To apply for settlement (ILR) under a work category you must:

• You have been lawfully in the UK under a permitted category for a continuous period of 5 years;
• You must not have been outside of the UK for over 180 days in any rolling 12 calendar month periods preceding the date of application;
• You have adequate knowledge of the English language;
• You have taken and passed the Life in the UK test.

Each work related category has additional eligibility criteria.

Additional Criteria for Settlement for Partners and Family Member:

Once granted settlement or ILR, there are no limits on the time that you cn remain in the UK.

However, if you leave the UK for more than 2yrs your status will end. You may be able to apply for a Returning Resident visa.

In order to qualify for a British passport, you will need to show you have permanent resident status, see our Naturalisation section for the requirements.

English language and the Life in the UK test are not necessary if you are under 18 or 65 years of age or over. There are other limited discretionary criteria which may enable you to be exempt if you can show that it would be unreasonable due to a mental or physical condition. Other exemptions also apply.