ILR Calculator: Check Your Absences and When You Can Apply

How the ILR calculator works

This ILR calculator checks the two things most people need before they apply for indefinite leave to remain. It shows the earliest date you can apply, and it counts whole days outside the UK against the 180-day rule.

Enter the date you want the check to run to, usually the date you plan to apply. Choose 5 years, 10 years, or 3 years where that length is offered. Enter the date your qualifying period started to see when it ends and the earliest application date, 28 days before the end. If you leave the start blank, the result only illustrates counting those years back from the application date. It is not an earliest application date. Add each trip. The day you leave and the day you return are not counted, and a day covered by two trips is counted once. The calculation runs in your browser.

ILR eligibility: who can use this calculator

Use this if your route has a continuous residence period of 3, 5 or 10 years under Appendix Continuous Residence. Five years is the usual length for Skilled Worker, including the Tier 2 (General) route it replaced. Three years applies only where the rules for that route say so, such as some Global Talent and Innovator Founder applications. Ten years is the long residence route.

The calculator does not decide whether you qualify for indefinite leave to remain. English language, the Life in the UK test, good character, and your current permission can all change the outcome. If you are not sure which length applies, check the rules for your route or speak to an adviser.

When can I apply for ILR? (application date)

You can usually apply no earlier than 28 days before the qualifying period ends. If a 5-year period ends on 15 November 2026, the earliest application date is 18 October 2026. The same 28-day window applies to a 3-year or 10-year period.

Under Appendix Continuous Residence CR 1.1, the period is counted back from whichever is most beneficial: the date of application, any date up to 28 days after that, or the date of decision. Leaving the start date blank only illustrates that count-back. Add the real start date to see the earliest date for the 5-year and 10-year routes, and for 3 years where that length applies.

The 180-day absence rule

For permission granted on or after 11 January 2018, you must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period during the qualifying period (CR 3.1). Those 12 months roll. They are not a calendar year. Absences during permission granted before 11 January 2018 are counted in consecutive 12-month periods ending on the application date. The result uses the rolling test.

Only whole days count, so the departure day and the return day are left out. Some absences do not count, including travel disruption caused by a natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic, and compelling and compassionate circumstances such as a life-threatening illness or the death of a close family member (CR 3.4). Long residence also limits absence before 11 April 2024 to 184 days in one absence and 548 days in total. This page does not apply those limits. A total above 170 days is marked as close to the limit. That marker is not a Home Office threshold.