Sources
Primary sources for ILR planning
Our guides point readers back to official GOV.UK material. Always check the live page and the version of the Rules that applies on your application date.
Core official material
- Apply for indefinite leave to remain — the general GOV.UK starting point.
- Immigration Rules — current Rules and Statements of Changes.
- Appendix Continuous Residence — continuous residence requirements.
- Continuous residence guidance — Home Office caseworker guidance.
- Appendix Skilled Worker and Skilled Worker settlement guidance.
- Appendix FM — family-route provisions.
- Appendix Long Residence — the established ten-year route.
- BN(O) visa: indefinite leave to remain.
Evidence, tests and operational information
- Life in the UK Test.
- English language guidance.
- Immigration and nationality fees.
- Visa processing times for applications inside the UK.
- Statements of Changes to the Immigration Rules.
Official pages can be updated, moved or supplemented by a new Statement of Changes. Read the linked material in full, including effective-date and transitional provisions, rather than relying on a quoted summary or a historic screenshot.
How we use sources
We give priority to GOV.UK legislation, Rules, guidance and application pages. Secondary reporting may alert us to an issue but is not used as the sole basis for a legal claim. When official sources do not answer a transition question, we identify the uncertainty instead of presenting a guess as certainty. See our methodology and review policy.
Rules, guidance and application pages do different jobs. The Rules set legal requirements; guidance explains how a decision-maker approaches them; an application page describes the current service journey. We cross-check all three where a page contains a calculation or operational claim. A later page update does not necessarily change the rule for an earlier historic period, so transitional wording and archived decisions can still matter.
Source-checking checklist
- Confirm that the page is an official GOV.UK source and note its update date.
- Identify the route and applicant group covered rather than applying a paragraph to everybody.
- Read commencement and transitional wording before changing a calculation.
- Keep current requirements separate from proposals and consultation questions.
- Record the source in the page review and calculation test notes.
If a link has moved or a source appears inconsistent with our wording, use the corrections process and include the page URL and official reference.