Hi please can I have advice on what to do. We have been going through a very tough time with my wife’s grandma being in icu in critical cond and I have been supporting my wife who has post Partum depression and so I’ve been very stressed and worried for her and I’ve submitted my application for ilr 3 days late. I’m on a spouse visa. Is this good reason and will they consider this on compassionate basis? please someone help I don’t want my visa to be rejected or be put on the 10 year route. Has anyone experienced anything similar?

Hello! I’m applying for ILR in August, 10 year long residence route. Like many people I’m slightly over the 548 day limit, but if I apply with an exemption for the time I was out due to the pandemic, I’d be within the limit. Full count is: I’ve been out 605 days since August 2016; I was at home for 76 days from December 2020- Feb 2021 as it was lockdown and my university cancelled all classes. Without these days my total is 529 days.

I recently spoke with an immigration advisor (about my partner’s visa, but she also answered some of my ILR questions). She said the Home Office is getting stricter and rejecting some ILR applications where people have applied for pandemic exemptions to be in the 548 day limit, often only accepting applications if people evidence that they couldn’t physically get back to the UK because of cancelled flights. My flights weren’t cancelled; it was simply the depths of December 2020-Feb 2021 and only essential travel was allowed, and returning to the UK asap in January was not essential. I’m working on evidencing my case, showing that my university cancelled all in person teaching and advised against travelling.

Has anyone had success with applying for an exemption for time spent outside of the UK due to COVID? Esp to people who were university students at the time - what did you provide as evidence? I’m planning to email my university to ask for emails / any materials confirming students were told not to travel, and maybe a letter from a former advisor or lecturer saying I was following university guidance by not rushing back to the UK mid pandemic…

I’m considering making a mental health case as well, and was wondering if anyone had successfully done this, or if the Home Office would simply scoff at it? For context I was extremely depressed in 2020 (I know we all were); specifically I was going through my first ever breakup in December 2020 and having the worst mental health time of my life. Of course couldn’t see friends because of lockdown restrictions, so going home for the winter was the only way I would have any kind of support. I would have been very isolated and gotten way worse if I stayed in London the December 2020-Feb 2021 period. I could get a letter from the NHS showing my history of depression, but I didn’t start taking SSRIs until 2022, so the home office may even count it?

Love it here! I would be super grateful for anyone’s advice on this, thank you so much :)

In the ILR form, one of the mandatory document is mentioned as:

If you have added a spouse or civil partner to this application form who is applying at the same time as you, please provide documentary evidence of cohabitation since you were last granted leave (up to a maximum of two years). Evidence provided should cover the whole period and be in the form of official letters or documents, addressed to yourself and your spouse.

How I read this is , I only need to provide cohabitation proof since we were last granted leave(visa) which was May 2025 (when we extended my skilled worker visa and her dependent visa). That means I need to provide proof of cohabitation of last year only.

Is my understanding correct?

The reason I ask is because, I only have joint name document for the last 2 years.
I dont have any joint document with my wife's name on it. All utility bills prior 2 last 2 years are on my name.

Additionally, I have requested council to give a letter confirming the residency since Aug 2022, which they have given now. are these documents enough?

Period of ILR is:

June 2021 - July 2022 at Address-A
Aug 2022 - till date 2026 at Address-B

This is the list I intend to provide, would this be enough for Wife's case?

1. Council bill with joint name (both mine and hers) for 2026-2027 for Address-B
2. Council bill with joint name (both mine and hers) for 2025-2026 for Address-B
3. Council letter confirming both of our residency for Address-B since Aug 2022
4. Electoral CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION for me - confirmation that I am on the roll at the Address-B since Aug 2022 and my electoral registration number.
5. Electoral CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION for my wife - confirmation that my wife is on the roll at the Address-B since Aug 2022 and my electoral registration number.
6. Mortgage letter on joint name for Address-B since Aug 2022.
7. Council bill with joint name (both mine and hers) for 2021-2022 for Address-A

For an individual who initially entered the UK on an ICT visa and later switched in-country to a Skilled Worker visa, and is applying for ILR under the 5‑year Skilled Worker route, what should be the correct response to this question?

ILR questions:

Question 1:

“When did you first enter the UK?

This is the date you entered the UK when the period of stay you are basing this application on started.”

Question I have: Should I enter my ICT visa entry date Feb 2018, or my Skilled Worker visa start date of June 2021?

Question 2:

“Since you first entered the UK, have you had any absences from the UK?

This includes any absences however short. Do not include travel to Crown Dependencies. Add Absence details”

Question I have :  Should I declare absences from February 2018, when I first entered the UK on my ICT visa, or only from June 2021, when my Skilled Worker permission commenced?

Hi! Has anybody been approved of ILR even though they violated the 180 days rule? I did unintentionally but the reason was my father got sick and eventually died, and after he did, my mother got sick as well. I was so scared to lose them both so I had to stay and didn’t think of it anymore. I stayed out of UK for 189 days in a 12month rolling period.

I will be applying later this year and hoping that it still goes to my favor. I have documents to support my claim that it was under the exemptions: death in family & own sickness (depression). I’m just wondering if anyone has been through the same or anyone knows anyone that had been approved as well.

Thank you!

I applied for my Innovator Founder ILR in March 2025 after completing biometrics, and I am still waiting for a decision.

At one stage, I was asked to provide some additional information, and the last communication from the Home Office described my case as “complex”. Since then, there has been no meaningful update.

I have also raised a PAP through my solicitor and contacted my MP, who followed up with the Home Office parliamentary team. However, I have not received any clear update on progress or timing.

The uncertainty has made it very difficult to plan both business and personal commitments, as I cannot make long-term decisions while the application is still pending.

I previously had an Innovator visa decision processed much faster, so I was not expecting this stage of the process to take this long.

Has anyone else experienced similar delays or cases being labelled as “complex” at ILR stage?

Hi everyone, I am currently off sick on half pay, I am applying for ILR

Would that affect my ILR? Thanks