Time spent on Tier 4 dependant visa, Skilled worker dependant visa and 5-year continuous residence requirement for ILR

Good morning Team,

I am on Skilled worker dependant visa due for ILR on 22 September, 2026 with my two children. My current visa expires 14 July 2026. My spouse, the main worker qualifies already and has put in his application, though no approval yet. We've been in the UK since 28 September 2016 but initially on Tier 4 Dependant Visa. Will this count towards our continuous stay for ILR on the skilled worker route?

Also what can we do about the 42 days we have before we qualify for ILR on Skilled Visa or Long Stay.
We are having many conflicting advice on the best way to go. Could you please help?

Many thanks.

I entered the UK on 28 September 2016 on the Tier 4 visa, when I gained admission to study. My wife and two children came with me in 2016 on the Tier 4 dependant visa. Upon completion of my studies, I got a job and subsequently switched to the Skilled Worker visa in 2021, receiving the visa on 11 June 2021. The application for my wife and children was done a few months after mine though, as we had to first raise the money. Thus, their Skilled worker dependant visas were granted later than mine, on 22 September 2021. All applications were made from within the UK.

I recently submitted my own application for ILR after completing the required qualifying period under the Skilled Worker route. I’m still awaiting the decision. My dependants, however, do not reach their qualifying period until 22 September 2026, meaning that their earliest ILR application date is approximately 25 August 2026. Unfortunately, their current visas are due to expire on 14 July 2026, same as my current Skilled Worker visa. This leaves a gap of only 42 days between the expiry of their leave and the earliest date on which they can apply for settlement.

I am considering putting in their ILR now as I believe they have met the 5 years of continuous residence requirement, since they have been here since September 2016. However, there are conflicting opinions around this, with some claims that the time spent under the Tier 4 dependant visa will not count towards their 5-years continuous residence when they apply for the ILR.

It just feels cruel to pay visa fees and health surcharge for 3-years just to extend the skilled worker dependant visa for 42 days to meet the qualifying criterion, and then apply for the ILR shortly thereafter, especially as my wife and children have been in the UK for nearly 10 years.

Any advice on whether their time spent on the Tier 4 dependant visa will count towards the 5-year continuous residence requirement for the ILR application would be greatly appreciated.

Firstly, there is no need for you and your spouse to create two accounts and ask the same question So both questions are merged here under one topic

There was never a separate dependant route for various PBS dependants at all. They were all issued under the same route as 'PBS dependant'. Also the current skilled worker rules do NOT care about the route of the dependants at all, they just need your spouse to have been your dependant partner for 5 years (this can even include time spent under the family rules).

This is clear under the immigration rules and the guides, and has been covered and repeated many times before. You all qualified for ILR at the same time.

See: viewtopic.php?t=359620#p2203517

zimba wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 26, 2026 5:25 pm

Firstly, there is no need for you and your spouse to create two accounts and ask the same question So both questions are merged here under one topic

There was never a separate dependant route for various PBS dependants at all. They were all issued under the same route as 'PBS dependant'. Also the current skilled worker rules do NOT care about the route of the dependants at all, they just need your spouse to have been your dependant partner for 5 years (this can even include time spent under the family rules).

This is clear under the immigration rules and the guides, and has been covered and repeated many times before. You all qualified for ILR at the same time.

See: viewtopic.php?t=359620#p2203517

Many thanks for the clarifying response, @zimba, and apologies for double posting. Unbeknown to me, my wife had posted her message first and I only found out later. If I may follow up with a related query though, there's a question that is asked when filling out my wife’s ILR application:

“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.”


Would this be the date when her skilled worker dependant visa was issued (i.e. 22 September 2021) or the date when she actually made her first entry into the UK (i.e. 28 September 2016)?

We’re a bit unsure about the stipulation that it should be “…the period of stay you are basing this application on…”

Many thanks in advance.

It is the date she first entered the UK. That date has no bearing on the ILR qualifying period calculation at all.

Got it! Much appreciated.

One final question (hopefully!). I've been thinking about the status of our two older children. When we arrived in September 2016, they were just two years old and almost one year old. We later had another child here in the UK, who is now seven and, as I understand it, should be eligible to register as a British citizen once I obtain ILR.

I was wondering whether there is any scope for our two older children to be registered as British citizens, without first obtaining the ILR and then waiting for a year before they can apply for registration. They have spent virtually their entire lives in the UK and consider it their home, so it feels a little unusual that they might have to go through the ILR route first as well.

As always, I would be very grateful for your advice. Many thanks.

If the children and both parents have lived in the UK for ten continuous years of legal residence, then yes, the children under the age of 18 should be able to apply directly to register as British citizens without requiring ILR.

Be aware that it will still be a Section 3(1) application, under discretion, and not an entitlement that can't be refused, like for the child born in the UK.

Many thanks for clarifying.