Which settlement category (and form) to use when completing ten years of lawful residence

Each settlement route has its own unique application form on which the application must be made. Failure to apply on the correct form can in some instances lead to the application being treated as invalid, as the applicant in this recent case sadly found out.

There are currently three ten year routes to settlement, also known as indefinite leave to remain (or “ILR”), under the immigration rules:

• Long Residence (Appendix Long Residence)
• Private Life (Appendix Private Life)
• Family Life (Appendix Settlement Family Life)

I will provide a quick overview of the three routes here, with some tips on how to choose which one to use where there is a choice, links to the correct forms and a reminder of what the Home Office guidance says where the wrong form is used.

Long Residence 

This is the non-specific route that allows you to combine almost any type of leave to make up the 10 years but beware of the exceptions:

LR 11.1. The applicant must have spent a qualifying period of 10 years lawfully in the UK, for the entirety of which one or more of the following applied:

(a) the applicant had permission, except permission under Appendix Ukraine Scheme, or permission as a Visitor, Short-term Student (English language) or Seasonal Worker (or under any of their predecessor routes); or

(b) the applicant was exempt from immigration control; or

(c) the applicant was in the UK as an EEA national, or the family member of an EEA national, exercising a right to reside under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016 prior to 11pm on 31 December 2020 (and until 30 June 2021 or the final determination of an application under Appendix EU made by them by that date).

Even if you are about to finish ten years in the Private Life or Family Life route, you can still opt to apply under Long Residence instead. There are a few reasons you might want to do that:

• You need a fast decision and cannot wait up to six months, as this route is eligible for Super Priority (though you have to be one of the first 10 or so people to apply that day and Super Priority “slots” are released at either 12am or 1am, depending on whether the clocks have gone back or forwards).

• If you’re in the Family route as a partner and your relationship has broken down, as that route will no longer be an option.

• If you’re in the Family route as a parent and for whatever reason, you are no longer taking an active role in the child’s upbringing, that route will similarly no longer be available to you. Further, if the child on which your permission is based is not settled or applying for settlement at the same time, you would not meet the requirements of that route and should instead look at Long Residence.

But bear in mind that if you were last granted leave after 11 April 2024, you must have held leave in your current route for 12 months before you can apply for indefinite leave to remain on the basis of Long Residence.

Also, the absences requirement is generally less generous than in the other two routes, as for any period that makes up your 10 years prior to 11 April 2024, your absences must not exceed 548 days in total and no single absence may exceed 184 days. Your absences after this date just need to be below 180 days in any given 12 months, same as the other two routes.

The correct form to use is SET(LR). Do note that the form states the following at the outset:

This seems wrong (or at best confusing) for a couple of reasons. The introduction to Appendix Settlement Family Life still says that people in this route can alternatively apply under Long Residence. And I do not see how the Home Office can force people to apply in one category when all the requirements of the other, more preferred category are met.

Private Life

This will only be relevant to adults who qualified for a grant in this route on the basis that they have lived in the UK for over 20 years, or under 20 years but where there are significant obstacles to reintegration, as children and young people who qualify on other grounds can settle after five years.

The applicant must have last been granted leave in the Private Life route (as a validity requirement) and the ten year period in this route must be made up of the following types of leave:

PL 14.3. Permission on the following routes (or any combination of those routes) counts towards the qualifying period in PL 14.1. or PL 14.2:

(a) entry clearance or permission granted as a partner or parent under Appendix FM (except for permission as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner); or

(b) permission described in the Home Office grant letter as “family permission as a parent” or “family permission as a partner”; or

(c) permission on the private life route under paragraph 276ADE or 276BE(2) before 20 June 2022 or Appendix Private Life; or

(d) entry clearance or permission as a child of a person with limited leave as a partner or parent under Appendix FM; or

(e) permission granted outside the rules as a partner, a parent or child or because of private life on the basis of Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention.

PL 14.4. Permission on any other route that includes rules allowing an applicant to qualify for settlement also counts towards the qualifying period in PL 14.1. or PL 14.2, if the applicant:

(a) did not enter the UK illegally (unless they have permission to stay on the private life route as a child or young adult); and

(b) has had permission either under paragraph 276ADE or 276 BE(2) before 20 June 2022 or Appendix Private Life for at least one year at the date of application.

The absences provision is the standard “no more than 180 days’ absence in any given 12 months” so it’s more generous than the Long Residence rules. However, there is no Super Priority available for this application.

The correct form is “Settlement Private Life”.

Family Life – parent or partner

This category is very much like the Private Life route, only for family life as a partner or parent. In this case, your last grant of leave must have been as a partner or parent under Appendix FM (as a validity requirement).

The 10 years must be made up of the following types of leave:

SETF 3.1. The applicant must have spent a continuous qualifying period in the UK of 10 years with permission under the following (or any combination of the following):

(a) entry clearance or permission granted as a partner or parent under Appendix FM (except for permission as a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner); or

(b) permission described in the Home Office grant letter as “family permission as a parent” or “family permission as a partner”; or

(c) permission on the private life route under paragraph 276ADE or 276BE(2) before 20 June 2022 or Appendix Private Life; or

(d) entry clearance or permission as a child of a person with limited leave as a partner or parent under Appendix FM; or

(e) permission granted outside the rules as a partner, a parent or child or because of private life on the basis of Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention.

SETF 3.2. If the applicant does not meet SETF 3.1, the 10-year qualifying period can be met by also counting time on any other route that includes rules allowing an applicant to qualify for settlement, if the applicant:

(a) did not enter the UK illegally; and

(b) has had permission as a partner (if applying as a partner) or parent (if applying as a parent) under Appendix FM for at least one year.

As with the last category we looked at, the absences provision is the standard “no more than 180 days’ absence in any given 12 months” and there is no Super Priority available for this application.

The correct form is “Settlement Adult Relative”. You will see that the form gives you two options, both of them misspelled:

As an aside, it took me almost 20 minutes to find this form and, quite frankly, I’m exasperated by this new bland, generic naming convention for application forms. Finding the correct form was simpler when forms had highly specific names like “SET(LR)” so searching for them online immediately led you to the correct form instead of having to wade through AI summaries that wrongly insist that SET(O) is the correct form for most applications. If anyone from the Home Office is reading, may I suggest SET(PL) and SET(FL)?

Family Life – child

Appendix Settlement Family Life also contains provisions for your child dependant to apply for ILR if you are settling in this route as a partner or parent (or have already settled in this route, even if you are now British).

The child’s last grant of leave must have been as a dependent child unless they were born in the UK. There is the usual sole responsibility test here: 

 SETF 12.2. If applying as a child, the applicant’s other parent must be being granted settlement at the same time, or be settled or a British citizen, unless:

(a) the person (P) in SETF 12.1. is the applicant’s sole surviving parent; or

(b) the person (P) in SETF 12.1. has sole responsibility for the applicant’s upbringing; or

(c) the decision maker is satisfied that there are serious and compelling reasons to grant the applicant settlement.

The child does not need to have completed 10 years, or indeed any minimum period of time, to qualify.

The correct form is the equally generic “Child Settlement”.

In cases where the sole responsibility test won’t be met because the child’s other parent has some involvement in their life but does not normally live with them, it may be possible for the child to apply instead under paragraph 298 of Part 8 of the Rules, which contains an easier requirement (my emphasis):

(b) one parent is present and settled in the United Kingdom and has had sole responsibility for the child’s upbringing or the child normally lives with this parent and not their other parent 

However, this route has maintenance and accommodation provisions, so review its provisions carefully before making a decision. The correct form for an application under para 298 is SET(F).

Home Office guidance where the wrong form is used

The Home Office guidance on Validation, variation, voiding and withdrawal of applications states:

If an applicant has not applied on the correct specified form, contact them using the ‘Validity reminder in and out of country’ template, indicating what the correct form is if it is clear, and advising them to seek advice on the correct form if it is not clear what route they are seeking to apply on. Give them 14 days to submit an application on that form.

If the applicant has attended the Service and Support Centre as part of their application, tell them in person they should consider making a variation application by completing a different form, and complete ‘Checking whether intended application has been made’ template to give the applicant to take advice on.

If the applicant does not respond to the request and complete the correct form, then their application on the incorrect form must be rejected as invalid using the ‘Validity rejection in and out of country after write out’ template. You should note on the validity screen in Atlas, or in the notes on CID, the reason for rejection.

Given the confusion around the online forms, this is a sensible provision. Where the Home Office does get in touch about this then the correct form must be submitted within the deadline in order to protect the applicant’s position and avoid their losing the application fee.