Should my aunt apply under Settlement Private Life or Settlement Long Residence and does she need to wait 1 year?

Hello everyone

I'm helping my aunt with her ILR application and I just need some clarification as her route very recently changed.

- She was on the Ten Year Parent Route under Appendix FM from September 2014 to May 2023 (8 years, 7 months).
- The last time she applied to extend (which she did so on time), they took over 1 year to get back to her and she was eventually granted leave under Appendix Private Life "on a ten-year route to settlement" in August 2024.

It is my understanding that the time spent pending a decision still counts towards the 10 years for ILR. If I am correct in my thinking, then she met the 10 year qualifying period in September 2024 (as her first grant of leave was given in September 2014). But please can someone advise which settlement route should she apply under now - Private Life or Long Residence?

Also - does she have to wait until she has completed 1 year under this new Private Life route?

Thank you

She could have applied in August 2024 based on long residency!

You may be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain if you've been in the UK legally for 10 continuous years (known as 'long residence').

Hello, thank you for responding.

It's just that this page https://www.gov.uk/long-residence/eligibility states: "You’ll usually need to have held your current permission for one year." Although it does say 'usually.' Do the type of permissions she held (Appendix FM and Private Life) preclude her from this requirement?

ilovegrapes14 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 08, 2024 3:05 pm

Hello, thank you for responding.

It's just that this page https://www.gov.uk/long-residence/eligibility states: "You’ll usually need to have held your current permission for one year." Although it does say 'usually.' Do the type of permissions she held (Appendix FM and Private Life) preclude her from this requirement?

It is not the current permission but the current route. If she moved to the private life route, then she need to be under that route for at least 12 months