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If you have been residing in the UK for 10 years, you may want to find out if you meet settlement requirements under the 10 years route in the UK. According to paragraph 276A of the immigration rules, continuous residence is defined as residence in the UK for an unbroken period. From a settlement perspective, it refers to a period of 10 years of continuous and lawful residence in the country.
There would no denying this natural cause and effect; that an individual who has resided in a place continually for 10 years would have had created ties with the society and the environment in which s/he has so lived for such a long time. It is on this basis that the rules on long residence is established; recognizing the ties an individual may have formed with the country over a prolonged period of residence in the country. An individual who has completed such a long period of continuous and lawful residency in the UK may be eligible to apply for settlement – an Indefinite Leave to remain on the basis of his long residence.
To be eligible for settlement under the long residence route, the following requirements must be met: –
The applicant must have lived for a continuous period of 10 years, lawfully in the UK. Within this period the applicant must have always had a valid leave to remain without any tangible periods of overstay. Overstaying periods of less than 28 days will be disregarded.
During the period of continuous residence, it is important that the sum of absences throughout the 10 year period should not exceed 18 months. Also, it is not advisable to leave the UK for any period of more than 6 months at any one time.
The rationale behind the settlement based on long residence is that it is believed that the applicant have lived in UK for so long that he has transferred the centre of his life to the UK. He has lived here so long that he has established such strong ties with the UK that sending him back to his country would be wasting a large chunk of his life and asking him to start all over again.
Absences of more than 6 months at a go, or even staying outside the UK for up to 1 year 6 months (18 months) does enough to go against the thinking behind long residence. It is harder to prove that the centre of your life has been shifted to a place when you can spend more than 6 months out of that place in one year.
Importantly, continuous residence is not broken where the applicant leaves and enters the UK with a valid visa for a period less than 6 months within a year. Also, times spent in prisons, young offender’s institution, the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man or Channel Island may not count.
Not only must an individual have continually resided in the country for 10 years, the residence must also be lawful. According to paragraph 276A of the Immigration rules, lawful residence is defined as a period in which an individual has one of the following: –
Temporary admission to the UK (based on section 11 of the 1971 Act) thereafter a leave to enter or remain will be granted.
Although not in definition of lawful residence by paragraph 276A, to qualify for long residence, the applicant must not one or more unspent convictions within the meaning of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
In granting settlement under the long residence route, there must be no consideration that would render such settlement against public good. Where granting settlement to an individual, there are grounds to argue that such granted leave is against public good, the application will be rejected.
The safety of lives and property of the citizenry is the utmost concern of any government, as such regardless of how long an individual has stayed in a country, if in granting him further leave would be against public good or put the society in a state of unease, the government will refuse such application.
Settling in the UK under the long residency route would also require that individuals have an adequate knowledge of the English language as well as come to full terms with life in the UK. The level of adequacy has been specified as either an English qualification at B1 level above of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), or SET (LR) GUIDANCE NOTES Version 11/2015 Set (LR) Guidance Notes (Version 11/2015) or having a degree that was taught or researched in English, or being a national of an English-speaking country. The life in the UK test is an actual test of about 45 minutes where the entrants will have to answer at least 24 questions. The test is designed to test the entrant’s knowledge of the country, its people and its values.
Continuous residence may be broken if the applicant:There may be situations where the Home Office may be able to exercise discretion in accessing periods of break in lawful residence viz : – A situation where the applicant has a break in continuous residence of no more than 28 calendar days as a result of making previous applications out of time.
An understanding of this may be important for applicants who have had breaks in lawful residence based on the points mentioned above and would still want to apply to allow the Home Office apply discretion in their case.
Conclusively, it is important to note that applications would generally be refused if they fall under the general grounds for refusal; and that the 10 year continuous residence begins from either the point of arrival in the UK or from when the applicant was given the permission to stay in the UK.
Applicants who entered the UK weeks their visa was valid for use may need to go for an extension of stay so as to complete the qualifying period.
You should make an application for ILR before the expiry of your current leave to remain. You cannot apply more than 28 days before completing the qualifying period of continuous 10 years.
Your qualifying period for 10 years ILR starts from the visa date on which you entered the UK or the date you were granted permission to remain in the UK (if you didn’t enter the UK on a visa).
It’s very important to get the qualifying period right as your application will be refused if you make an early application without meeting the requirement. You will also lose the fees and will have to make a new application.
Documents Required for ILR 10 Years Application
The list of supporting documents for an ILR application can vary depending on your situation.
In general, you must submit the following documents for a valid ILR application on the basis of 10 years.
There can be several other documents that you might need to provide depending on your immigration status.
Besides, if your documents aren’t in English and Welsh, you should also submit certified English translations for all of them.
It usually takes up to 6 months for the UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration) to make a decision on your application. This time can vary depending on your application circumstances.
You can choose to apply using the postal method or by using the Visa premium service centres. The application fees depend on the method you choose for the application.