Government confirms closure of the 10 year Long Residence route

Which immigration routes will count towards settlement

The Government has confirmed that the separate 10-year Long Residence route will close under its Earned Settlement framework. This represents a significant change for people who expected to qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) by combining lawful residence under different immigration categories, including Student and Graduate permission.

The announcement does not mean that the route has already closed. The Government published its consultation response on 2 November 2026 and says the framework must now be translated into detailed rules and operational arrangements. Applicants should distinguish the announced policy from the Immigration Rules applicable when they apply.

What is changing

Under the existing Long Residence framework, time spent lawfully in the UK on most immigration routes can contribute towards the 10-year qualifying period, subject to the applicable requirements and exclusions. This includes Student and Graduate permission, even though those routes do not themselves lead directly to settlement.

Under the announced reforms, reaching 10 years of lawful residence will no longer provide a separate basis for settlement. Instead, qualifying residence will need to be accumulated on specified routes intended to support permanent residence.

The Government’s position is that residence should remain important, but time spent in the UK for a temporary purpose should not, by itself, build an entitlement to permanent status.

Which routes will count

The response identifies the following qualifying categories:

The response defines core permission as including Skilled Worker, Tier 2 Minister of Religion, UK Ancestry, Global Talent, Scale Up, Innovator Founder, International Sportsperson, specified Family–Partner and Partner/Parent permission excluding Article 8 cases, and Stateless Person permission.

The high talent group includes Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Scale Up, Innovator Founder and International Sportsperson. Inclusion in this group does not, by itself, establish entitlement to accelerated settlement.

A route counting towards settlement does not mean that every settlement pathway is available to its holders. Applicants must still satisfy the requirements of the particular pathway, including the applicable residence period and other eligibility conditions.

Which routes will not count

The Government’s response identifies the following exclusions from qualifying residence under Earned Settlement:

For Leave Outside the Rules, the Government acknowledges that some people’s grants may not clearly indicate whether they were intended to provide a route to settlement. It will consider the treatment of that group further.

These exclusions concern whether residence counts towards settlement. They do not, by themselves, mean that the underlying visa routes are being closed.

Can time on different routes be combined

The reforms distinguish between qualifying residence and the ability to combine different types of permission.

Applicants should not assume that all the qualifying categories listed above can be added together. Any combination must be permitted for the relevant settlement pathway under the detailed rules.

The Government expressly states that time on protection or human-rights routes cannot be combined with time on work or family routes to meet the qualifying residence period. This includes refugee and Article 8 routes.

Where a person moves between those categories, the qualifying period for the new settlement pathway will begin when they move onto it. For example, someone who moves from a work route into the protection system will not be able to carry their previous work-route residence into the protection settlement calculation.

Ordinary qualifying family permission should therefore not be confused with permission granted on an Article 8 human-rights basis.

What would this mean in practice

Consider someone who spends four years as a Student, two years on the Graduate route and four years as a Skilled Worker.

Under the existing Long Residence framework, those periods may contribute towards a 10-year application, provided all other requirements are met.

Under the announced Earned Settlement approach, the Student and Graduate periods would not count. The person would have four years of qualifying Skilled Worker residence and would need to satisfy the requirements of their applicable settlement pathway. This illustration remains subject to the eventual commencement and transitional provisions.

Similarly, someone moving from a protection or Article 8 route to an eligible work route should not assume that their earlier residence can be used to shorten the new qualifying period.

What should existing visa holders consider

The practical impact will depend on each person’s immigration history, their current permission and the rules governing the transition to the new system.

Anyone approaching 10 years’ lawful residence should review:

• Which periods qualify under the current Long Residence rules.
• Whether they can meet the existing requirements before any closure takes effect.
• Which Earned Settlement pathway would apply to them.
• Whether switching routes would restart their qualifying period.
• Whether any transitional protection covers their circumstances.

The central change is that 10 years of lawful residence across different visa categories will no longer provide a standalone settlement route. Under the announced framework, the purpose and category of a person’s immigration permission will determine whether their time in the UK counts.