The Indefinite leave to remain helps overseas nationals to gain permanent residence in the UK. Once you have ILR you are able to make the UK your permanent home. This ILR also helps you to obtain British citizenship in future.
Of Course ILR is not automatically obtained. It is a route where you first spend 5 years of your life living in continuous residence.
There are many visa and immigration routes that allow you to gain ILR after spending 5 years. The most popular visa routes in 2021 were
- Sole representative visa- initially granted for 3 years, further extendable to 2 more years
- Skilled worker visa- initially granted for 5 years
- Global talent visa- initially granted for 3 years, further extendable to 2 more years
- Spouse visa- initially granted for 2 years 9 months, further can be extended to 33 months.
Once you have been granted ILR after 5 years, there is no need to renew your visa on which you have been living in the UK and was granted Indefinite Leave to remain.
Benefits I can claim on Indefinite leave to remain
- Accessing public funds
Overseas individuals when they come to the UK cannot access public funds directly unless they have British citizenship. However, once you are granted Indefinite leave to remain in the UK, you can access a few of the funds as per your eligibility.
These are as follows:
- Universal Credit
- Domestic rate relief (in Northern Ireland)
- Council tax benefit
- Disability living allowance
- Personal Independence Payment
- Help with housing from the local authority
- Attendance allowance
- Carers allowance (previously invalid care allowance)
- Child benefit
- Council tax reduction
- Housing benefit
- Working tax credit
- State pension credit
- Income benefit and additional support
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Employment support allowance
- Severe disablement allowance
- Social fund payments
- Child tax credit
Also, once you have an active ILR status you are not required to pay Immigration Health Surcharge.
- Bringing your family to settle with you
Another great benefit of having an active Indefinite leave to remain status is that you are able to bring your parents, dependents (spouse or children) to the UK and give them a high quality education and lifestyle.
Your family and dependents can join you in the UK on a family visa and your spouse can join on a spouse visa.
If you intend to bring your spouse or partner to the UK to live with you, both of you must be above 18 years of age. You both must be in a committed, genuine relationship and must have been living together for at least 2 years. You both could be either married or in a civil partnership when you apply for a spouse visa UK.
If you intend to bring your children to the UK, the child must be below 18 years and you must have enough financial support to take care of them in the UK.
In case you want elderly people to join you in the UK for their special care, they can apply as adult-dependents but a genuine reason has to be stated that their care cannot be done in their home country alone.
You can seek legal advice from the best immigration experts, A Y & J Solicitors. They provide bespoke immigration and visa services, with 100% client satisfaction review.
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