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Settlement date calculator

Count the dates the published rules use for UK indefinite leave to remain and for Irish Stamp 4, long-term residence and citizenship, with your trips abroad checked against the absence limit.

This tool shows what the published rules say. It is not immigration advice and it is not a decision. It counts dates; it cannot tell you whether you meet every requirement. In the UK only a regulated adviser (registered with the Immigration Advice Authority, formerly the OISC, or a solicitor or barrister) can give immigration advice. In Ireland, speak to a solicitor. Always check the official page linked with each result before you apply or pay.

Where you want to settle

Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker. The date your entry clearance (visa) was granted, or the grant date if you switched inside the UK.

If your visa was granted abroad. The Home Office guidance counts the time between the grant and your arrival as absence.

Trips outside the UK

Only whole days count: the day you leave and the day you come back are not counted. Your dates stay in this browser tab and are never sent anywhere.

Earned settlement: proposed, not law

The government has consulted on changing settlement to 10 years for most people, with a 5-year reduction proposed for some public service roles, which the consultation says might include medical professionals such as NHS doctors and nurses. The consultation closed on 12 February 2026 and its outcome has not been published. These changes are not law yet: the Immigration Rules still say 5 years. This tool uses the rules in force on 21 October 2026. Earned settlement consultation on GOV.UK.

Enter the date your first qualifying permission started to see the dates.

Method

How it works

The calculator applies the published rules to the dates you enter. It never estimates a date the rules do not set.
  1. Step 1

    Your start date

    For the UK, when your first Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker permission began. For Ireland, when you started work on the permit.
  2. Step 2

    Your trips

    Each trip abroad is counted in whole days and checked against every rolling 12-month window in the 5 years.
  3. Step 3

    Your Irish permissions

    IRP card or stamp dates are merged, with overlaps counted once, for long-term residence and the citizenship count.
  4. Step 4

    The official page

    Each result links the rule it uses. Check it, and speak to a regulated adviser, before you apply.

Worked example

Two health workers, worked through

Illustrative dates, run through the same calculation as the tool.

A nurse on a Health and Care Worker visa

  • Entry clearance granted 4 January 2024; arrived 18 January 2024: 14 days count as absence.
  • Christmas trip, 14 December 2024 to 5 January 2025: 21 whole days (the travel days are not counted).
  • Summer trip, 26 July to 23 August 2025: 27 whole days.
  • 5 years are reached on 4 January 2029, so the earliest application date is 7 December 2028.
  • The busiest 12-month window has 48 whole days abroad, under the 180-day limit. Total abroad: 62 days.
  • The earliest date falls after 26 March 2027, so the B2 English rule for settlement applies, and the fees today would be £3,226 plus £50 for the Life in the UK Test.

A doctor on a Critical Skills Employment Permit

  • Employment on the permit started 3 March 2025, as on the Revenue Employment Detail Summary.
  • 21 months later, on 3 December 2026, the published rule makes them eligible to apply for Stamp 4, renewable every 2 years.
  • With continuous Stamp 1 and Stamp 4 permissions from the same date, 60 months of cover for long-term residence would be reached five years after the first permission started, provided there are no gaps in registration.
  • For citizenship, the count is days covered by reckonable permissions in the 9 years before applying: at least 1,825.

What the rules say

The published rules behind the dates

Checked against the Immigration Rules, Home Office guidance and Immigration Service Delivery on 21 October 2026.

United Kingdom: indefinite leave to remain

  • 5 years of continuous residence on Skilled Worker (including Health and Care Worker) or the other routes in SW 21.2.
  • Apply no earlier than 28 days before you reach 5 years (GOV.UK; CR 1.1).
  • No more than 180 whole days outside the UK in any rolling 12-month period (CR 3.1 and the continuous residence guidance, version 10.0).
  • For health and education jobs on national pay scales, a settlement salary of at least £25,000 and the going rate (SW 24.3).
  • Life in the UK Test for applicants aged 18 to 64. English at CEFR B2 from 26 March 2027 (HC 1691).
  • Fee £3,226 per person from 8 April 2026.

Ireland: Stamp 4, long-term residence, citizenship

  • Stamp 4 after 21 months of employment on a Critical Skills permit, or as a non-consultant hospital doctor on a Multi-Site General Employment Permit; 57 months on a General Employment Permit (ISD page updated 25 February 2026).
  • Long-term residence after 60 months on Stamp 1 or Stamp 4 based on employment permits, counted from stamp or IRP dates. Fee €500 plus €300 registration.
  • Citizenship: 1,825 or 1,826 days of reckonable residence, including one continuous year before applying, with up to 70 days away. Fees €175 and €950.

FAQ

Questions about settlement dates

Under the rules in force on 21 October 2026, after 5 years of continuous residence on a qualifying route such as Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker (Appendix Skilled Worker SW 21.1). GOV.UK says the earliest you can apply is 28 days before you reach 5 years, and that an earlier application may be refused.

Not yet. The government consulted on an earned settlement model with a 10-year baseline for most people, a 5-year reduction proposed for some public service roles such as medical professionals, and 15 years for some roles below RQF level 6. The consultation closed on 12 February 2026 and its outcome has not been published. The Immigration Rules still say 5 years. Check GOV.UK before you plan your application.

Appendix Continuous Residence CR 3.1 says you must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period, unless an exception applies. For permission granted on or after 11 January 2018 the Home Office guidance looks at any rolling 12-month period, not calendar years, and counts whole days only: the days you leave and return are not counted.

The Home Office continuous residence guidance treats the time between the grant of entry clearance and your arrival as permission on the route, and counts it towards your absences. Enter your arrival date in the calculator to include it.

The Graduate and Student routes are not in the list of routes whose time counts towards the 5 years in Appendix Skilled Worker SW 21.2. The rules allow other routes only in limited cases, so check the rule or get regulated advice if you switched from one.

Immigration Service Delivery says Critical Skills permit holders may be eligible after 21 months from the start of employment in Ireland on the permit, as shown on your Revenue Employment Detail Summary. Non-consultant hospital doctors on a Multi-Site General Employment Permit have the same 21-month rule. General Employment Permit holders need 57 months, and the two cannot be combined.

You need at least 60 months of legal residence on Stamp 1 or Stamp 4 based on employment permits. ISD counts the stamps in your passport or the validity of your IRP cards, not your permit dates. Overlaps count once, gaps do not count, and student permissions such as Stamp 2 do not qualify. The fee is €500 if approved, plus registration.

ISD says a non-EEA adult needs 1,825 or 1,826 days of reckonable residence, including a full year of continuous residence immediately before applying, with up to 70 days away in that year (30 more in exceptional cases). The application fee is €175 and the adult certificate fee €950.

Sources

Where the figures come from

Every rule and fee was checked on these official pages on 21 October 2026. The rules change with each Statement of Changes, so check them again before you apply.
  1. 1GOV.UK: Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker (SW 21.1, SW 21.2, SW 24.3)
  2. 2GOV.UK: Immigration Rules Appendix Continuous Residence (CR 1.1, CR 3.1)
  3. 3Home Office: Continuous residence caseworker guidance, version 10.0 (8 October 2026)
  4. 4GOV.UK: Indefinite leave to remain (Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker visa)
  5. 5GOV.UK: Home Office immigration and nationality fees (8 April 2026)
  6. 6GOV.UK: Explanatory memorandum to HC 1691 (English for settlement to B2 from 26 March 2027)
Show all 11 sources
  1. 7GOV.UK: Earned settlement consultation (closed 12 February 2026, outcome not yet published)
  2. 8Immigration Service Delivery: Information on Stamp 4 upgrades
  3. 9Immigration Service Delivery: Long term residency
  4. 10Immigration Service Delivery: Become an Irish citizen by naturalisation
  5. 11Immigration Service Delivery: Registration, required documents and fees

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