10-year LR ILR — qualifying period start date (EC valid date vs entry date)

Hi everyone,

I am hoping someone with experience of long residence applications can sanity check something I have been told on this forum and elsewhere.

I am on the 10 year long residence route and plan to apply for ILR (LR). My first ever UK visa started on 20 September 2016, which is also the date I first entered the UK. This means I will have completed 10 years of continuous lawful residence on 20 September 2026, and the earliest date I can submit an ILR(LR) application should be 28 days before that, on 23 August 2026.

Since entering the UK I have been continuously lawful, first on a Tier 4 (student) visa for 7 years and then on a Tier 2 (Skilled Worker) visa for the last 3 years. My current Tier 2 visa is due to expire on 19 August 2026, and my employment contract will end slightly earlier on 5 August 2026.

Based on what I have read and gathered from this forum, it seems that it may be possible to submit the ILR(LR) online application before the qualifying date (23 August 2026) and before my current visa expires on 19 August 2026, and then book the biometrics appointment for a date that falls on or after that qualifying date, with the Home Office assessing eligibility based on the date biometrics are enrolled rather than the date of online submission.

In other words, the idea is that you can submit earlier to secure section 3C leave, then attend biometrics once you have actually reached the 28 day early window.

Before I rely on this, I would really appreciate confirmation from anyone who has either done this themselves or knows the policy basis for it.

Specifically:
1. Is eligibility for ILR(LR) assessed on the date of biometrics rather than the date of online submission?
2. Is it safe and accepted practice to submit the form before the qualifying date as long as biometrics are done after it?
3. Has anyone successfully used this to bridge a short gap before their 10 year point?
4. If this does work, does it mean that I technically would not need to have another employment contract in place after my current one ends on 5 August 2026, as I would be covered by section 3C leave while waiting for ILR?
5. Would you recommend that I speak to an immigration solicitor or adviser before doing this, or is this a well established process?
6. Are there any other pitfalls or points I should be aware of to make sure everything goes smoothly?

For completeness, I have already passed my Life in the UK Test and I am well within the absence limits for long residence.

Thank you very much in advance. This is a big moment for me and I want to get it right.

Yes you can. Your understanding of the rules, procedures and 28-concession is not correct. These have been discussed at length and many many times on the forum.

Read the two following links:

Read --> All you need to know about applying early, the application date, 28-day concession and more
Read -- > Changes to the Long Residence settlement route from 11 April 2024

1. It is based on date of ILR decision
2. Yes
3. Yes, many many times as it is according to the rules
4. Yes
5. You do not need an advisor at all.
6. Read the links above !

Thanks for replying, Zimba.

Just for my learning, I'm not sure what I said exactly that made you state that my understanding of the rules, procedures and 28 day concession was not correct. Would you mind elaborating on this further?

Otherwise - really happy that a massive burden has been lifted off my shoulders, there I was thinking I need to find a bridging role or else I lose my ILR over 4 days

Many thanks,
drsasau

Drsasau wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 12, 2026 4:42 pm

Thanks for replying, Zimba.

Just for my learning, I'm not sure what I said exactly that made you state that my understanding of the rules, procedures and 28 day concession was not correct. Would you mind elaborating on this further?

Otherwise - really happy that a massive burden has been lifted off my shoulders, there I was thinking I need to find a bridging role or else I lose my ILR over 4 days

Many thanks,
drsasau

It is enough that you are clear now

Hi all,
Looking for views on my timeline and my solicitor's proposed approach. Details:

Malaysian national. First UK visa (Tier 4) issued and valid from 11 September 2016, but I first entered the UK on 19 September 2016
Continuous lawful residence ever since (Tier 4 → Skilled Worker), no gaps, no overstaying
Current Skilled Worker visa expires 19 August 2026 (with employment ending on 4th August 2026 - do not have further employment lined up at the moment)
Applying for ILR under the 10-year long residence route (SET(LR))

Question 1 — when does my 10 years complete?
My solicitor says the qualifying period runs from date of entry (19 Sept 2016), so 10 years completes 19 Sept 2026 and the 28-day early application window opens 22 August 2026 — i.e. after my visa expires. I'm sceptical, because the continuous residence caseworker guidance states the time between grant of entry clearance and arrival "should be treated as a period of lawful residence", with the pre-entry days simply counting as an absence. On that reading my period starts 11 Sept 2016, completes 11 Sept 2026, and the window opens 14 August — before my visa expires, meaning a single in-time application would work. Has anyone seen this argued successfully (or refused) in practice on the 10-year route?
Question 2 — the two-application strategy
Because the window (on his view) opens after my leave expires, my solicitor proposes:

Submit a standard SET(LR) application just before 19 August 2026 — triggers Section 3C leave and protects my status
Submit a second application on/after 22 August 2026 on Super Priority, which I understand operates as a variation of the first

Is this a recognised approach? Specifically: does 3C leave carry through the variation cleanly, and does Super Priority attach properly to the varied application? Any pitfalls (e.g. the first application being decided/refused before the variation lands)?
Absences (verified against the whole-days method, travel days excluded):

Pre-11 April 2024 portion: 514 days total (limit 548)
Longest single absence: 162 days (Covid, March–Aug 2020; limit 184 for absences starting pre-11/04/2024)
Post-11 April 2024: ~37 days, nowhere near 180 in any rolling 12 months
SAR submitted to cross-check my travel history against Home Office records before I declare

No other issues — no gaps in leave, clean immigration history. Grateful for any experience with either question, particularly the start-date point.
Thanks

You received extensive advice several months ago when you asked the same query. Refers to the answers given to you above. Date of entry is irrelevant as the rules were changed in 2024, so your solicitor is wrong.

There is no application date window, as I previously told you. The qualifying period is counted backwards. Simply READING the official guide makes this clear. There are NO rules that require you to apply at some point at all, that is nonsensical too. Again, extensive advice provided above. The two application approach is frankly idiotic. The claim that you cannot apply early is flat out wrong.

The window opens after visa expiry ? What kind of advice are you getting ? Can they point to any rule that says you are required to apply at any specific point ?

Simply apply a bit early and section 3C will take of all that for you. No need for any variation or all that nonsense.

READ --> All you need to know about applying early, the application date, 28-day concession and more

I suggest reading all the advice I gave you above again.

Thanks Zimba — points taken, and I've now read the posts you have suggested properly.

Three confirmations if you don't mind:

a) Qualifying period start date and applying on 14/15 August 2026
My first entry clearance vignette (tier 4) shows valid from 11/09/2016 (valid to 11/10/2016), but I actually first entered the UK on 19/09/2016. My current Skilled Worker leave expires 19/08/2026. The reason I'm pressing on this point is that I'm getting conflicting advice — online and from solicitors — on when my qualifying period actually starts: my solicitor maintains it runs from my date of entry (19/09/2016), while the caseworker guidance you quoted seems clear it runs from the grant of entry clearance. I'd just like to know for sure what my actual start date is.
Applying your formula (date of first visa issue + qualifying period − 28 days): 11/09/2016 + 10 years − 28 days = 14/08/2026 as my earliest ILR decision date. So my understanding is: the qualifying period runs from the vignette valid-from date (11/09/2016), NOT my physical entry date (19/09/2016), with the 8 days before entry simply counting as absences per the continuous residence guidance.
Have I got that right — and assuming no other issues (absences well within limits: 514 days pre-11/04/2024 under the whole-days method, longest single absence 162 days during Covid, ~37 days post-April 2024), would I encounter any problem applying on 14/15 August 2026, while my current visa is still valid?

b) HR say my visa "automatically ends" when my employment ends
My employment contract ends 04/08/2026, and my Trust's HR have told me my visa automatically ends on that date. But my grant email and my eVisa/right-to-work record both clearly show leave valid until 19/08/2026. My understanding is that a SW visa doesn't end automatically with employment — the sponsor reports the end of employment, and the Home Office would have to serve a curtailment notice to shorten my leave, which won't realistically happen with only 15 days remaining. Is that correct — my leave runs to 19/08/2026 unless actually curtailed?

c) Super Priority — availability and reliability
My brother's wedding is on 13/09/2026 and I understand I cannot travel while the application is pending. If I apply on 14/15 August, is Super Priority available on SET(LR), and are the slots normally difficult to get? Is the next-working-day decision generally reliable in practice, or do applications commonly get bumped into standard processing? Trying to work out whether I can safely count on having the decision well before 13 September.

The plan
So, with my understanding of your advice + the caseworker guidance: the plan is to apply on 14/15 August with a Super Priority slot, do the biometrics as soon as possible, and get ILR as soon as possible — comfortably before travelling on 13 September. If I've understood all of your advice and the caseworker guidance correctly — does all of this sound right?

Many thanks and apologies for all of the questions - it is confusing when I've getting mixed advice from a number of sources.

a) Correct. The earliest date of ILR eligibility is 11/09/2016 + 10 years - 28 days. You should aim for a ILR decision date on or after the date above.

You are getting conflicting information because many still do not fully understand the significant changes made to the long residence rules since April 2024. Since then, the rules under appendix continuous residence apply to the long residence route too and the old rules are gone.

I literally showed this change as item 1 here: Long Residence settlement route (effective 11 April 2024)

b) End of employment is NOT the same as end of your visa. Your HR does not have any power to cancel or invalidate your visa. They are simply required to report any changes to the UKVI and the UKVI decides what to do next. Your visa remains valid until expiry or until a given new expiry, if the UKVI decides to curtail your leave (often never even happens)

c) There are no service guarantees at all and every application is different. However, most applicants get a response within the set timeframe of super priority.

Also see: There’s a limit on how many people can apply for a faster decision