or proposed civil partner does not count. Under the ten-year route, time spent on certain other routes leading to settlement may sometimes be combined, subject to the detailed requirements.
There is no single absence limit covering every partner and family settlement application.
The five-year Appendix FM partner route does not impose a fixed 180-day absence limit. However, periods spent outside the UK must be consistent with the couple’s intention to live together permanently in the UK. Holidays, work, training or study may provide acceptable reasons, but spending the majority of the qualifying period overseas may cause the Home Office to question whether the requirements are met.
The ten-year partner and parent route applies Appendix Continuous Residence, which normally limits absences to 180 days in any twelve-month period, subject to specified exceptions. Parent and child applications also have their own residence requirements. Absences should therefore be reviewed against the applicant’s precise route rather than assessed under a universal rule.
The Life in the UK test is a computer-based multiple-choice test covering British history, culture, government and society. It is taken at an approved test centre and must normally be passed before the settlement application is submitted.
A successful test result does not expire. Exemptions may apply because of the applicant’s age or a qualifying physical or mental condition.
This has not yet been resolved. The government proposed that the earned-settlement changes could apply to people who have not already been granted settlement when the relevant new Immigration Rules come into force. The consultation also sought views on whether transitional protection should be provided to people already on a route to settlement.
Until further Immigration Rules implementing the general earned-settlement model are laid, the existing qualifying periods remain in force. However, the increase in the English-language requirement from B1 to B2 for applications made on or after 26 March 2027 has already been confirmed. Applicants approaching settlement should take advice on their eligibility and the timing of their application.
The breakdown of a relationship significantly changes an applicant’s immigration position. An applicant will not normally qualify for settlement as a partner if the relationship is no longer genuine and subsisting.
Where the relationship ended because of domestic abuse, or where the applicant’s partner has died, a dedicated settlement route may be available. Where children or other compelling family circumstances are involved, an application as a parent or under another family or private-life route may be possible.
Advice should be obtained promptly. Applicants should not assume that their existing partner route can continue or allow their immigration permission to expire without considering the available options.
