Can I Apply for UK ILR If My Partner Is British?

If your partner is a British citizen (or settled in the UK), you can usually apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) after five continuous years in the UK with permission as their partner. The partner route sits in Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules, and you need to meet its relationship, financial, English language and Life in the UK requirements.

What Is UK ILR?

Indefinite Leave to Remain, also called settlement, is permission to stay in the UK without a time limit. You can live, work and study without visa conditions, and you no longer have a "no recourse to public funds" condition. ILR is now issued as an eVisa, which you access through your UKVI account.

You can lose ILR if you spend long periods outside the UK (normally more than two years in a row). ILR is also the usual step before British citizenship. If you are married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen, you can apply to naturalise as soon as you have ILR, provided you have lived in the UK for the last three years and meet the other requirements.

Eligibility Through A British Partner

Who Qualifies as A Partner

Under Appendix FM, your partner can be your spouse, your civil partner, or your unmarried partner. Same-sex couples are treated in the same way. Unmarried partners must have been in a relationship similar to marriage or civil partnership for at least two years before the date of application. You and your partner must both be aged 18 or over.

Proving A Genuine and Subsisting Relationship

At the ILR stage you must show that the relationship is still genuine and subsisting and that you intend to live together permanently in the UK. Useful evidence usually includes:

• documents showing you have lived together at the same address throughout the period, such as a tenancy agreement or mortgage statement, council tax bills, utility bills and bank statements addressed to you both;
• evidence of shared finances and responsibilities, such as a joint bank account;
• birth certificates of any children you have together.

Spread your documents across the whole five years. If you married abroad, the marriage must be valid under the law of the country where it took place, and any document not in English or Welsh needs a certified translation.

How The Five-year Partner Route Works

The usual pattern is an initial grant of permission (up to 2 years and 9 months if you apply from outside the UK, or 2 years and 6 months if you apply inside the UK), then an extension of up to a further 2 years and 6 months, then ILR once you have completed 60 months with permission as a partner.

1. Initial application: from 8 April 2026 the fee is £2,064 from outside the UK or £1,407 inside the UK, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge of £1,035 per year (£2,587.50 for 2 years and 6 months). Applicants from certain countries also need a tuberculosis test certificate.
2. Extension: apply before your permission expires, with updated evidence of your relationship, finances and English.
3. ILR: apply online once you have completed five years. The fee is £3,226 per person (from 8 April 2026). The old SET(M) paper form has been replaced by an online application.

Only time spent with permission as a partner under Appendix FM counts towards the five years. Time on a work or study visa cannot be combined with partner time to reach five years on this route, although it may count towards the separate 10-year long residence route.

If you do not meet all the requirements of the five-year route (for example the financial requirement), you may instead be granted permission on a 10-year route to settlement based on family life.

Switching into The Partner Route

You can generally switch to the partner route from inside the UK if you currently hold permission for more than six months (other than as a visitor, or on short-term or seasonal permission). Visitors and people without permission usually need to apply from outside the UK, unless an exception applies, for example where there are insurmountable obstacles to family life continuing outside the UK. Get advice before relying on an exception.

Residence and Absences

You must have completed a continuous period of at least 60 months with permission as a partner. Appendix FM does not set the "180 days in any 12 months" absence limit that applies to work routes such as Skilled Worker, but you must show that you and your partner have been living together in the UK and intend to continue to do so. Long periods apart or abroad may lead the Home Office to question this, so keep a record of your trips and the reasons for them. Citizenship applications have their own absence rules.

You can apply up to 28 days before you complete your five years. If you apply too early, the Home Office will refuse the application and you will not get the fee back.

Financial Requirement

Minimum Income Levels

For partners who first applied on or after 11 April 2024, the minimum income requirement is £29,000 a year (your partner's income, or your combined income if you are in the UK with permission to work). There is no additional amount for children under this threshold.

If you first applied as a partner (or fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner) before 11 April 2024, transitional provisions mean the old threshold of £18,600 applies when you extend with the same partner, plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child who is not British, Irish or settled. Get advice on how the transitional provisions apply to your settlement application.

Acceptable Sources of Income

Appendix FM-SE sets out the evidence required. Accepted sources include salaried and non-salaried employment, self-employment, pensions, certain non-employment income such as rental income, and cash savings. Income from most public funds cannot be counted.

Cash savings above £16,000, held for at least six months, can be used. At the ILR stage the savings needed are £16,000 plus the full shortfall in income (for example £45,000 if relying on savings alone against the £29,000 threshold). At the entry and extension stages the shortfall is multiplied by 2.5.

Exemptions and Adequate Maintenance

The minimum income requirement does not apply if your partner receives certain benefits, including Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance or Carer's Allowance. Instead, you must show you can adequately maintain and accommodate yourselves without further recourse to public funds.

Partners whose relationship has broken down because of domestic abuse, and bereaved partners, have separate settlement routes with no financial requirement.

English Language Requirement

For ILR you must show English at level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) in speaking and listening. The rules already provide for this to rise to B2 for applications made on or after 26 March 2027. You can meet the requirement by:

• passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT) with an approved provider at the required level; or
• holding a degree taught or researched in English (overseas degrees must be confirmed by Ecctis); or
• being a national of a majority English-speaking country on the Home Office list (such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA).

Some test certificates are only valid for two years, so check yours before relying on it.

Exemptions

You do not need to meet the English requirement if you are aged 65 or over, or if you have a long-term physical or mental condition that prevents you from meeting it (confirmed by a doctor). The domestic abuse and bereaved partner settlement routes are also exempt.

Life in The UK Test

If you are aged 18 to 64 you must also pass the Life in the UK test, unless you have a long-term physical or mental condition that prevents you from taking it. The test costs £50, has 24 questions about British traditions, history and customs, and lasts 45 minutes. It is based on the official handbook, Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents. You need to answer 18 questions correctly (75%) to pass. You must book online at least three days in advance and can retake the test if you fail, paying the fee again.

You only need to pass once. You can use the same pass later for a citizenship application.

If you meet all the other requirements but have not yet met the English or Life in the UK requirement, the Home Office will normally grant a further 30 months' permission instead of ILR.

Application Process Overview

Online Form and Supporting Documents

You apply for ILR online on GOV.UK. You upload your documents or have them scanned at your appointment, including your passport, relationship and cohabitation evidence, financial evidence under Appendix FM-SE, and your English and Life in the UK evidence. Documents not in English or Welsh need certified translations.

Biometrics and Decision

After submitting the online form, you will usually need to give your fingerprints and photo at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) centre, or confirm your identity using the UK Immigration: ID Check app if you are told you can. There is no Home Office fee for giving your biometrics, although some UKVCAS premium appointments are charged.

The Home Office usually decides ILR applications within six months of your biometrics appointment. A super priority service may be available for an extra £1,000. Do not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision. If your application is approved, your ILR will be issued as an eVisa, which you access through your UKVI account.

Proposed Changes to Settlement

In November 2025 the government consulted on an "earned settlement" model that would change the standard qualifying period for ILR on many routes. At the time of writing these proposals have not been brought into force, and the five-year partner route continues to apply. Check the current rules, or take advice, before you apply.