Your route to settling in the UK, in plain English.

Guides

• The 180-day absence rule for ILR, with worked examples

  How the rolling 12-month absence limit actually works, what counts as a permitted absence, and three worked examples showing how close trips can get you to the limit.

• The 28-day early ILR application window, explained

  When exactly you can apply for ILR before completing five years, how to calculate your earliest date, and the mistakes that get applications refused.

• How long does ILR actually take? Processing times and what to do if you're delayed

  The official service standard for ILR decisions, the exact date it's measured from, where to check real current performance, and what to do once you're past it.

• ILR application step-by-step (Skilled Worker route)

  What actually happens when you apply for settlement on the Skilled Worker route, from eligibility checks to your UKVCAS appointment and the wait for a decision.

• Lost BRP and eVisa access problems — what to actually do

  Why you can no longer get a replacement BRP card, how to report one lost or stolen anyway, and the right fix for each common eVisa/UKVI account problem.

• MN1 child citizenship registration alongside a parent's ILR

  How registering a UK-born child as British connects to (and depends on) a parent's own settlement — including the route that has nothing to do with the parents at all.