Several UK work and business immigration routes can lead to indefinite leave to remain after five years of continuous residence, provided the applicant meets the route-specific settlement requirements. Some routes allow time spent in other qualifying work or business categories to be combined, while others require the whole qualifying period to be spent in the same route.
Global Talent
Applicants endorsed under the exceptional promise criteria by Arts Council England or Tech Nation may be able to settle in the UK after five years if they meet the relevant settlement requirements.
Skilled Worker
The Skilled Worker route can lead to settlement for individuals employed in an eligible skilled occupation by a Home Office-approved sponsor.
Applicants generally need to show that:
- They have a Certificate of Sponsorship from a licensed employer
- They are filling a genuine vacancy
- Their salary meets the requirement for the role
The Skilled Worker route replaced the Tier 2 General route. Those who hold or previously held leave as a Tier 2 General migrant may be able to settle under the Skilled Worker route.
International Sportsperson
Elite sportspeople and qualified coaches recognised as internationally established in their sport may be able to settle in the UK after five years.
A key condition is that, at some point during the five-year continuous residence period, the applicant must have been granted leave as an International Sportsperson for a period exceeding 12 months.
Applicants entering this route generally need:
- A valid job offer from an approved International Sportsperson sponsor
- An endorsement from their sport’s UK Governing Body
- Confirmation that they are internationally established at the highest level
- Confirmation that they will make a significant contribution to the development of their sport at the highest level in the UK
Supplementary and voluntary work may be permitted on this route.
Minister of Religion
The Minister of Religion route is for individuals with a key leading role within a faith-based organisation or religious order.
Settlement may be available after five continuous years in the UK. Time in this route may also be combined with certain other eligible routes for settlement purposes.
Entry into the route generally requires:
- A job offer from a licensed Tier 2 Minister of Religion sponsor
- A valid Certificate of Sponsorship
- Meeting financial requirements
- English language ability at CEFR level B2
Scale-up
The Scale-up route is for skilled individuals with a highly skilled job offer from a qualifying UK Scale-up sponsor.
Applicants generally need:
- A valid Certificate of Sponsorship
- A job on the eligible occupations list
- Salary requirements to be met
- English language requirements to be met
A person may later be eligible to apply under the Scale-up route without sponsorship if they have previously been employed as a Scale-up Worker by a sponsor for at least six months and meet the relevant permission requirements.
For settlement, Scale-up applicants must meet further salary and employment requirements. These include showing that, on the date of application, they are in UK employment with salary paid through PAYE at the applicable annual level.
They must also show that during at least 24 months in the three years immediately before the ILR application, they had monthly UK PAYE earnings equivalent to at least one of the applicable annual thresholds:
- £39,100
- £36,300
- £34,600
- £33,000
The applicable threshold depends on when the Certificate of Sponsorship for the most recent Scale-up permission was assigned. Applicants should plan ahead to ensure they have the necessary PAYE evidence for settlement.
Overseas Domestic Worker and legacy Domestic Worker routes
Domestic Workers in a Private Household who first entered the UK under the rules in place before 6 April 2012 and have held continuous permission in that route may be eligible for settlement.
Applicants must show that:
- They entered with valid entry clearance as a Domestic Worker in a Private Household under the pre-6 April 2012 rules
- They have not worked in the UK except as a Domestic Worker in a Private Household
- They will continue to be required to work by their employer
Those who have remained in the UK in this route since 2012 and extended their stay every 12 months may now be eligible under the 10-year Long Residence route, subject to the relevant requirements on qualifying permission and continuous residence.
Representative of an Overseas Business
The Representative of an Overseas Business route was for senior employees of overseas businesses assigned to the UK to establish a wholly owned subsidiary or branch.
A person applying in this category must now either be a Media Representative or be applying for an extension or settlement as a Sole Representative. Sole Representatives can no longer apply for an initial grant of permission in this route.
Those already in the UK as Sole Representatives may still be able to apply for ILR if they meet the requirements, including showing that:
- The overseas business remains active and trading
- The business’s principal headquarters and place of business remain outside the UK
- The applicant has worked full-time for the business
- The applicant has not engaged in other businesses
- The applicant does not own or control a majority of the overseas business they represent
The source notes that the Home Office is taking an increasingly stringent approach to Sole Representative ILR applications, with many refusals based on lack of evidence of business generated principally with firms in the UK.
Representative of a Media Organisation
Media Representatives may be able to obtain ILR after five years if employed by an overseas media organisation and posted to the UK on a long-term assignment.
The overseas organisation must be a newspaper, news agency, or broadcasting organisation that is active and trading outside the UK, with its headquarters and principal place of business outside the UK.
Unlike the Sole Representative route, a media organisation may have more than one representative in the UK.
Applicants must satisfy the Home Office that:
- They genuinely represent the overseas media organisation
- They were employed by the organisation while outside the UK
- They have spent the five-year continuous period as an employee of the overseas organisation on a long-term assignment
- They have been engaged in the employment for which their last permission was granted
An initial grant of leave is for three years. Work is restricted to the media organisation represented.
ECAA Turkish Worker or Business Person
The ECAA Turkish Worker or Business Person route is transitional. It generally requires the applicant to have been granted, or to have applied successfully for, ECAA leave by 31 December 2020.
Settlement may still be available to Turkish nationals who had entry clearance or permission to stay in this route and meet the ILR requirements.
For Turkish Business Persons, requirements include:
- Continuing to run the business or businesses relied on
- Intending to continue running those businesses
- Showing that the business or businesses are genuine and viable
- Demonstrating support for themselves and family members without public funds
- Meeting English language and Life in the UK requirements
Switching into work and business routes
Switching into certain work and business routes may be possible from inside the UK where the Immigration Rules permit it.
The applicant must not be in the UK on immigration bail and must not have, or have last been granted, permission as a:
- Visitor
- Short-term Student
- Parent of a Child Student
- Seasonal Worker
- Domestic Worker in a Private Household
- Person outside the Immigration Rules
Subject to route-specific exceptions, switching may be possible into:
- Global Talent
- Skilled Worker
- Representative of an Overseas Business as a Media Representative
- Scale-up
- T2 Minister of Religion
- International Sportsperson
For applicants switching from Student permission into sponsored work routes such as Skilled Worker, Scale-up, T2 Minister of Religion, or International Sportsperson, the rules generally require that:
- The applicant has completed the course for which the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies was assigned; or
- The applicant is studying a full-time degree-level or higher course with a higher education provider with a track record of compliance, and the Certificate of Sponsorship start date is no earlier than the course completion date
For PhD students, the Certificate of Sponsorship start date must generally be no earlier than 24 months after the start date of the PhD course.
Applicants must apply to switch before their current visa expires.
Combining routes for five-year ILR
Some work and business routes allow applicants to combine time spent in specified other categories to meet the five-year continuous residence requirement.
Global Talent
Time may be combined with time in:
- Global Talent
- Innovator Founder
- Skilled Worker or T2 General
- T2 Minister of Religion
- International Sportsperson
- Tier 1 migrant, other than Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur
- Scale-up
- Representative of an Overseas Business
Skilled Worker or International Sportsperson
Time may be combined with time in:
- Skilled Worker
- Global Talent
- Innovator Founder
- T2 Minister of Religion
- International Sportsperson
- Representative of an Overseas Business
- Tier 1 migrant, other than Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur
- Scale-up
Time may also count where the applicant had permission on another route while waiting for a Skilled Worker or International Sportsperson decision, if:
- The application was for permission to stay
- It was made between 24 January 2020 and 30 June 2021 inclusive
- It was supported on the application date by a Certificate of Sponsorship from a licensed sponsor
- It was granted
T2 Minister of Religion
Time may be combined with time in:
- T2 Minister of Religion
- International Sportsperson
- Skilled Worker
- Tier 1 migrant, other than Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur
- Representative of an Overseas Business
- Innovator Founder
- Global Talent
- Scale-up
Scale-up
Time may be combined with time in:
- Scale-up
- Skilled Worker
- Global Talent
- Innovator
- T2 Minister of Religion
- International Sportsperson
- Representative of an Overseas Business
- Tier 1 migrant, other than Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur
ECAA Turkish Worker
Time may be combined with time as:
- ECAA Worker
- Tier 2 General migrant
- Tier 2 Minister of Religion migrant
- Tier 2 Sportsperson migrant
- Work permit holder
ECAA Turkish Business Person
Time may be combined with time as:
- Turkish Business Person
- Tier 1 Entrepreneur migrant
Routes that generally require the full qualifying period in the same route
Some routes do not allow time in other categories to be combined for the five-year settlement residence requirement.
These include:
- Tier 1 Entrepreneur
- Tier 1 Investor
- Innovator or Innovator Founder, as applicable
- Representative of an Overseas Business, whether as a Sole Representative or Media Representative
Applicants in these categories must ensure they spend the whole qualifying period in the relevant route.
Dependants
Dependent partners and dependent children may be able to settle where dependants are permitted under the relevant route and the settlement criteria are met.
Dependants may include:
- Spouses
- Civil partners
- Unmarried partners in a durable relationship of at least two years
- Dependent children
Settlement requirements may include proving the relationship to the main applicant and, where applicable, meeting English language and Life in the UK requirements.
A child may be aged 18 or over at the date of application if they were last granted permission as a dependent child and meet the other requirements.
For children, the other parent who is not the main applicant must generally be:
- Granted settlement at the same time
- Already settled
- A British citizen
- The child’s sole surviving parent
- The parent with sole responsibility for the child’s upbringing
Alternatively, there must be serious and compelling reasons to grant settlement without the other parent.
Partners usually need five continuous years in the relevant dependant category. For example, even if an Innovator Founder main applicant may qualify for ILR after three years, their partner can usually qualify only after five years as that person’s dependant.
Where the main applicant combines time in eligible categories, the dependant partner will generally need to have spent time in the UK in those same categories to meet the continuous residence requirement.
For Tier 1 Entrepreneur or Tier 1 Investor dependants, the partner must have spent the most recent part of the five-year period with leave in the same category as their partner.
Dependants of Overseas Domestic Workers are not permitted under the current Overseas Domestic Worker route. However, dependants are permitted under the legacy Domestic Worker in a Private Household route for those who applied under the pre-6 April 2012 arrangements. They may be eligible for settlement at the same time after five years, or through the 10-year Long Residence route if the requirements are met.
Children over 18 applying for settlement under the legacy Domestic Worker route must apply on a separate form from the main applicant.
Where children applied with both parents, they will generally qualify for settlement only where both parents qualify. This can mean waiting five years even where the main applicant qualifies earlier. For example, on the Innovator Founder route, a child will generally be able to apply for ILR only after five years where both parents are applying, even though the main applicant may qualify after three years.
If one parent is deceased or one parent has sole responsibility for the child, the child may be able to acquire settlement at the same time as the sole parent.
Source article: immigrationbarrister.co.uk
