Planning ILR? Why the 180-day travel limit does not reset each January

Start with the person and the application

ILR means indefinite leave to remain, also called settlement. It gives permission to stay without a time limit. This guide concerns settlement through the Skilled Worker route, which includes Health and Care Workers.

The main worker and a dependant partner each face the relevant continuous-residence test. Continuous residence means meeting the rules about your qualifying time in the UK, including absences. Each person's travel is assessed separately.

Dependent children are different. Home Office work-route guidance says their settlement applications are not subject to absence limits. This includes an adult applying as a dependent child, rather than on their own work route. The separate child conditions still matter, including the relevant parents' status and independent-life requirement.

Do not apply the adult worker or partner's 180-day counter to a child's settlement application as if it were the same test. Keeping the child's travel history is still useful for their records and any later application.

The twelve months move with the dates

For absences during permission granted on or after 11 January 2018, Home Office guidance uses rolling 12-month periods. Rolling means the window can move forward one day at a time.

Picture a frame covering 12 months on your travel timeline. Slide it across the relevant history and add the full absence days inside it. The important number is the highest total in any of those overlapping windows.

There is no calendar-year reset. The anniversary of entering the UK does not create a new annual allowance. Your first trip abroad does not create a fixed yearly cycle either. The qualifying period determines the history being reviewed, not an annual reset date.

Two calendar years can hide one high total

Made-up example: a Skilled Worker leaves the UK on 30 September 2025 and returns on 30 December 2025. The full absence days are 1 October to 29 December: 90 days.

They leave again on 31 January 2026 and return on 12 May 2026. The full absence days are 1 February to 11 May: 100 days. A calendar-year check gives 90 days in 2025 and 100 in 2026. Both look below 180.

But the window from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026 includes both trips. It contains 190 absence days, which is 10 over the usual limit. Checking calendar years missed the issue.

The same rolling-window calculation matters for a dependant partner subject to this test. The example identifies a need for review; it does not decide an application or whether an exception applies.

Count full days and check special provisions

Home Office guidance counts whole absence days. For an ordinary trip record, the departure and return dates are excluded. Leaving on 1 June and returning on 4 June gives two full days outside the UK: 2 and 3 June.

A window may cut through a long trip. Count the absence days inside that window, rather than automatically adding the whole trip to every window.

Permission granted before 11 January 2018 has different treatment, with specific dependant provisions too. Certain permitted absences can be excluded when their conditions are met. An ordinary holiday or family visit should not simply be relabelled as an exception. Keep the true reason and any relevant evidence.

Let REKODHA work through the overlapping periods

You should not have to try every possible 12-month window in a spreadsheet. Add your completed trips in REKODHA's Travel section, with departure and return dates. Its supported Skilled Worker counter calculates the highest recorded total across overlapping rolling 12-month windows.

The calculation excludes departure and return days and avoids counting overlapping records twice. The fictional trips above return 190 days in REKODHA's existing calculation.

Keep each person's trips separate and confirm the recorded route and permission history. Where planning dates are available, REKODHA uses the recorded qualifying dates in its planning view. The result depends on the history you provide.

Unknown return dates and unfinished trips are flagged as incomplete and left out of the completed-trip total. A low total with missing trips is not reassurance. Review gaps before relying on the figure.

Find the issue before the application

Add your trips while tickets and emails are easy to find. Check the highest rolling total before committing to a longer stay abroad. REKODHA's current counter uses completed trips; it does not automatically forecast a trip you have only planned.

If a relevant total exceeds 180, or earlier permission or an exception matters, take the timeline to a regulated immigration professional. REKODHA organises and calculates your recorded history; it does not decide an exception or guarantee settlement.

Renewal and British citizenship have separate rules. This guide explains a settlement absence test for workers and partners. Keep the underlying travel dates so the appropriate test can be used for each later step.

A small step you can take today

Use this checklist to review your starting point.

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