Regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority · Ref No. F201700062
Settlement
Long residence provisions can help people who have lived in the UK lawfully for an extended period under different forms of permission.
The analysis is detailed, and it depends on reconstructing the immigration history accurately.
The long residence route allows settlement after ten years of continuous lawful residence in the UK, regardless of the categories held during that period, provided the residence was lawful throughout.
It is often used by people whose immigration history spans several routes: study, work, family and dependant permission combined.
Continuity can be broken by periods without valid permission, by removal or deportation, and by absences that exceed the permitted limits both individually and in total across the ten years.
Certain short gaps between applications may be disregarded under the rules, and time spent with permission while an in-time application or appeal was pending is generally treated as lawful. These points frequently decide the case, and they turn on precise dates.
The application stands on a documented ten-year timeline: every grant of permission, every application, every entry and exit, supported by passports, Home Office correspondence and, where needed, third-party records.
We build that chronology first, because whether the route is available at all usually becomes clear from it.
What is actually needed depends on your circumstances. We confirm the list with you before anything is prepared.
We start with your history, your relationships, your work and your time in the UK. The right route follows from the facts.
We explain which route fits, what it requires and what the realistic alternatives are if it does not.
We work out what the Home Office will expect, what you already have and what needs to be obtained.
We prepare the application, explain anything that needs explaining and advise on what happens after submission.
This page is general information about UK immigration and is not advice on your individual circumstances. Requirements, guidance and procedures change. Please obtain advice before relying on anything published here.
We will tell you how UKU can assist, and what the realistic options are.
