What is the 180-day absence rule?

The 180-day absence rule is the limit on time outside the UK for most settlement applications. Under Appendix Continuous Residence, a person must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period of their qualifying period, unless a listed exception applies. Exceeding it breaks continuous residence.

How the 180-day absence rule works

The rule sits in Appendix Continuous Residence of the Immigration Rules. To meet the continuous residence requirement, the applicant must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period, unless an exception applies.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Continuous Residence} The rule applies to settlement under routes such as Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator Founder, UK Ancestry, Settlement Family Life, Private Life and Long Residence.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Continuous Residence}

The limit is checked across the whole qualifying period, not only the last year. For permission granted on or after 11 January 2018, absences are considered on a rolling basis over any 12-month period that includes them. For permission granted before that date, absences are considered in consecutive 12-month periods ending on the date of application.^{[2]Home Office, Continuous residence: caseworker guidance (accessible version)}

Any time outside the UK counts towards the limit, including time when the person’s permission remained valid.^{[2]Home Office, Continuous residence: caseworker guidance (accessible version)} Time spent lawfully in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man on an equivalent route is treated as time in the UK, provided the most recent grant of permission was in the UK.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Continuous Residence}

How days are counted

The caseworker guidance says only whole days are counted. Part-day absences of less than 24 hours are not.^{[2]Home Office, Continuous residence: caseworker guidance (accessible version)} It gives an example. If a person is absent for 180 days and starts the journey back on day 180 but arrives on day 181, day 181 is not a day of absence and the period does not go over 180 days.^{[2]Home Office, Continuous residence: caseworker guidance (accessible version)}

For family and private life applications, the form asks for absences only if the person was away for 150 days or more in any 12-month period within the qualifying period. This is so that cases close to 180 days are captured. Only absences of more than 180 days in a 12-month period break continuous residence.^{[2]Home Office, Continuous residence: caseworker guidance (accessible version)}

Absences that do not count

The Rules say a period outside the UK does not count towards the limit if the absence was for any of these reasons:^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Continuous Residence}

• assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis overseas, if on a sponsored route the sponsor agreed to the absence for that purpose
• travel disruption due to natural disaster, military conflict or pandemic
• compelling and compassionate personal circumstances, such as the life-threatening illness of the applicant, or the life-threatening illness or death of a close family member
• approved research activity by certain Skilled Worker or Global Talent applicants, as set out in the Rules
• for Settlement Family Life applicants, absences for work, study or supporting family overseas, if the family maintained a family life in the UK and the UK remained their place of permanent residence
• where the applicant’s partner is on Crown service as a member of HM Armed Forces, a UK Government employee or a permanent member of the British Council, and the applicant goes overseas with them

A partner or child who accompanies the person they depend on for one of these reasons also has that absence disregarded.^{[1]Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Continuous Residence}

Older limits for long residence

Different limits apply to long residence for absences that started before 11 April 2024. GOV.UK says you will not have continuous residence if you were abroad for more than 184 days in a row or more than 548 days in total, and only periods abroad that started before 11 April 2024 count towards the 548 days.^{[3]Home Office, Long residence: Eligibility} For absences from 11 April 2024, the 180-day limit applies.^{[3]Home Office, Long residence: Eligibility} See our page on long residence.

Example

Nadia is applying for settlement on a route covered by Appendix Continuous Residence. In the 12 months from February 2030 to January 2031 she spent 100 days abroad between February and May, and 85 days abroad between September and November. That is 185 days in the same 12-month period.

The limit is 180 days. Unless an exception applies, her absences exceed the limit and her continuous residence is broken. If one trip had been for a compelling and compassionate reason, those days would not count. She should look at every 12-month period in her qualifying period, not only the last one. This example uses invented facts. It is not advice on a real case.

What people get wrong

People often add up days in a calendar year only. For permission granted on or after 11 January 2018, the test looks at any 12-month period, so two trips that fall either side of 31 December still count together.

A second mistake is to leave out days that look harmless. The guidance says any time outside the UK counts, including time when the person’s permission remained valid.^{[2]Home Office, Continuous residence: caseworker guidance (accessible version)}

The bottom line

The 180-day absence rule limits time outside the UK to 180 days in any 12-month period, for most settlement routes. It is checked on a rolling basis and counts whole days. Some absences are disregarded, and long residence has older limits for absences that began before 11 April 2024. Add up your days for every 12-month period before you apply.