Updated on 26 May 2026
Key Overviews
- Indefinite leave to remain as a spouse is settlement on the 5-year partner route. It is for the husband, wife, or civil partner of a British citizen or a person settled in the UK, applied for on form SET(M).
- The qualifying period is still 5 years in 2026. The Government’s earned settlement proposals have been consulted on but are not yet in force, so the current 5-year partner route continues to apply.
- The financial requirement is £29,000 a year, or £18,600 under transitional rules. Which figure applies depends on when you first applied for your family visa.
- You must pass the Life in the UK test and meet the English requirement at B1. The English level rises to B2 for most ILR applications from 26 March 2027.
- The fee is £3,226 per person as at 8 April 2026. Most decisions arrive within 6 months, with priority and super priority services available at extra cost.
Indefinite leave to remain as a spouse: the basics
Indefinite leave to remain as a spouse is settlement granted to the partner of a British citizen or settled person who has completed the 5-year partner route. It ends the time limit on your stay, removes the conditions attached to your leave, and lets you live, work, and study in the UK without restriction.
The application is made on form SET(M), submitted online. SET(M) is the route for a partner, child, or parent of someone present and settled in the UK on the 2-year or 5-year route. Most spouse visa holders are on the 5-year route, having entered with a 33-month visa and extended for a further 30 months. This page sits within our wider settlement and ILR pages, which cover the work and long-residence routes separately.
Settlement is also the gateway to citizenship. Once you hold ILR, the spouse of a British citizen can apply to naturalise straight away, without the usual 12-month wait, as explained in our guide to British citizenship by marriage.
Who is eligible for spouse ILR on the 5-year route in 2026?
To settle as a spouse on the 5-year route, you must meet each of the following at the date of application:
- hold a family visa as a partner or spouse
- have a partner who is a British citizen or settled in the UK with ILR
- have completed 5 continuous years in the UK on the partner route
- be in a genuine and subsisting relationship, living together, and intending to continue
- meet the financial requirement
- meet the continuous residence and absence rules
- pass the Life in the UK test and meet the English requirement, if aged 18 to 64
Your current visa must be based on the relationship you are relying on. Time spent in the UK on another visa, or as a fiancé, fiancée, or proposed civil partner, does not count towards the 5 years.
Two other variants exist. The 2-year route applies to partners granted under specific provisions, and the 10-year route applies where a partner has built up ten years of lawful residence and is subject to different financial rules. Confirming which route you are on, from your most recent Home Office grant letter, is the essential first step, and our family settlement pages explain how the routes differ.
When can you apply, and is it still 5 years?
Yes, the partner route to settlement is still 5 years in 2026. The Government’s earned settlement proposals, which include a possible longer qualifying period for some routes, were consulted on with the consultation closing in February 2026, but they have not been written into the Immigration Rules. The current 5-year partner route therefore continues to apply, and partners of British citizens are expected to keep a 5-year route under the proposals.
The earliest you can apply is 28 days before you complete the 5-year qualifying period. Applying earlier risks refusal, and the fee is not refunded.
Do not let your current visa expire while you wait. Where leave is due to run out before you reach the settlement date, you would need to extend first, so planning the timing from the start of year five is sensible. Anyone close to their settlement date should take advice on applying under the current rules without delay, and our note on what earned settlement means tracks the position.
The financial requirement for spouse ILR: how much do you need?
The financial requirement at ILR is a combined income of at least £29,000 a year for most applicants. This figure applies where you first applied for your current family visa on or after 11 April 2024. However, those applying in 2026 will fall under the transitional rules.
Transitional rules protect earlier applicants. Where you first applied for your family visa before 11 April 2024, the requirement is usually a combined income of £18,600 a year, plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child who is not British, Irish, or settled. Where the child element would push the total above £29,000, only £29,000 needs to be shown.
A different test applies where your partner receives certain disability or carer’s benefits, such as Personal Independence Payment, Carer’s Allowance, or Attendance Allowance. In that case the adequate maintenance requirement replaces the income threshold, and you show instead that you can house and support the family without relying on public funds.
The income is proved in the same way as on your family visa application, through employment, self-employment, savings, or a permitted combination. Evidence gaps are a leading cause of delay, so the financial section deserves the same care at ILR as at entry. Our guide to the spouse visa financial requirement sets out the common mistakes to avoid.
Continuous residence and absences
Continuous residence on the 5-year partner route means you have completed the five years living in the UK with your partner, with the genuine intention of making the UK your permanent home. Unlike the Skilled Worker and other work routes, the partner route under Appendix FM sets no fixed limit on the number of days you can spend outside the UK. The 180-day rolling absence rule applies to routes governed by Appendix Continuous Residence, not to partners under Appendix FM. What matters instead is that your travel history supports that intention, so any long or frequent absences should be explained, with evidence of the reason and of the fact that your home remained in the UK. Each application is assessed on its merits, taking into account the reasons for travel, the length of time away, and whether you and your partner were abroad together. Where you intend to apply for British citizenship afterwards, keep the separate naturalisation absence limits in mind, because those rules do set specific day thresholds.
Knowledge of language and life in the UK
Applicants aged 18 to 64 must pass the Life in the UK test and meet the English language requirement. These two requirements together are known as Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK.
The English requirement is currently met at level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference, covering speaking and listening, or through a degree taught or researched in English. A change is confirmed for the future: from 26 March 2027, the English requirement for most ILR applications rises from B1 to B2. Applicants settling before that date are assessed at B1, as set out in our guide to the Life in the UK test for ILR and citizenship.
Where you passed the Life in the UK test for an earlier application, you do not need to retake it. The pass is valid for life, so most partners who took it at the extension stage will not sit it again at ILR.
Documents, fees, and processing times
The SET(M) fee is £3,226 per person as at 8 April 2026, charged for the main applicant and for each dependant included. Optional priority processing costs an extra £500 for a decision within 5 working days, and super priority costs an extra £1,000 for a decision by the end of the next working day.
The document pack covers identity, relationship, finances, residence, and KoLL. In practice this means current and previous passports, evidence of cohabitation across the five years, income or savings evidence, the Life in the UK test pass, and English evidence. Our SET(M) form guide, ILR documents checklist, and guide to proving cohabitation set out what to gather.
Most decisions are made within 6 months of a valid application, and many straightforward cases complete sooner. Where priority or super priority is purchased, the faster service standard applies once biometrics are enrolled. The Home Office writes to you where a decision will take longer than the standard timescale.
Common reasons spouse ILR applications are delayed or refused
Most refused or delayed partner-route applications fail on evidence or timing, not on whether the couple qualifies. Knowing the common triggers is the most reliable way to protect the fee.
The recurring problems are absences over the 180-day limit without explanation, financial evidence that does not match the strict format the rules require, thin evidence of a genuine and subsisting relationship across the five years, applying more than 28 days early, and the Life in the UK test or English requirement not being met where no exemption applies. Suitability issues, such as undisclosed criminal matters or previous breaches, can also lead to refusal.
Where an application is refused, the priority is to identify the reason and correct it. Many partner-route refusals turn on a fixable evidence point, and a fresh, properly evidenced application is often the right course. Our guide to common ILR application mistakes sets out how to avoid repeating the original error and paying the fee twice.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Time spent in the UK as a fiancé, fiancée, or proposed civil partner does not count towards the 5-year partner route. The qualifying period runs from the grant of your partner visa after marriage or civil partnership, not from your arrival as a fiancé. Time on any other visa category is also excluded.
Yes, where they qualify. A child under 18 can be included where they hold permission as a dependant on your family visa, will continue to live with and be supported by you without public funds, and are not married or living independently. A child aged 18 or over can be included only where they held dependant permission before turning 18 and still live with you, and they must pass the Life in the UK test and meet the English requirement.
The 5-year partner route requires a genuine and subsisting relationship at the date of application, so a relationship that has ended will usually close this route. Separate provisions may apply where the relationship broke down because of domestic abuse, or where a partner has died, and these can lead to settlement on a different basis. Advice on the correct route should be taken as soon as circumstances change.
No. The Life in the UK test pass is valid for life. Where you passed it for an earlier application, such as your spouse visa extension, the same pass is accepted at the ILR stage and you do not pay or sit it again.
Your existing leave and its conditions continue while a valid in-time application is being decided, so you can usually keep working.
The spouse of a British citizen can apply to naturalise as soon as they hold ILR, without the 12-month wait that applies to the standard route. You would still need to meet the residence, absence, good character, and Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK requirements for citizenship.
How Whytecroft Ford can help with spouse ILR
Settlement on the partner route is the most valuable step in the spouse visa journey, and it is also the point where a small evidence error can cost a £3,226 fee and months of delay. The financial requirement, the continuous residence requirement, and the relationship evidence all need to line up exactly, and the rules are under review this year, which makes timing decisions more important than usual.
Our immigration team prepares partner-route ILR applications end to end. We assemble the financial and relationship evidence in the format the rules require, and sequence the application so it is ready to file on the first eligible day. Where you intend to naturalise afterwards, we plan the ILR and citizenship steps together. To speak to our settlement team, call 0208 757 5751 or use the contact form at whytecroftford.com.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Indefinite leave to remain if you have family in the UK: Apply as a partner (family visa)
- GOV.UK Immigration Rules Appendix FM
- GOV.UK, Visa fees (8 April 2026)
- Home Office, earned settlement consultation (2026)
This article provides general information on UK immigration matters as at 26 May 2026 and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration rules, Home Office guidance, processing times, and fees change frequently and sometimes without notice. You should not rely on this content as a substitute for advice on your individual circumstances. Whytecroft Ford is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA) at Level 1 and provides advice and representation within the Immigration Rules.
