How I got approved for Indefinite Leave to Remain | in-depth guide

You’ve found yourself facing off with Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) for the UK. But how can you get approved? Here’s everything you need to know before you apply and what to expect, from my personal experience getting the visa.

How I got approved for Indefinite Leave to Remain | in-depth guide

What is Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)?

Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) can be done through a few different pathways. For me, it was as the spouse of a British person. Each pathway has its own requirements, along with fees and necessary documents. Obviously you’ll need to check if you’re eligible before starting.

First: Life in the UK test

Before you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain, you need to have passed the Life in the UK test. You only need to pass this exam once.

It’s essentially a multiple choice British culture quiz that you must complete in-person and within a time limit.

The test is definitely something you need to study for. Even though I’ve lived in the UK for over 10 years and have accumulated a lot of general knowledge about British life and culture, there’s no way I could have passed without studying. There’s a lot of questions about British history, Kings and Queens, famous battles, British law, scientists and inventions.

I hated all the study guides online so my partner and I actually made our own: BritIQ. If you’re in the process of studying for the Life in the UK test and want some help, definitely check it out! It was the main reason I was able to pass my first time.

When to start your application

I would recommend working on your application while you study for the Life in the UK test, so once you pass the test you can then submit your application when you’re ready. For me, I started the application a few months before I really wanted to apply so I had enough time to not only fill out the application, but also gather all the required documents.

In a lot of ways, getting all the necessary documents takes longer than the actual application.

The application questions

When you actually sit down with all the required information, the application took about an hour.

If you’ve done any UK visa applications before (maybe a Spouse visa like me), you’ll recognise a lot of the questions. Take your time. You can always save and return to it as much as you like (which is how I worked on it).

If you come across a question you can’t answer yet, just use XXX so you can continue onwards and come back to it later. Annoyingly, you can’t leave anything blank if you want to go to the next page.

One unique ILR question

The only question that was unique from all other applications I’ve done before, is this:

“Are you part of any social groups or do you have other cultural ties in your country of birth, nationality or any other country where you have lived for more than 5 years?”

I took this to mean in Canada (my home) and England (where I’ve lived for the last 5+ years) what sorts of structured membership did I have. Not “I meet up with friends for coffee every month” but things that are more structured. In the end I picked things that focused on my local community to show that I’ve integrated in England:

  • I have a membership to a local community yoga studio
  • I have a membership to my local community centre (aka my gym)
  • I have a library membership with my county’s library
  • I have a membership with my local cinema
  • I attend a monthly book club

Other things that would be good answers would be things like: if you volunteer, are part of a church, membership to a political group or other membership group.

I also put that aside from my family in Canada, I don’t have any membership there. I wanted to show that I don’t have any culture or structured ties to Canada but I’ve tried to assimilate to my new home in England.

The required documents

A big part of these applications is supplying the right documents and this can take awhile, so give yourself enough time. Since my ILR pathway was as a spouse of a British person, I had to prove my address over the last 2.5 years that I’ve lived with my partner. This is done with either 6 documents with me and my partners name and address, or 12 documents (6 of mine and 6 of theirs).

I always keep a visa binder so whenever we get mail (which nowadays, isn’t as common) I’ll keep it for the binder. Then when it’s time to do my next visa, I already have a bunch of documents I can choose from if I need them.

Unfortunately we have very few items addressed to both of us, so I always end up submitting 6 documents each. And actually, I submitted 7 each in case one of them is rejected for whatever reason. That way, at least I have a backup.

However the Home Office doesn’t look too kindly on over-submitting documents, so don’t do that, either.

Thankfully visas nowadays don’t require documents to be original hardcopies. The whole process is much easier.

If you don’t have a scanner to scan documents onto your computer to submit them, I use a free camera app on my phone. You can take a photo and it structures it to look like a scanned PDF. Then I Airdrop it to my computer. Failing that, local libraries usually have scanners you can use and pay per scan.

If you’re not comfortable with computers, you can bring all your documents to your visa appointment to have them scan them in, but it’ll cost you and this will need to be booked before you arrive at your appointment.

Personal documents needed

Here’s the documents required for ILR via the family route.

  • Your passport
  • Signed partner declaration by your partner (this is provided during the application online so you can download it)
  • Evidence of your partners settled status in the UK (ex: passport)
  • Evidence of council tax costs for the accommodation in the UK where you live or will live
  • Evidence of monthly housing costs for the accommodation in the UK where you live or will live (For example, a tenancy or mortgage agreement)
  • The 6 letters and/or other documents addressed to you and your partner at the same address to show that you have been living together during the past 2.5 years (or 6 each if not addressed to you both)
  • All previous passports, travel documents or national identity cards that you have used to travel to or remain in the UK

Financial documents needed

Then we have the financial documents. As part of this visa, you have to prove that you and/or your partner earn enough money. This final figure is changing a lot lately and will depend on when you were granted leave previously and if you have any dependents.

For most people, you will choose your income from your job and if that doesn’t reach the annual threshold, you can include your partner’s income combined with yours. For this portion, you’ll need to prove that income:

  • A letter from the employer(s) who issued the payslips confirming
    • 1. the employment;
    • 2. the gross annual salary;
    • 3. how long the employment has been/was held;
    • 4. the period over which the person has been paid the level of salary stated in their application; and
    • 5. the type of employment (permanent, fixed-term contract or agency) – for whoever is proving their income (you alone, your partner alone, or both)
  • A P60 for the relevant period(s) of employment relied upon – for whoever is proving their income
  • A signed contract of employment – for whoever is proving their income
  • Personal bank statements corresponding to the same period(s) as the payslips showing that the salary has been paid into an account in the name of the person or in the name of the person and their partner jointly – for whoever is proving their income
  • Payslips covering a period of 6 months prior to the date of application – for whoever is proving their income

Submission and Payment

Once you submit your application, you can’t edit it so take your time and be sure.

Once I submitted my visa, I was prompted to pay and given two very different options:

  • Regular Service: £3029 – result within 6 months
  • Super Priority: £4029 – result within 1-2 business days of your Biometrics appointment

In the end, I wanted this whole process done with. I couldn’t imagine waiting 6 months for a result and the anxiety that would bring, so I bit the bullet and paid for Super Priority.

Next: Booking your Biometrics Appointment

Follow the prompts after you submit and pay for your visa and you’ll be sent to the Biometrics Appointment part of your application. This is done through a separate website and you’ll need to register an account first.

Just follow the prompts, but I’d recommend doing this all at once rather than trying to come back later and start from this point.

The earliest Biometrics at my closet London centre was the following week so thankfully I didn’t need to wait long. As you’re booking your appointment, you can add on extras (such as bring in all your paper documents and make the staff scan them in) but it’s all for a fee. I chose the “self service” option which meant I would upload all my documents myself (for no extra charge).

You’ll then be sent to the uploads portal but I signed out at this point and returned later. Uploading the documents takes awhile, so give yourself enough time.

Uploading your documents

If you’ve taken a break like I did, sign back into the TLS website to begin uploading your documents.

It asks you to pick a “category” for each document, but from my understanding this doesn’t really matter. The Home Office will be looking at everything you upload, regardless of the category. This is more for your own organisation so don’t stress about it too much.

Hot tip: As part of this visa submission process, you’ll have received a UK Visas and Immigration Checklist – KEEP THIS. Use this as a guide while you upload your documents and check off each section as you go. You’ll then upload this checklist when you’re done before final submission of all your documents.

Attending your Biometrics

If you want the nitty-gritty details of attending a biometrics appointment for a UK visa, I have a whole deep-dive post.

The short version is:

  • I arrived 15 min early (as requested)
  • I brought:
    • A print off of the appointment confirmation
    • my passport
    • my laptop
      • this isn’t required but at a previous Biometrics appointment, the staff noticed I had missed something major and needed me to upload it via the portal before sending off all my visa documents. I had to call my partner back home and try to get him to sign in and do it – it was a mess. I brought my laptop this time so I could do it myself if needed (it wasn’t, but you never know)
  • There were 2 people in the queue actively being served. Once one of them left, I was brought in even though it was still 15 minutes before my appointment
  • First they scanned the appointment confirmation sheet and then my passport
  • Then I was passed off to another woman who took a passport-style photo, scanned my fingers prints and filmed me saying my full name and birth day.
  • Then that was it! Literally 4 mins. I was out before my official appointment time

If you’re paying them to upload your documents for you, it’ll obviously take a lot longer.

How long to get a result?

Since I paid for the Super Priority, it says online that most people should get a result the next business day after their Biometrics appointment.

I had my Biometrics at noon. I received my result by 7:58AM the next morning. I couldn’t believe it.

And that’s it! I got an email from the Home Office saying my application was successful and I could finally exhale. If you have any questions about this process, don’t hesitate to reach out!

You got this!!