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

Stay in the country for three years, is this identity still valid?

The answer is in a regulation from the year 2000, unrelated to anyone's experience.

Immigration (Leave to Enter and Remain) Order 2000, regulation 13(4)(a), states that a person with an unlimited leave to enter or remain in the UK will have their leave automatically terminated if they are continuously absent from the UK for more than two years. This is an automatic legal effect: the Home Office does not make a decision, does not send a notice letter, and page eVisa will not turn grey on the same day. The actual discovery of the problem usually occurs several years later at a port of entry or during an application for naturalization when the residence records are reviewed. The regulation counts the length of continuous absence, not how many days were spent in the UK within two years. A genuine return to the UK in between resets the countdown, starting again from the new date of departure.

Article 13 provides different time limits for different statuses: EUSS settled status is five consecutive years, Swiss citizens and their family members four years (Appendix EU permission was separately listed in 13(4)(za) in 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 again to the Ministry of the Interior.

Maintaining identity and maintaining benefits are two different things. Free NHS hospital treatment is not based on the type of permit, but rather on the factual judgment of "ordinarily resident" (usually residing): holding ILR is one of the prerequisites for being considered as usually residing, but if a person long-term places their life center 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 usually residing, 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 in advance. Short visits themselves also need 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 independently.

Another cost in naturalization: naturalization requires absence of no more than 90 days in the 12 months prior to application, and frequent short trips will almost certainly delay the overall naturalization timeline.

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

Removing the two-year rule entirely, once a person becomes a British citizen, the length of time they leave the UK 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 down into several verifiable criteria: the residence requirement does not require the use of discretion except for up to 30 days of absence, having a stable residence in the UK, and any absence already occurred or expected not exceeding six months and of a clearly temporary 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 this intention review. The order can only be: submit, pass the review, attend the ceremony, get the passport, and then arrange the departure; the domestic processing can take up to six months according to service standards, 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, and the approved status is indefinite leave to enter. The three things being assessed 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 does not allow 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 returning together would need multiple independent applications and multiple sets of independent evidence.

This is my judgment: Those who plan to leave the UK for more than 18 consecutive months, if they meet the naturalization requirements, should complete the process before leaving; those who are slightly short of the requirements (residence less than 12 months, or absence in the last 12 months exceeding 90 days) should not submit applications with the intention of leaving, but instead adjust each consecutive absence to be within 18 months, leaving enough room for immigration inspection and evidence. Returning residents are not suitable as a contingency plan; it is a new application subject to strict connection review, not reactivating the old status. If you are 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 specific issue, and first determine the order of departure date and submission date.

Arrange the time according to these steps

1. Log in to the UKVI account and confirm 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 any consecutive absence does not exceed 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 article 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

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