What is Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)?
ILR (also called settlement) gives a person the right to live and work in the UK without any time limit and without being tied to a specific employer or immigration route. It is the step before British citizenship.
The five-year qualifying period
Most Skilled Workers can apply for ILR after five continuous years of lawful residence in the UK on qualifying visas. However, reaching five years' residence does not automatically make a worker independent of sponsorship. Until ILR is formally granted, the worker must remain sponsored and must continue to meet all sponsorship requirements.
Key points for employers
Workers cannot be treated as free from sponsorship obligations simply because they have been in the UK for five years
Sponsors must continue to pay the salary on the CoS and maintain all compliance records until ILR is granted
If the worker's visa is due to expire before they apply for ILR, a further Skilled Worker extension will be needed to bridge the gap
Transitional salary rates and ILR
Workers who were first sponsored on or before 4 April 2024 may be able to rely on a lower transitional salary rate for their renewal application, provided their CoS was assigned before that date and they have held continuous leave since. This transitional protection may assist workers approaching ILR who need a renewal before settlement.
ILR and absences
The Home Office assesses continuous lawful residence when calculating ILR eligibility. Workers who have spent more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period may have their ILR application delayed. Sponsors and workers should keep records of international travel throughout the sponsorship period.
Updated section:
ILR application fee from 8 April 2026
The fee for indefinite leave to remain has increased to £3,226 (up from £3,029) per applicant, including dependants applying at the same time. This applies to in-country ILR applications under the Skilled Worker route.
What employers must do when a worker receives ILR
When a sponsored worker is granted Indefinite Leave to Remain, the employer must report the end of sponsorship on the Sponsor Management System. This should be recorded as the worker having moved to a different immigration category, not as a termination of employment. Once ILR is granted, the worker has the right to work in the UK without restriction and the employer no longer needs to monitor their immigration status for compliance purposes. A fresh right to work check should be conducted and documented at this point to confirm the ILR status.
Government guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table/home-office-immigration-and-nationality-fees-8-april-2026
Government guidance: https://www.gov.uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain