Since the government published its earned settlement response on 2 November 2026 (CP 1707), clients have been asking which path the new system would put them on, and whether they can still settle under today's rules. The plans are confirmed, but the Immigration Rules haven't changed and there's no start date. For a client who qualifies under the rules as they stand, the sensible course is usually to apply as soon as they can.
That puts more weight than usual on two dates: when the qualifying period started, and the earliest day the application can go in. Both depend on the absence count, and a miscount now costs more than it used to, because a refused application may leave the client facing the new rules instead.
The earliest date
An ILR application can go in up to 28 days before the qualifying period ends. One made earlier may be refused. So the count does two jobs: it decides whether the absences are within the rule, and it fixes the first day the client can safely apply. A client who waits for that date and lets their visa run out in the meantime has a different problem altogether.
Where the qualifying period starts
This is the easiest part to get wrong. Where the client came in with entry clearance, the Home Office continuous residence guidance (version 10.0, 8 October 2026) says to start from the date entry clearance was granted, and the time between that grant and the day they arrived counts towards their absences. A delayed flight or a late start can use up weeks of the allowance before the client has even set foot in the country, and it is easy to miss because no trip was taken.
The count itself
The limit is in Appendix Continuous Residence: on Skilled Worker and the other five-year work routes, on UK Ancestry, and as the partner of a work visa holder, no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period of the qualifying period. Two reminders, because they still catch people. The count is rolling, so every 12-month window is tested and a client who checks only each visa year can miss a breach: 100 days abroad from September to December and another 100 from January to April can be under 180 in each visa year and over it in a window that spans both trips. And only whole days count, so the day someone leaves and the day they return don't. Clients who count both often think they're closer to the limit than they are, and some put off an application they could already have made.
Serious reasons
Some absences may not count at all: those for a serious or compelling reason, such as a lifethreatening illness or the death of a close family member, or travel disruption from a natural disaster, war or a pandemic. The client will need evidence, and the claim should be looked at properly before anyone relies on it, particularly if the application is being timed to the earliest possible day.
Partners on the family route
The five-year partner and parent route has no fixed day limit. Long absences are looked at against the couple's intention to live together permanently instead: the Home Office guidance says time spent abroad must be for good reasons, and spending most of the 60 months overseas may cast doubt on that intention. Clients who've heard about "the 180-day rule" from friends on work visas often assume it applies to them too.
Two questions to keep apart
In advice, it helps to separate when the client can apply under the rules as they stand from how the plans might affect them later. The first can be answered precisely today. The second can't, until the detailed rules and a start date are published.
A tool clients can use first
We've built a free ILR calculator that does the rolling 180-day count from a list of trips, gives the earliest application date, and shows which earned settlement path the plans would point to, clearly labelled as plans that aren't yet law. It covers the five-year work routes, UK Ancestry, partners of work visa holders and the five-year family route. Nothing entered is saved or sent. Practitioners are welcome to share it with clients before a first appointment, so the trip list arrives already worked out.
It's a general guide. It doesn't replace checking a client's travel history against their passport stamps, eVisa records and their own documents.