Settlement planning, made legible
Use our ILR calculator to map your qualifying residence and identify the earliest date you may be able to apply for settlement in the UK.
ILR calculator
Tell us about your route and key dates. We’ll present a clear planning estimate, plus the assumptions behind it.
ILR planning tool
Calculate a route-aware earliest application date and check travel days against the rolling absence rule where it applies.
Step 1 · residency clock
Enter a start date to see your earliest application date.
Step 2 · time outside the UK
Only full days outside the UK count: departure and return days are excluded. Overlapping trips are counted once.
Add a trip to calculate full absence days.
A better way to plan
ILR eligibility is not just a five- or ten-year countdown. Absences, changes of route and continuous residence can all affect your timeline. Our guides separate the rules into the details worth checking.
Choose a route
Understand qualifying time, permitted absences and the settlement application window.
Usually 5 yearsPlan the timeline for family life routes and the evidence you may need.
10 yearsCheck continuous lawful residence and how past permission can count.
How the estimate works
A Skilled Worker, BN(O), partner or Long Residence case does not use one universal clock. Start with the route shown on your grant or decision letter. If you have switched routes, check whether the current rules permit earlier periods to be combined before adding them to the calculation.
Enter the date relevant to the qualifying period, not a date recalled from memory. Depending on the route and circumstances, the grant date, entry date and periods between grants can need different treatment. Our result is a planning estimate and tells you which assumption it has used.
For routes covered by Appendix Continuous Residence, only whole days outside the UK are normally counted. The day you leave and the day you return are not normally whole days abroad. We merge overlapping trips and test each rolling 365-day window rather than using calendar years.
A date alone cannot test lawful residence, sponsor evidence, salary, relationship, English, Life in the UK or suitability. Use the result to organise your next checks, then read the current route guidance and Immigration Rules before submitting an application.
Rules people often mix up
28-day window
Many settlement routes allow an application up to 28 days before the qualifying period completes, but that does not make every date safe. Confirm the period the caseworker is permitted to use and do not rely on the expiry date printed on a visa as a substitute for the qualifying calculation.
Calculate and check the application window →Absences
Where the rolling rule applies, the Home Office can look at any consecutive 12-month period. One block may cross two calendar years. Historic grants and Long Residence periods can also involve transitional provisions, so keep the original travel chronology rather than just annual totals.
Read the rolling 180-day explanation →Family routes
The five-year partner route does not have a general 180-day cap identical to the sponsored work rule. Residence, the genuine and subsisting relationship and the intention to live together in the UK remain important. A work-route dependant is a separate category again.
Open the partner and spouse route guide →Common questions
No. ILR Calculator UK is an independent planning service. GOV.UK and the Immigration Rules are the primary sources. We show our assumptions and sources so that a result can be checked rather than treated as a decision.
No. The calculator covers dates and selected absence rules. It cannot decide whether permission was lawful throughout, whether a route condition is met, whether evidence is sufficient or whether suitability grounds apply.
The public calculators run in your browser. The site does not need an account to calculate a result. Optional Google Analytics and Cloudflare Web Analytics measure site use and performance; they are not intended to receive the dates entered into calculator fields.
Build a complete chronology of grants, applications, travel and route changes. Read the official guidance that applies to the relevant periods. If a gap, excessive absence, refusal, criminal matter or uncertain transition could affect the outcome, consider advice from a regulated immigration adviser or solicitor.
Method last reviewed 17 August 2026. Start with GOV.UK’s ILR overview, then read the appendix for your route. See our calculation methodology and corrections policy.
