What can cause Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK to Expire?

Recent changes to UK Immigration Rules for holders of Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK should be noted by individuals wishing to protect their settled status in the UK but spend much time outside the UK.

Can Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK expire?

In general, indefinite leave to remain doesn’t have an expiry date, however, it can:

• be cancelled following a criminal conviction
• lapse if you’re out of the UK for two years or longer (or five years if you were granted settled status under the EU settlement scheme)

What are the ULR changes for 2023?

The following changes were made in October 2023 to UK Immigration Rules:

• Visiting the UK once in two years (or once in five years for EU nationals and their family members) will be perfectly legitimate for holders of ILR.
• Appendix Returning Resident allows applications for Returning Resident Visas if previously-granted ILR was superseded by another type of Visa.

Prior to these changes, individuals wishing to retain settled status whilst spending most of their time out with the UK were encouraged to err on the side of caution, as such a situation may not be sufficient to maintain ILR.

Our advice now is more confident in that visiting the UK is sufficient to protect your status and the purpose of your visit should not have an impact on your status.

Read Mondaq’s feature for more