ILR Absences Calculator: Check the 180-Day Rule
Pick your visa, then add each trip abroad. The answer shows the highest number of days you spent away in any 12 months, and whether it goes over the 180-day limit.
1 of 2
Choose one and the boxes for your trip dates appear below.
Your visa:
2 of 2
Add a trip outside the UK
To get indefinite leave to remain (ILR), which lets you live in the UK for good, most people must not spend more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months. This applies to each of the years you count towards settling. Only whole days abroad count, so the days you leave and come back are not included. After you get ILR, it can be lost if you spend over two years in a row outside the UK.
The 180 Days Rule Across Any 12 Months
The 180 days are not counted by calendar year. If your visa was granted on or after 11 January 2018, the Home Office checks every 12-month stretch, whatever day it starts on. So you could stay under 180 days in each calendar year and still go over, for example with one long trip from July to the next June.
For visas granted before 11 January 2018, fixed 12-month blocks are used instead, counting back a year at a time from the day you apply.
The Home Office may count back from any day up to 28 days after you apply, and it picks the day that is best for you (see the ILR requirements).
Using a Continuous Residence Calculator to Count Trips
Continuous residence means living in the UK, without long breaks, for the years you need before you can settle. The Home Office counts only whole days outside the UK.
Any day you spend partly in the UK counts as a day in the UK. For example, if you fly out on Friday morning and come back on Sunday night, you were away for one day: the Saturday. The calculator on this page counts your days in the same way.
When the ILR Absence Rule Does Not Apply
Time when you could not get back because of a natural disaster, war or a pandemic is not counted. The Home Office may also leave out time abroad for serious personal reasons, such as a life-threatening illness.
Trips for work are counted like any other trip. Going over 180 days because of work is not a reason for an exception.
Researchers have one extra exception. If you came on the Global Talent visa with an endorsement (official backing) from a research body, trips abroad for your research may not count.
Before 11 April 2024: Trips on the 10-Year Route
If you are settling after 10 years on a mix of visas (the long residence route), trips that started before 11 April 2024 follow two older limits instead of the 180-day rule:
- No single trip can be longer than 184 days.
- All of those trips together cannot add up to more than 548 days.
Which Visa Routes Have Their Own Absence Rules?
If you are settling as a husband, wife or partner after five years, there is no 180-day limit. Instead, you show that you and your partner have shared a home in the UK ever since your last visa.
On the 10-year partner route, the 180-day limit does apply, unlike the five-year spouse visa route. But time abroad for work, study or to look after family is not held against you, as long as your family home stayed in the UK.
Which Limit Applies to You?
This table puts every limit side by side.
| Your route | Most time abroad allowed |
|---|---|
| Work visas, UK Ancestry, Hong Kong British National (Overseas), 10-year partner route | 180 days in any 12 months |
| The same visas, if granted before 11 January 2018 | 180 days in each fixed 12-month block |
| 10 years on a mix of visas, trips that started before 11 April 2024 | One trip: 184 days at most. All such trips: 548 days at most |
| Partner visa, five-year route | No day limit: you show a shared home in the UK instead |
What Can You Do If One 12-Month Period Goes Over 180 Days?
Waiting a little before you apply can sometimes fix it. The Home Office can count back from any day up to 28 days after you apply, so an old trip near the start of your years may fall outside the count. Your total can then drop back under 180 days.
If the long trip still falls inside your years, an immigration solicitor can tell you whether it might count as an exception and what proof you would need. Asking before you apply could save you the cost of a refused application.