Timeline for permanent residence in the UK: How many years does it take for international students to get their study visa to ILR

Last week, a reader left a message, saying that she came to the UK to study for an undergraduate degree in 2021, and then studied for a master's degree. She has also had a work permit for two years now. She calculated with her fingers, "I have been in the UK for six years. Am I going to become a permanent resident soon?"

We helped her finish the calculation, and she was silent for a long time—according to the five-year work permit path, her permanent residence clock had only gone two years.

This is the most common and hurtful misunderstanding among international students: the time spends in the UK and the "time counted for permanent residence" are completely different accounts. Today, breaks down the complete timeline from student signing to ILR, section by section, and explains it clearly.

Paragraph 1｜Why are the years of student visa not counted as the time of permanent residence in the UK?

The Skilled Worker (skilled work permit) transfer to permanent residence is based on "five years of continuous residence", but these five years must be and spent under the visa category included in the permanent residence. Student visa is not included, nor is Graduate visa.

So if you study for three years for a bachelor's degree and one year for a master's degree, the contribution of these four years to the five-year work permit permanent residence is: zero. The day the clock really starts running is the effective date of your Skilled Worker visa.

But the time spent on the student visa is not in vain - it can be counted towards the 10-year long-term residence (Long Residence) permanent residence path . As long as these 10 years are always legal and there is no break, the student visa, graduate visa, and work permit can be counted together. For people who have been studying for many years, the 10-year path sometimes arrives earlier than the 5-year path.

One sentence to remember: the time signed by students will not be recognized by the five-year path, but will be recognized by the ten-year path. Before starting to plan, first think about which path you want to take.

Second Paragraph｜Graduate visa will be reduced to 18 months starting in 2027, and the visa schedule will be rearranged

The Graduate route is the buffer zone between the student visa and the work visa. It does not require employer sponsorship, and you can work, look for jobs, and try things out. But its length is changing.

According to the current rules: Graduate applications submitted before December 31, 2026 (inclusive) will still be approved for 2 years; those submitted on or after January 1, 2027, will only be approved for 18 months . Doctoral graduates are not affected and still have 3 years.

Who is this line most important to? A one-year master's degree program that will enroll in September this year. When you graduate in the fall of 2027, you have already crossed that line when submitting your graduate application, and it will be 18 months after you receive it. The window for finding a job, getting a guarantee, and changing visas has actually been shortened by half a year.

If you are among the batch that will enroll in 2025 and graduate in the summer and autumn of 2026 - as long as your grades are confirmed and the school has completed the submission, submit your graduate as soon as possible and don't wait until the end of the year. If you deliver it one day earlier, you may get an extra six months.

Paragraph 3 | Converting student visa to work visa: How high will the UK visa threshold be in 2026?

This is the easiest link in the entire timeline to get stuck. After July 22, 2025, the two doors of Skilled Worker will be raised at the same time:

📌 skill level refers to RQF 6 (undergraduate degree level). More than 100 positions that could have been guaranteed have been removed from the list, and administrative, junior operations, and many service industry positions can no longer be newly guaranteed.

📌 The general salary bottom line for is £41,700 (original £38,700), and the higher of the "bottom line" and "position going rate" is required.

Fresh graduates, don’t panic, there is still a buffer: new entrants () can be guaranteed at 70% of the going rate and meet the cash bottom line of £33,400. Applicable to people under the age of 26, recent graduates, or those who are training to obtain a regulated professional qualification.

But there is a pitfall: the new employee discount of can be used for a maximum of about 4 years of , and the time spent holding a Graduate visa will be included in this amount. In other words, after you have used 2 years of Graduate, the discount period will only be about 2 years - after that, the employer must make up the full going rate, otherwise the renewal will be terminated. When discussing the offer at this step, you should discuss it with HR.

Another practical sticking point is the CoS (guarantee certificate) quota. Some employers are willing to sponsor, but are stuck in not being able to get places - the Home Office releases priority places at 7am UK time every working day, and they are all taken up in seconds. If your employer is stuck at this step, justiscript.com has a £99 CoS seat grabbing service. It will be automatically submitted as soon as the number is released and you will receive an instant email notification, which can let HR know about it.

Paragraph 4｜Work visa and permanent residence in the UK ILR: How to count 5 years and how to get stuck at 180 days

From the day the work permit comes into effect, the permanent residence clock officially starts. Keep an eye on these four things:

① Live continuously for 5 years without stopping. When changing employers, it is necessary to change the sponsorship in time and do not leave the visa window blank. Even a gap of a few days may cause the five years to be reset.

② The stay abroad does not exceed 180 days. Note that is "any rolling 12 months", not a natural year or a visa year. Returning to China for the New Year + summer vacation + a long-term business trip, it is easy to exceed the limit in a certain rolling window. It is really recommended to record this by the day. 永居计算器APP can help you calculate to the day.

③ Life in the UK Test + English ability. I have answered 18 questions correctly in 24. Most English courses currently require B1. Take the exam early and have peace of mind early, don’t delay it until one month before applying.

④ Money must be deposited in advance. From 8 April 2026, the application fee for ILR is £3,226 per person. The work visa renewal and IHS (£1,035 per year for adults and £776 per year for students) in previous years are also a lot of money - for a person who goes from undergraduate to permanent residence, the whole visa cost can easily be five digits.

Paragraph 5 | The biggest change in 2026: Will the British permanent residence period be changed from 5 years to 10 years?

A topic that cannot be avoided. The government's "earned settlement" (earned permanent residence) consultation ended on February 12, 2026, and received more than 200,000 responses - this number itself illustrates the extent of the pressure.

Proposals in the consultation include extending the default permanent residence period from 5 years to 10 years, extending the path to partially guaranteed work visas, and designing an adjustment mechanism for "shortening due to public services or community contributions." But please remember one fact: As of now, the government has not announced a formal response, and no relevant amendments to the immigration rules have been submitted to Parliament. The current five-year and 10-year permanent residency pathways remain fully valid.

So don’t be pushed by the agency’s screenshots and rumors in the group to make a decision. The truly rational approach is to arrange your timeline according to the current rules while leaving flexibility - for example, don't make decisions about things like job-hopping, long-term assignments, or studying for a second degree that will reset the clock. When you are not sure, spend £5 on justiscript.com and get a written reply from a practicing British lawyer within 24 hours. It is much more reliable than asking ten people in a group.

Draw the UK permanent residence timeline into a table

Take a typical path of "3 years for undergraduate + 1 year for master's degree" as an example:

Years 1–4: Student visa → Five-year permanent residence time 0, ten-year permanent residence time 4
Years 5-6: Graduate visa (18 months starting from 2027) → The five-year permanent residence count is still 0, and the ten-year permanent residence count is still
Starting from the 6th year: Skilled Worker work permit → The five-year permanent residence clock is only starting now
Around the 11th day: Get ILR
👉 In other words, the actual common span from landing in the UK to permanent residence is 10-11 years , not 5 years as many people think

Don’t be discouraged when you see this number. Among the same group of people, those who take the 10-year long-term residence path tend to reach the standard earlier; and if you can quickly get a high-paying guaranteed job after graduation, the five-year path is not too slow. The key is not to count in a daze. If you know the truth two years earlier, you will have the opportunity to make adjustments two years earlier.

Three things you can do today: Make a list of the start and end dates of visas in previous years; add up the number of days spent abroad in the past 12 months; if the Graduate has not been submitted and the results have been released, express it as soon as possible.

This article is for reference only. Please consult a licensed attorney for specific questions. The policy is subject to the latest announcement of GOV.UK.

[Data source] gov.uk/graduate-visa｜gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa｜gov.uk/government/consultations/earned-settlement

💬 Let’s chat in the comment area: How many years have you stayed on your student visa + graduate? On what day does the work permit clock start running? , tell me about your timeline. Let’s see how many people are stuck by “staying for a long time but not starting the clock”.

If you find it useful, bookmark this article and read it out before renewing your visa or applying for permanent residence. This will save you a lot of trouble.