Skilled Worker ILR calculator and checklist

This route is for people completing a qualifying period under eligible work routes. Some predecessor work permissions may combine, but do not assume every visa counts. Check the current Immigration Rules and route guidance for your own permission history.

The usual test is no more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period during the qualifying period. Count full days abroad, not departure and return days. Earlier transitional rules can matter for older qualifying periods.

Your sponsor normally needs to confirm that it still requires you in the relevant role and that you will be paid the required salary. The salary threshold and going-rate position can depend on the Rules and transitional provisions applying to you. Do not use an old headline threshold as a substitute for current evidence.

1. Use the date calculator, then audit absences.
2. Ask your sponsor for the required confirmation early.
3. Prepare payslips, bank statements, passport and test evidence.
4. Check the current fee and application service before submitting.

Read GOV.UK: settle in the UK as a Skilled Worker and the continuous residence guidance. Last reviewed: 17 August 2026. Not legal advice.

Amira's qualifying Skilled Worker permission began on 1 November 2021. If her continuous residence is intact, the five-year point is 1 November 2026 and the usual earliest application window is 4 October 2026. That date is only useful if the sponsor confirmation, salary and going-rate requirements are satisfied on application. A trip total of 160 days in 2025 alone is not decisive: she must test every rolling 12-month period across the whole qualifying period.

• Changing employer: a change of sponsor does not necessarily restart the clock, but confirm that each period is an eligible permission.
• Changing occupation or salary: check the current pay against the applicable settlement rule, not a historic certificate figure.
• Dependent family: a dependant normally establishes their own qualifying period and may not be ready at the same time.
• Travel near expiry: retain entry and exit evidence where an absence sits close to a rolling-window limit.

The employment test is more than a bundle of payslips. The sponsoring organisation normally confirms that it still requires you to work for it for the foreseeable future and that you will be paid at least the required salary. Ask the sponsor’s HR or immigration contact for this confirmation early, but do not draft it from an out-of-date template. The applicable salary and going-rate provisions can turn on the route, job and transitional rules relevant to your history.

Check that the role description, occupation code, pay frequency and bank credits all tell the same story. If pay has varied because of unpaid leave, maternity or parental leave, a change in hours or a payroll correction, keep the records which explain it.

• Current and previous passports, eVisa proof, grant notices and application confirmations.
• A complete travel ledger with source documents for every absence.
• Sponsor confirmation addressed to the settlement requirements.
• Payslips, bank statements and any explanation for salary variations.
• Life in the UK pass reference and English-language evidence, unless exempt.
• Documents for each dependant’s independent qualifying period, if applying as a family.

Applicants sometimes count from their first day at work rather than the start of qualifying permission; use the immigration record. Others total absences by calendar year, overlook short business trips, or assume that a new sponsor destroys all previous qualifying time. Another common error is relying on the salary printed on an old certificate while the settlement rules ask a different question at the application date. Each issue is fixable only if spotted before submission.

1. Confirm the earliest application date and audit every rolling 12-month absence window.
2. Ask the sponsor for a current confirmation and reconcile salary documents.
3. Read the GOV.UK route page and the relevant Immigration Rules immediately before applying.
4. Prepare the online application before the window opens, but submit only when eligible and while leave remains valid.
5. Seek regulated advice where eligibility relies on an older work category, a gap or an unusual salary history.

Use the linked GOV.UK Skilled Worker settlement guidance as the starting point, then check the version of the Immigration Rules in force on the day you apply. This page helps plan an evidence-led application; it is not legal advice or a promise of a Home Office decision.

Jordan spent three years with Sponsor A and two with Sponsor B on eligible Skilled Worker permission. A sponsor change does not automatically erase the earlier years, but Jordan must prove every grant, test absences across the whole qualifying period and obtain the required current confirmation from Sponsor B. If a role changed midway, the relevant salary evidence should explain the change rather than leaving apparently inconsistent payslips unexplained.

Can I apply exactly five years after my first job started? Not necessarily. The relevant immigration permission and eligible route history matter, rather than only an employment start date.

Must I still work for the sponsor? The application normally requires the sponsor's confirmation that it needs you in the relevant role and that you will be paid the required salary.

Can I combine every work visa? No. Check the permitted combinations in the current Immigration Rules before calculating.