Indefinite leave to remain in the UK is a type of immigration status that means people can live and work in the UK for as long as they like, with no further need to apply for a visa extension.

If you want to keep your ILR status, you need to have your permanent address, your family or your job in the UK and moreover you need to have the intention to live permanently in the UK. If a person with ILR remains outside the UK for more than two years, that person’s ILR will automatically lapse as a matter of law.

The holder may still have a Biometric Residence Permit, or a stamp or vignette sticker in their passport, which indicates that they have ILR, but in truth it will no longer be valid.

Occasionally, people with ILR are refused entry at the border if they have been outside the UK long term. The immigration officer may refuse you to enter to the UK if they consider you left the UK permanently. A person who has been outside the UK for more than two years must apply for a visa to re-enter the UK before travelling. This is an application for a returning resident visa and this will allow all the issues to be resolved before the person travels.

The returning resident application should be applied outside the UK and you need to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration that you:

• Had indefinite leave to remain in the UK when you last left

• Did not receive assistance from public funds towards the cost of leaving the UK; and

• Now seek readmission for the purpose of settlement; and

• There are good reasons for you to be admitted as a returning resident.

You need to clarify the reasons for leaving and returning to the UK. Particularly, a compassionate and compelling reason such as caring for a close relative diagnosed with terminal illness, or for reasons beyond the applicant’s control such as being posted aboard by an employer — would support the contention that the applicant has maintained strong ties to the UK and intends to live here permanently. However, the longer a person has remained outside the UK (over 2 years), the more difficult it will be for them to qualify for admission under this provision.

It is possible for a person who previously had indefinite leave to remain to be readmitted to the UK and for their ILR to be restored. However, there is no right to readmission and it is up to an individual immigration official on whether to allow it. Returning to the UK for even a day would stop the loss of ILR, but you would have had to know about the law in the first place in order to do that.