After leaving the country for two years, ILR will become invalid automatically? How to maintain it if returning to live in the country?

Article 13 provides different periods depending on the status: EUSS settled status is five consecutive years, Swiss citizens and their family members four years (Appendix EU permits were separately listed in 13(4)(za) with the 2024 revision), and all others two years.

Handing over ILR and following a five-year schedule will directly cross the line; people with settled status who restrict themselves for two years will unnecessarily lose three years. Before booking a flight, check in your UKVI account to see which type is written in your row.

Come back every one and a half years for a few days, does that count?

Right, and this is the only way to maintain it without having to pay money to the Ministry of the Interior again.

Maintaining identity and maintaining benefits are two different things. Free NHS inpatient treatment is not based on the type of visa, but rather on the factual determination of "ordinarily resident": holding ILR is one of the prerequisites for being considered as "ordinarily resident", but if a person long-term places their life focus overseas, the hospital's overseas visitor office can still determine, according to the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, that the person is not "ordinarily resident", and charge 150% of the standard national rate. If you return to China for two or three years and then briefly come back to the UK for medical treatment, you need to clarify this issue in advance. The short return itself also needs to be documented: boarding passes, accommodation records, entry-exit records in eVisa, are all materials that can prove "you did indeed return this time", and now the entry stamp alone is insufficient to support this.

Another cost in naturalization: naturalization requires that you have been absent for no more than 90 days in the past 12 months, and frequent short trips will almost certainly delay the entire naturalization process.

Finish the naturalization before leaving: the problem is the six-month period.

Removing the two-year rule overall, once a person becomes a British citizen, the duration of absence does not change their status. The cost is on timing. The British Nationality Act 1981, Schedule 1 requires the applicant to intend to make the UK their principal home. Home Office "Naturalisation as a British citizen by discretion" version dated November 11, 2025, breaks it into several verifiable criteria: the residence requirement does not require the use of discretion except for up to 30 days of excess, having a stable accommodation in the UK, and any absence already occurred or expected does not exceed six months and is clearly temporary in nature.

The person who has already booked the flight and is preparing to return to the country for three years, the difficulty is therefore not in the duration, but in the intent review. The order can only be: submit, pass the review, attend the ceremony, get the passport, and then arrange the departure; domestic processing can take up to six months, and the ceremony requires additional scheduling.

Permanent residency is invalid: £726 to reapply for a new one.

Two years later, the route is Appendix Returning Resident, application fee £726, submitted from overseas, approved as indefinite leave to enter. The three things being considered are: genuine intention to settle in the UK, maintaining strong ties with the UK during the period away, and not having received public funds when leaving. The Guidance says it this way, this route cannot include family members, each partner and child must individually meet the conditions of returning residents (Home Office "Lapsing leave and returning residents", 4 August 2026 edition). A family coming back together requires several independent applications and several sets of independent evidence.

This is my judgment: For those who plan to leave the UK continuously for more than 18 months, if they meet the naturalization requirements, they should complete the process before leaving. For those who are slightly short of the requirements (residence less than 12 months, or absence in the last 12 months exceeding 90 days), do not submit applications with the intention of leaving; instead, ensure each continuous absence stays within 18 months, leaving enough room for immigration checks and evidence. Returning residents are not suitable as a backup plan; it is a new application subject to strict connection review, not reactivating the old status. If unsure which category you fall into, you can pay £5 on justiscript.com to get a written response from a UK-qualified lawyer within 24 hours regarding one question. First, determine the order of your departure date and submission date.

Arrange the time according to these steps

1. Log in to the UKVI account and confirm whether the identity category is ILR or EUSS settled status, and calculate accordingly for two or five years.

2. Make a table of the departure dates and return dates for the next three years, ensuring that no continuous absence exceeds 18 months, and keep the boarding passes and accommodation receipts for each return to the UK.

3. If the naturalization conditions are met, submit the application and reserve six months for processing and ceremony scheduling before purchasing a one-way ticket.

4. During the return to the UK, if medical treatment is needed, confirm the usual residence determination with the hospital's international visitor office in advance, and then decide on the treatment time.

This document is for reference only. For specific issues, please consult a licensed attorney.

[Data source] legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1161/made ; gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-returning-resident ; gov.uk/government/publications/naturalisation-as-a-british-citizen-by-discretion-nationality-policy-guidance