Proposed Removal of the Long Residence Route

Last December, our Sarah Jack reported that the government had published a consultation paper on extensive changes to the settlement framework. One of the most notable proposed changes is the removal of the long residence route, which the consultation paper states will be superseded by the new framework.

Currently, people can apply to settle after ten years’ continuous legal residence and can combine time spent in the UK with different types of permission. With a few exceptions, it is possible to rely on and combine permission that could not in itself lead to settlement, for example time spent on the student and graduate routes, and indeed it is quite common for people to accrue part of the ten-year period that way.  

The proposed changes require that people complete a qualifying period, the baseline for which will be ten years, however specifically state that this period must have been spent ‘in a route, or routes, that leads to settlement.’ It therefore appears, if the proposals are implemented, that it will no longer be possible to rely on periods of student or graduate permission and other types of immigration permission that are not on a route to settlement, potentially delaying that settlement of large numbers of people who have resided in the UK legally for over a decade.

If you have completed, or are close to completing, ten years’ legal residence and wish to discuss making an application, please contact us. One of the experienced solicitors in our immigration team will be happy to assist you.