The ILR application process, step by step

Step 1: confirm the route, the form and the date

Three decisions sit at the start, and all three are cheaper to get right before you pay.

You may apply up to 28 days before the end of the qualifying period, as long as the decision is made on or after the qualifying date. That is not a target: applying 28 days early with a fast decision can still fail if the caseworker decides before the anniversary. If you are using super priority, apply on or after the qualifying date rather than 28 days before it.

If your current leave expires before the window opens, extend it first. Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 keeps your leave alive while an in-time application is pending, but it does not create a new qualifying period.

Step 2: tests and evidence

Book the Life in the UK test and the B1 English test early; slots in London can be two to three weeks out. Then build the file in the order a caseworker reads it:

• Passports covering the whole period, plus every Home Office decision letter
• Biometric residence permit or eVisa record, and your UKVI account details
• Address evidence: council tax, tenancy or mortgage, utility bills
• Presence evidence: payslips, P60s, employer letters, school and GP letters
• Financial evidence for the partner route: six months of payslips, bank statements and an employer letter
• Cohabitation evidence for SET(M), spread across the whole period
• Life in the UK pass notification and English certificate, or exemption evidence

Documents in another language need a certified translation. Online bank statements are accepted if they show your name, address and the full period.

Step 3: complete the form and pay

The online form asks for your immigration history, absences, employment, family and criminal record. Answer it consistently with the documents: a date discrepancy between the form and a payslip is exactly the kind of detail that triggers a request for further information.

The fee is £3,226 per applicant at the rates effective 8 April 2026, paid at submission. Keep the payment reference and the submission confirmation; both are needed if you later have to prove when you applied. Check whether the immigration health surcharge applies to your route before you budget.

Step 4: biometrics and document upload

Most applicants verify their identity through the UKVCAS ID Check app: scan the passport, take a photograph, and complete a liveness check. If the app cannot read your document, you book an appointment at a service point, where there may be a separate appointment fee.

Upload evidence in the same account before the deadline shown. Missing documents are not usually fatal on their own — the Home Office may write to you — but a request for further information adds weeks and, in a weak case, invites a refusal. Upload early, label files clearly, and keep a copy of everything you send.

Step 5: the decision

Standard service is usually within six months of the biometric appointment. Two optional services exist, and their real timings differ from the marketing:

Availability is not universal. The options offered in your application are the ones that apply to your route and to how you verify your identity, so check before you plan travel around a five-day promise.

Step 6: after the decision

A grant is recorded digitally. Check your eVisa in your UKVI account: the conditions, the end date and your personal details should match the decision letter. Errors are corrected by the Home Office, but only if you report them.

Travel after ILR is straightforward: you can leave and return, and there is no absence limit that removes settled status. Long absences can affect a future citizenship application, though, because the residence requirements look back five years.

Citizenship normally becomes available twelve months after ILR, or immediately if you are married to a British citizen, subject to the residence, absence and good character requirements.

If it is refused

Most ILR refusals have no right of appeal. The realistic options are:

• Administrative review where the caseworker made a clear error, such as ignoring a document you supplied. It is cheap and time-limited.
• A fresh application where the defect can be fixed and you have, or can regularise, leave.
• Judicial review where the decision is unlawful rather than merely wrong. It is expensive and the deadlines are short.

Read the refusal reasons before reacting. A decision that says you did not supply a document can often be fixed; a decision that says you do not meet the Rules cannot be argued away with more paper.

Frequently asked questions