Indefinite Leave To Remain application

If you have lived in the UK for a number of years under a visa, you may be considering making an Indefinite Leave to Remain application. Indefinite Leave to Remain, or ILR, gives you certain rights and entitlements in the UK, including the right to live, work and study and the right to claim benefits, if you are eligible for them.

At Halliday Reeves, we help clients with Indefinite Leave to Remain applications. We specialise in immigration matters and have extensive experience in securing ILR. We can go through your circumstances with you and check that you are eligible, before putting together a robust application.

We will check the paperwork that you have available and put together the right documents to provide the evidence the UK Visas and Immigration will need to see.

We have a strong track record of success in dealing with ILR applications and provide a personal service, with the guidance and representation you need. We hold the Law Society’s accreditation for immigration and asylum work at both senior caseworker and supervising caseworker level, as well as a Legal Aid contract, which we have held for thirty years.

Our most recent Independent Peer Review results were exceptional, grading us at the high ‘Competence Plus’ level and noting a range of particular strengths, including:

Regular and effective communication with our clients
Good client care, including in cases where the client was vulnerable
Good case strategy
The provision of bespoke advice

If you would like advice and assistance in making an Indefinite Leave to Remain application, we would be happy to hear from you. Please call us on 0330 133 7777, email us at enquiries@hallidayreeves.com or fill in our Contact Form.

“We have excellent experience for many years with the company Karim is very professional and helpful wouldn’t go anyway else highly recommended”

Why Make An Indefinite Leave To Remain Application?

If you make a successful ILR application, you will have the right to stay in the UK for as long as you wish. If you are eligible, you will be able to claim benefits and you will no longer need to pay an NHS surcharge.

You will also be able to leave and re-enter the UK, provided that you do not stay outside of the UK for more than two years.

If you are granted ILR, your family members, including a partner or child, may also be able to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Once you have held ILR for a year and lived in the UK for five years or more, you may be able to apply for British citizenship, which will grant you further rights, as well as a British passport.

Am I Eligible For Indefinite Leave To Remain?

You will need to have spent a certain number of years living lawfully in the UK before you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. For most applicants this is five years, including those on long-term work visas, although on some routes it may be only two or three years, while others are 10 years.

Routes to Indefinite Leave to Remain include on the basis of:

A long-term work visa
You have family in the UK
On the basis of your private life, for example, if you were born in the UK and lived here for 7 continuous years or you have a visa based on your private life and have lived in the UK continuously for 10 years
You have a UK ancestry visa and have lived in the UK for five years or more

There are a range of requirements, which may vary slightly depending on your route. For skilled worker visa holders, eligibility criteria include:

Not having spent more than 180 days outside of the UK in any twelve-month period during the qualifying period
Meeting the minimum salary requirements
You are still needed for your job and you will continue to meet the minimum salary requirements
You have passed the Life in the UK test

“Good service, I made application for skilled worker visa and later for ILR, both are successful, quick replies. Amazing job!”

Making An Indefinite Leave To Remain Application

An ILR application is usually made online. We can work with you to check that you are eligible and to put together the paperwork that provides evidence of this. Where necessary, we will discuss what documents need to be obtained in support of your application. For example, if you hold a skilled worker visa, your employer will need to confirm in writing that you are still needed for your job and that your salary will meet a certain level.

Having the right paperwork is crucial to avoid delays and rejections. We will check that you meet the other criteria and assist you with your application as necessary.

You will also need to pay a fee and go to a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services centre to have your fingerprints and photo taken. Once your application has been submitted, you should stay in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you receive a decision from UK Visas and Immigration.