What are the new ILR rules in 2026?

L'équipe BoundedRésidence · United Kingdomoctobre 2026

Réponse courte : As of 9 October 2026 the qualifying periods for ILR have not changed. The Home Office has proposed an "earned settlement" model with a ten-year standard baseline, reductions for contribution and extensions for poor conduct. The consultation outcome and any rules implementing it have not been published. The biggest settlement change already in the Rules is that from 26 March 2027 most routes need B2 English instead of B1. Today the five-year standard, the 3, 2 and 10-year route exceptions and the 180-day absence rule still apply.

Where things stand as of 9 October 2026

The short version: the qualifying periods have not changed yet. The Government has set out a plan to replace the current settlement rules with an "earned settlement" model, consulted on the detail, and said implementation is coming. But as of 9 October 2026 the consultation page still says the Home Office is analysing feedback, and no Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules has introduced the new model. If you apply for indefinite leave to remain today, you are assessed under the rules described in our ILR guide: a five-year qualifying period on most routes and the 180-day absence cap.

One settlement change has been written into the Rules: Statement of Changes HC 1691 (5 March 2026) raises the English requirement for settlement from B1 to B2 on most routes for applications made on or after 26 March 2027. Details are in the English test for ILR.

This page is a status page. It records what has been announced, what has actually been laid before Parliament, and what that means for someone who is close to qualifying. It is reviewed against GOV.UK; the date at the top is the date it was last checked.

How we got here: May 2025 to October 2026

1May 2025 — the immigration white paper "Restoring control over the immigration system" announces a move from automatic settlement after five years to "earned settlement", where the qualifying period depends on an applicant's contribution and conduct.
220 November 2025 — the Home Office opens the consultation "A Fairer Pathway to Settlement" (Command Paper CP 1448), setting out the proposed model and asking how it should apply to people already in the UK.
312 February 2026 — the consultation closes. The Home Secretary told the Home Affairs Committee it had received around 130,000 responses as of early February.
45 March 2026 — Statement of Changes HC 1691 raises the English requirement for settlement to B2 on most routes, from 26 March 2027. It does not change qualifying periods.
513 March 2026 — the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee publishes its report on earned settlement, noting the Home Office had said implementation would begin from April 2026 without a clear timeline, and urging clear transitional arrangements for people already part-way through a route.
617 July 2026 — the Minister for Migration and Citizenship writes to the Home Affairs Committee that officials are still analysing consultation responses and that the Government intends to publish its consultation response, alongside its response to the committee's report, in the autumn.
73 September 2026 — Statement of Changes HC 584 is published, with most changes in force from 8 October 2026. It does not contain the earned-settlement model.
815 September 2026 — the Home Secretary tells the Home Affairs Committee that "later this year we will set out the new policy on settlement", taking into account the consultation responses and any transitional arrangements, and that the rules that apply to you are those in force when you apply. She gave no date.
99 October 2026 — the consultation outcome and any earned-settlement Immigration Rules remain unpublished.

What the earned-settlement proposal says (consultation of 20 November 2025)

The consultation document is a proposal, not law, and the final version may differ. What it puts forward:

A ten-year standard baseline. The standard qualifying period would rise from five years to ten, with longer baselines for some groups (15 years for medium-skilled worker visa holders, 20 for refugees) and a five-year reduction for the partner, parent or child of a British citizen on a family visa and for the Hong Kong BN(O) route, as summarised by the Home Affairs Committee.
Reductions for contribution and integration. Applicants could earn a shorter period than the baseline through the contribution they make and how well they have integrated; the consultation sets out the kinds of factors the Home Office has in mind and asks how much weight each should carry.
Extensions for conduct or public funds. Criminality, immigration breaches or reliance on public funds could lengthen the period beyond ten years.
Existing residents included, transitional terms open. The Government plans to apply the new model to people already in the UK on a route to settlement, not only to new arrivals, with possible transitional protections that have not been decided. This is the point the Home Affairs Committee pressed hardest on, calling for clear transitional arrangements.

Nothing published so far amends Appendix Continuous Residence, so the 180-day absence cap still governs every application made today. The Home Affairs Committee report also notes that the Government plans to abolish the ten-year long residence route as part of the changes.

Statement of Changes HC 584 (3 September 2026): what it does and does not do

Because HC 584 was published in early autumn, the season the Government had named for its earned settlement response, it is easy to assume it was that package. It is not. It is a targeted set of amendments, most in force from 8 October 2026, covering:

the EU Settlement Scheme;
the Skilled Worker route (letting identified victims of modern slavery work for any employer);
dependent children of British National (Overseas) status holders, who no longer need their own five years of continuous residence to settle alongside their parents;
the Victim of Domestic Abuse settlement route, extended to adult dependent children;
how varied applications are handled on the Long Residence route;
the Visitor and Student routes, mainly to support Erasmus+ participation;
the T2 Minister of Religion and Religious Worker routes (from 29 October 2026), the Student maintenance uplift (from 30 November 2026) and an EU Settlement Scheme change (from 9 December 2026).

Nothing in HC 584 changes the qualifying period for settlement on the main work and family routes or rewrites Appendix Continuous Residence. If you see a claim that the new ILR rules "came in on 8 October", check it against the statements of changes collection on GOV.UK.

The rules that apply today (checked 9 October 2026)

Five years of continuous residence on most routes — Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Scale-up, Global Talent applicants endorsed under the exceptional promise criteria by Arts Council England or Tech Nation, and the five-year partner and parent routes.
Three years on the accelerated routes (Innovator Founder, and Global Talent applicants endorsed under the exceptional talent criteria, by the Royal Society, British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering or UKRI, or through a listed prize), two years on a few closed legacy investor categories, and ten years for long residence.
No more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period across the whole qualifying period, set out in Appendix Continuous Residence and explained on the 180-day absence rule page.
Applications can be made up to 28 days before the qualifying period is complete — see when you can apply for ILR.
The Life in the UK test, the English language requirement (B1 on most routes until 26 March 2027, B2 from then) and the route-specific requirements (for example, continued sponsorship on Skilled Worker) still apply. The fee is covered in how much ILR costs.

What to do if you qualify soon (as of 9 October 2026)

Apply as soon as you are eligible

Statements of Changes usually protect applications already made, so that they are decided under the rules in force on the day before the change — but not always: some HC 584 changes apply to pending applications too. The B2 English rule, for example, turns on the date of application. If your qualifying period ends in the coming months, work out your earliest date and submit within the 28-day early window rather than waiting for a convenient moment. Do not apply more than 28 days early: GOV.UK warns that an earlier application may be refused, and the fee is not refunded.

Keep an exact absence record

Under the current rules your absences decide whether your five years are actually complete; under any future model they will decide the same thing over a longer period. A day-by-day list of trips, with dates and evidence, is worth more than any amount of speculation about the new rules. The free UK ILR absence calculator tests every rolling 12-month window against the 180-day cap and shows your earliest application date, and Bounded records border crossings automatically so the list already exists when you need it. See what counts as an absence for ILR for the counting rules.

Check GOV.UK before relying on any date

Announced dates have moved once already: the Home Secretary originally said implementation would begin from April 2026, and the Government now says it will respond in the autumn. Do not plan around a start date for the new model — or a deadline to beat it — that you have not seen in a published Statement of Changes. The consultation page is where the Government response will appear, and the statements-of-changes collection is where the rules themselves will be laid.

Quick answers (as of 9 October 2026)

Has the qualifying period changed to ten years? No. It is proposed, not in force.
Will the new rules apply to me if I am already in the UK? The Government has proposed that they would, subject to transitional arrangements that have not been published. Nothing applies until it is laid in a Statement of Changes.
Did the 8 October 2026 changes affect ILR? Not the qualifying period or the absence rule on the main routes. HC 584 makes targeted changes, including settlement for BN(O) dependent children and the Victim of Domestic Abuse route.
Is anything about ILR definitely changing? Yes: from 26 March 2027 most routes need B2 English instead of B1 (HC 1691).
Should I wait to see the new rules? If you are eligible now, waiting only exposes you to rules that are expected to be stricter, not more generous.

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La règle complèteRoyaume-Uni — ILR : règle des 180 jours d'absence

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