How to Become a UK Resident: Visas, Costs, and ILR

To become a UK resident, you apply for a visa that matches your reason for coming — work, study, family, business, or ancestry — then build up five years of continuous residence on a qualifying route to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). ILR is settled status: no time limit, and most restrictions on working and using public services fall away. Everything before that is limited leave to remain, granted for a set period and tied to conditions you have to keep meeting.

Pick the Visa Route That Fits Your Situation

The right starting point depends on why you’re coming to the UK. Each route has its own rules, but most of the main ones can lead to ILR after five years.

Working in the UK

The Skilled Worker visa is the standard route for people with a job offer. You need a confirmed offer from a Home Office-approved employer, who issues a Certificate of Sponsorship before you apply.¹ The general minimum salary is £41,700 per year, and your employer must pay whichever is higher: that threshold or the going rate for your occupation.²

Eligible medical and care professionals can apply for the Health and Care Worker visa instead, which has a lower salary floor of £31,300 (or the going rate, whichever is higher) and significantly lower application fees.³

Studying in the UK

The Student visa lets you study at a licensed institution that has issued you a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. You’ll need to show you can cover living costs: £1,529 per month in London or £1,171 per month outside London, held for up to nine months.⁴

After a qualifying degree, the Graduate visa gives you two years (three for doctoral qualifications) to work, be self-employed, or job-hunt without sponsorship.⁵ Important boundary: time on a Graduate visa does not count toward the five years needed for ILR. Treat it as a bridge into a sponsored work route, not a settlement route in itself.

Joining Family

If your spouse, partner, or parent is a British citizen or has settled status, you can apply for a Family visa. The sponsor generally needs a combined annual income of at least £29,000, though savings above £16,000 can help make up a shortfall.⁶ You’ll also need to prove the relationship is genuine. Family visa holders can apply for ILR after five years of continuous residence.

Business and Talent Routes

Entrepreneurs with a new, innovative, scalable business idea can apply for the Innovator Founder visa. You need endorsement from an approved body, and you’ll meet with that body at 12 and 24 months to demonstrate progress.⁷ The Global Talent visa is for leaders and emerging leaders in academia, arts and culture, or digital technology, and needs no employer sponsorship.⁸ Both count toward ILR after five years.

UK Ancestry

Commonwealth citizens with a grandparent born in the UK, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man can apply for the UK Ancestry visa.⁹ It gives five years of permission to live and work in the UK and leads directly to ILR eligibility.

What Every Applicant Has to Prove

The route sets the specifics, but almost every long-term visa asks you to satisfy the same core requirements.

English Language

The level you need depends on the visa. The Skilled Worker visa now requires CEFR level B2 across reading, writing, speaking, and understanding — a change from B1 that took effect on 8 January 2026.¹⁰ Family visa applicants start at A1 on entry, then meet A2 when extending. Student visa applicants need B1 or B2 depending on the level of study.¹¹

You prove your level by passing a Secure English Language Test from an approved provider, or by holding a degree taught or researched in English. Citizens of majority-English-speaking countries are generally exempt.

Money

The Home Office wants to see you won’t need public assistance. On work visas, your salary usually settles it, provided it meets the threshold. On Student visas, you show funds for up to nine months of living costs.⁴ On Family visas, the sponsor evidences the £29,000 minimum combined income, with savings above £16,000 available under the Home Office’s calculation formula.⁶

Health Surcharge and TB Testing

Most applicants pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) upfront to access the NHS during their stay. The annual rate is £1,035 for most applicants, reduced to £776 for students, their dependants, Youth Mobility Scheme applicants, and anyone under 18 at application.¹² The surcharge is calculated for the full length of your visa and paid as a lump sum, so a three-year Skilled Worker visa means £3,105 in IHS alone.

If you’ve lived in certain listed countries for six months or more and you’re applying for a visa of six months or longer, you’ll need a TB test at a Home Office-approved clinic before applying.¹³ Some countries have no approved centres, so you may need to travel to a neighbouring country.¹⁴

Criminal Record Checks

Skilled Worker applicants in health, education, or social care must provide a criminal record certificate from every country where they’ve lived for 12 months or more in the last 10 years (while aged 18 or over). The UK itself is excluded.¹⁵

What It Costs Upfront

Application fees vary by visa, duration, and whether you apply from inside or outside the UK. As of April 2026, common fees for applications from outside the UK include:

Skilled Worker (up to 3 years): £819
Skilled Worker (over 3 years): £1,618
Health and Care Worker (up to 3 years): £324
Health and Care Worker (over 3 years): £628
Student visa: £558
Innovator Founder: £1,357
Global Talent: £766 (or £205 if an Approval Letter is required)
Graduate visa (in-UK only): £937

In-UK applications are generally more expensive. A Skilled Worker application for up to three years inside the UK is £943 rather than £819.¹⁶ Fees cover the application only. On top, budget for the IHS, biometric appointment costs, English language testing, and optional priority processing.

How You Actually Apply

The mechanics are largely the same across routes. You apply online through GOV.UK, paying the fee and IHS together. Then you book a biometric appointment: at a visa application centre abroad, or at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services centre if you’re already in the UK. You provide fingerprints and a digital photograph, and upload supporting documents (passport, proof of funds, sponsor certificates) online or at the appointment.

Standard processing takes several weeks; priority and super-priority services are available on some routes for an extra fee. If approved, your status is recorded digitally as an eVisa linked to your passport, viewable and shareable through an online account. Physical Biometric Residence Permits have all now expired and been fully replaced by eVisas.¹⁷

The Condition That Can End Your Visa: No Recourse to Public Funds

Almost every visa that grants limited leave to remain carries a condition called No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). Public funds include Universal Credit, Child Benefit, Housing Benefit, Personal Independence Payment, Carer’s Allowance, council tax reduction, and social housing or homelessness assistance, among others.¹⁸ Claiming any of these on an NRPF visa can lead the Home Office to cancel or shorten your leave, or refuse your next extension.

The NHS is not a public fund for these purposes — your IHS payment covers your NHS access. In cases of genuine destitution, you can apply to have the NRPF condition lifted through a change of conditions application, but this is an exception and the Home Office scrutinises these requests closely.

Keeping Your Continuous Residence Intact

To settle after five years, you need “continuous residence” that meets a precise definition. You must not spend more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period. Exceed that and your continuous residence breaks, resetting the clock.¹⁹ It’s easier to trip over than people expect. A long family visit abroad plus a holiday in the same 12-month window can push you over without you realising.

Applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain

ILR is settled status. For most qualifying routes — Skilled Worker, Family, Innovator Founder, Global Talent, UK Ancestry, and others — you apply after five years of continuous residence on a qualifying visa.²⁰ A separate 10-year long residence route is available if you’ve been lawfully and continuously present for a decade regardless of which visas you held.²¹

You’ll also need to pass the Life in the UK test: 24 multiple-choice questions on British customs, history, and laws, completed within 45 minutes. Pass mark is 75% (18 correct), and you can retake it if you fail.²² The English requirement at ILR is typically CEFR B1 in speaking and listening, even if your visa required a higher level.

What Happens If You Overstay

Letting your visa expire without extending, switching, or leaving carries consequences that follow you for years. Overstay by even a day and you lose the right to work immediately, and the overstay counts against any future application.

Re-entry bans escalate based on how you leave:

One-year ban if you leave voluntarily, at your own expense, within 30 days of your visa expiring.
Two- to five-year ban if you leave voluntarily but at Home Office expense, with the length depending on how quickly you go after being told you’re liable for removal.
Ten-year ban if you’re forcibly removed, deported, or used deception in an application.

These bans do not apply to partner or family visa applications, or if you were under 18 when you overstayed.²³ Even without a formal ban, the Home Office can refuse future applications from anyone who overstayed by more than 14 days. If your visa is expiring and you haven’t secured an extension, leaving quickly and voluntarily is far better than waiting.

Citizenship After ILR

Once you’ve held ILR for at least 12 months, you can apply for British citizenship through naturalisation. If you’re married to a British citizen, you can apply as soon as you have ILR, with no 12-month wait.²⁴

The residence rules for citizenship are stricter than for ILR. You must have lived in the UK for at least five years before applying, and been physically present in the UK exactly five years before the Home Office receives your application. Across those five years, you should not have spent more than 450 days total outside the UK, and no more than 90 days outside the UK in the 12 months immediately before applying.²⁴

You’ll need to pass the Life in the UK test (if you haven’t already), prove your English, and demonstrate good character. The application costs £1,735, including the £130 citizenship ceremony fee.²⁴ From first visa to British passport, the journey typically takes a minimum of six years: five to qualify for ILR, then at least one year of settled status before naturalising.

1
GOV.UK. Skilled Worker Visa
2
GOV.UK. Review of Salary Requirements
3
GOV.UK. Health and Care Worker Visa – If You’ll Need to Meet Different Salary Requirements
4
GOV.UK. Student Visa – Money You Need
5
GOV.UK. Graduate Visa
6
GOV.UK. Financial Requirements if You’re Applying as a Partner or Spouse
7
GOV.UK. Innovator Founder Visa – Overview
8
GOV.UK. Apply for the Global Talent Visa – Overview
9
GOV.UK. UK Ancestry Visa – Overview
10
GOV.UK. Skilled Worker Visa – Knowledge of English
11
GOV.UK. English Language Requirement Levels for Immigration Applications
12
GOV.UK. Pay for UK Healthcare as Part of Your Immigration Application – Cost for a Year
13
GOV.UK. Tuberculosis Tests for Visa Applicants
14
GOV.UK. Tuberculosis Tests for Visa Applicants – Countries Where You Need a TB Test to Enter the UK
15
GOV.UK. Criminal Records Checks for Overseas Applicants
16
GOV.UK. Home Office Immigration and Nationality Fees, 8 April 2026
17
GOV.UK. Biometric Residence Permits
18
GOV.UK. Public Funds
19
GOV.UK. Continuous Residence Guidance (Accessible Version)
20
GOV.UK. Continuous Residence Guidance
21
GOV.UK. Indefinite Leave to Remain if You’ve Been in the UK for 10 Years (Long Residence)
22
GOV.UK. Life in the UK Test – What Happens at the Test
23
GOV.UK. Re-Entry, Settlement, and Citizenship Bans
24
GOV.UK. Apply for Citizenship if You Have Indefinite Leave to Remain or Settled Status