Settlement or indefinite leave to remain is often the end goal for many immigration applicants. Settlement can often only be obtained after a certain number of years of continuous residence in the UK, meeting various immigration requirements, and paying thousands of pounds in various fees.

But not all visa routes lead to settlement. Some routes can’t be combined easily with other routes. Some routes lead to settlement faster than others.

Here we have provided an overview of the work visa routes that can lead to settlement and the pitfalls that can occur.

What is settlement?

The Home Office used to prefer the term ‘indefinite leave to remain’ but have changed the terminology to ‘settlement’ in recent years. Both essentially mean the same thing of being able to remain in the UK without restriction to duration.

Those who have settlement do not have to extend it or meet any particular requirement to maintain it. They are not restricted in the activities they can undertake in relation to working or studying and, if they want to, they can go onto make an application to naturalise as a British citizen.

Is settlement indefinite?

In theory, yes. However, there are ways settlement can be lost.

The most obvious is if the individual is continuously outside of the UK for a certain period of time. For most people, including those who are granted settlement on a work visa route, this period of time is two years. For those granted settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, the period of time is five years.

If an individual’s absence from the UK exceeds this limit, settlement can lapse and the individual may either have to start their journey to settlement all over again or apply as a returning resident. This can be avoided if the individual returns to the UK on a regular basis.

Settlement can also be lost if it was obtained by fraud or criminality, or there are legitimate reasons for the Home Secretary to remove this status.

How do I get settlement on a work visa route?

How an individual obtains settlement depends on the immigration route they are under at the time they apply. For work routes in the UK, we can break this down into two groups: main applicants and dependants.

Main applicants

The following routes lead to settlement:

• Skilled Worker
• International Sportsperson
• Innovator Founder
• Scale up
• Tier 2 (Minister of Religion)
• Global Talent
• Ancestry

In addition, other routes which are no longer open for new applicants can lead to settlement including:

• Representative of an Overseas Business
• Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)
• Tier 1 (Investor)

The main applicant must meet the conditions of their immigration route, reside in the UK for a certain period of time, and meet the specific requirements of their route for settlement.

The requirements for settlement vary drastically across routes.

For example, a skilled worker is effectively tied to their sponsor across the period in question and, for a settlement application, must meet a specific salary requirement and receive a letter of confirmation from their sponsor about the need for their ongoing role.

A global talent applicant has much more flexibility during their period of residence and has to evidence funds received as a result of work within their field as part of their settlement application.

A Tier 1 (Investor) has to demonstrate that they have maintained their qualifying investments during the required period.

All applicants also need to meet the general requirements for settlement outlined below and submit an online application as normal.

Dependants

Dependants may be able to apply for settlement at the same time as the main applicant. Dependants have to meet much reduced requirements including some basic evidence of their relationship with the main applicant continuing to exist.

Children can apply at the same time, provided both of their parents are eligible (unless only one parent has responsibility for the child).

Partners generally must reside in the UK for five continuous years as a dependant and of course their application is tied to the success of the main applicant. Depending on when the main applicant received settlement, this can mean that one parent, and subsequently any children, have to wait slightly longer to apply for settlement after the main applicant has received this status.

Which work routes don’t lead to settlement?

Some work routes are specifically designed for a short period of time, and therefore do not lead to settlement. They include:

• Seasonal worker
• Temporary work visas, such as the international agreement visa, government authorised exchange visa, creative worker visa, charity worker visa, and religious worker visa
• Youth mobility visa
• Senior or specialist worker visa (global business mobility)
• UK expansion worker visa (global business mobility)
• High potential individual
• Graduate

Time under these routes does not count towards the continuous residence requirements (unless the applicant is making a long residence settlement application, as noted below).

Similarly, time spent under other temporary routes, such as the student route or as a visitor, would not be included.

Other non-work routes (such as permission as a partner of a British citizen) can lead to settlement in their own right, but generally can’t be combined with the work routes described above.

Can I combine time spent on different work visa routes to meet the continuous residence requirements?

It is possible to combine most of the main applicant work visa routes set out above in order to meet the continuous residence requirements.

There are some complications to this, however.

The order of the permission held is important. If the applicant currently holds and is applying for settlement under the scale up, innovator founder or representative of an overseas business routes, this cannot be combined with any other permission held previously.

However, if switching from the scale up, innovator founder or representative of an overseas business routes to another main applicant route, the time can be combined to meet the continuous residence requirements. For instance, it is possible to rely on the time under the representative of the overseas business route if the applicant then switched to the skilled worker route, to make five years between both routes. The same does not work in reverse.

Similarly, time as a dependant cannot be combined with time as a main applicant and vice versa. Families should therefore be careful when deciding who the main applicant will be, as ideally this should not change for a five-year period.

If an advantageous combination does not apply, and the applicant has lived in the UK for ten continuous years, the long residence route may be an option instead. This allows a combination of time across any lawfully held immigration route, apart from time as a visitor, short term student or seasonal worker.

What are the general requirements for settlement?

As well as meeting the specific requirements of their particular route, those applying as adults must meet the absences criteria of no more than 180 days per rolling 12 month period, normally need to pass a Life in the UK test and meet the English language requirements.

There can be some exceptions to these points, depending on the applicant’s age and circumstances.

When can I apply?

All of the routes lead to settlement after five continuous years, apart from the innovator founder route which takes three years. However, some routes allow a quicker route to settlement if particular requirements are met.

Under the global talent route, applicants can apply for settlement after three continuous years if they were endorsed as exceptionally talented by Tech Nation or Arts Council England, or if they were endorsed by the Royal Society, British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering or UKRI (as either exceptionally talented or promising).

Those under the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route can apply after three continuous years if they have employed over 10 people or the company has an increase in business activity of at least £5 million, and a number of documents would be required in these circumstances.

Those under the Tier 1 (Investor) route can apply after two years if they invested £10 million, or after three years, if they invested £5 million.

Frustratingly, these accelerated routes do not apply to the relevant dependants, who have to wait a full five years. Strangely, however, those who hold permission as an ancestry dependant can apply whenever the main applicant is eligible, meaning they can apply without a specific period of residence at all.

What happens once I have settlement?

Once settled, individuals are no longer restricted in their work or study or in their absences (other than not leaving the UK for a continuous period of two years).

Those who are married or in a civil partnership with a British citizen can apply to naturalise as a British citizen straight away, if they have resided in the UK for three continuous years. Those who are not in such a relationship must wait a year after having received settlement before being able to apply for naturalisation.

Once a parent has settlement it may mean that their child has a right to apply for registration as a British citizen, depending on the circumstances of their birth.

Sounds great! Anything else I should know?

The settlement application fees can be expensive; currently they are £2,885 per person. However, there are no immigration health surcharge payments, which is generous.