Settlement planning, made legible
Estimate a possible UK ILR application window using your route, dates and absences. Treat each result as a planning estimate.
Start calculatorILR planning tool
Identify a possible route, gather the missing checks and compare travel days with the relevant absence framework.
Step 1 · route and residence
Choose a route and add a qualifying start date to see a possible planning window and the checks still to verify.
Step 2 · time outside the UK
Only full days outside the UK count: departure and return days are excluded. Overlapping trips are counted once.
CSV files are read and created in this browser only. Your trip data is not uploaded.
Add a trip to calculate full absence days.
Application costs
The standard in-country ILR application fee is currently £3,226 per applicant. Priority and super priority cost extra and are only available when offered during the application.
Calculate your ILR application costStandard application
£3,226
per applicant
Official fee checked 3 October 2026
Effective from 8 April 2026
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.
From the Blog
Practical answers to the questions that come up before, during and after an ILR application.
Domestic abuse ILR depends on your qualifying permission and permanent relationship breakdown. Check settlement, temporary support, safe evidence preparation and children.
Read articleCheck whether the Bereaved Partner route fits your last UK grant, what identity, death and cohabitation evidence to prepare, and how fees and pending travel work.
Read articleCheck whether an ILR holder can sponsor an adult dependant relative, how the long-term care and overseas-care tests work, and what evidence a UK care plan needs.
Read articleYour ILR does not automatically settle your child. Check the route, both parents’ status and the evidence needed before choosing an overseas application.
Read articleFind the right route for your partner after you get ILR, then check relationship, income and evidence rules before applying.
Read articleConfirm when ILR permits self-employment, choose a business structure, check licences and use the correct HMRC registration and records steps.
Read articleHow 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 calendar rolling 12-month periods, including the extra date in a leap-year 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. Google Analytics and Cloudflare Web Analytics measure site use and performance; they are not intended to receive the dates entered into calculator fields. Read the privacy notice for the current analytics configuration and controls.
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 18 August 2026. Start with GOV.UK’s ILR overview, then read the appendix for your route. See our calculation methodology and corrections policy.
