10-year ILR: How many days can you spend outside the UK?

The basic rule

To qualify for indefinite leave to remain on the 10-year long residence route, you must not have been absent from the UK for more than 18 months in total during your ten-year qualifying period.

How is 18 months actually calculated?

This is where it gets technical. The Home Office has been known to calculate 18 months as 540 days (18 × 30 = 540). However, this is mathematically incorrect. A month does not always have 30 days. A calendar year has 365 days (or 366 in a leap year). Eighteen months — one and a half years — therefore equals approximately 547 to 548 days, depending on whether the period includes a leap year.

We have successfully challenged a refusal on exactly this basis: our client had 543 days of absence, which the Home Office said exceeded 18 months by 3 days. We demonstrated that the correct calculation gave a limit of at least 547 days. The refusal was overturned on appeal.

Who is most at risk?

Students who came to the UK for their studies and stayed on are particularly at risk of exceeding the absence limit, as they typically travel home during holidays. If this applies to you, check your absence count carefully — and use the correct calendar-based calculation, not 30-day months.

What if you exceed the limit?

A refusal on absences is not necessarily final. Depending on your circumstances, there may be grounds to challenge the Home Office's calculation or to argue for discretion. Do not assume your case is over without getting legal advice first.

Get in touch

If you are approaching your ten-year qualifying period and are unsure about your absence count, we can help you calculate it correctly. If you have already been refused, we can assess whether there are grounds to challenge the decision.