Skilled Worker visa expires before your 5 years are up — can you still get ILR?
If your Skilled Worker visa expires before you complete five years on a qualifying work route, you generally cannot apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) early to cover the gap. The five-year clock for Skilled Worker settlement runs from when you were first granted leave on a qualifying work visa, not from when you first arrived in the UK. Time spent as a student does not count towards this five-year period. In the situation described — a first Skilled Worker grant on 11 November 2021 and a current visa expiring 15 September 2026 — you would reach five years around 11 November 2026, roughly two months after your leave ends. The earliest you can apply for ILR is 28 days before that five-year point, which is nowhere near enough to bridge a two-month shortfall. The usual fix is to extend your Skilled Worker visa before it expires, keep working, and then apply for settlement once five years are complete.
- The Skilled Worker five-year clock starts from your first qualifying work visa grant (here ~11 November 2021), not your 2020 student arrival.
- Student (Tier 4) time does not count towards the five-year Skilled Worker continuous residence requirement.
- You can apply for ILR at most 28 days before you complete five years — not months early.
- If your visa expires before that date, you usually need to extend your Skilled Worker visa first.
- You must not let your leave lapse — apply to extend before your current visa expires.
Why the clock starts at your Skilled Worker grant, not 2020
The standard five-year Skilled Worker settlement route requires five years of continuous residence on a qualifying work visa — Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, or the old Tier 2 (General) and equivalent categories. GOV.UK states you must "have lived and worked in the UK for 5 years" on one of these routes.
Time on a Student (Tier 4) visa does not count towards this period. Studying does not lead to settlement on its own, so switching from a student route into Skilled Worker resets the settlement clock to zero in the work category. That means the relevant start date here is the first Skilled Worker grant on 11 November 2021 — making the five-year point around 11 November 2026 — and the 2020 student arrival is irrelevant for this route.
There is a separate 10-year long residence route where lawful time on most visas, including student time, can count. That is a different application with different rules and would not normally be the faster path for someone close to five years' work residence.
You can't just apply early to cover the gap
Many people assume there is a generous early-application window. There is not. GOV.UK is explicit: "The earliest you can apply is 28 days before you've been in the UK for 5 years on a qualifying visa." Apply earlier than that and your application can be refused.
A visa expiring on 15 September 2026 against a five-year date of ~11 November 2026 leaves a shortfall of around two months — far beyond the 28-day window. There is also a common myth about a "28-day rule" that lets you stretch continuous residence over a gap in leave. That overstaying concession was withdrawn on 24 November 2016. Since then, any period of overstaying between grants of permission does not count, even if you reapply within 28 days. So neither the early-application window nor the old overstaying grace can bridge this gap.
Do not let your Skilled Worker leave lapse. If your visa expires before you complete five years and you have not extended it, you risk a break in continuous residence that can reset your settlement clock entirely. Always apply to extend before the current visa's expiry date.
What to do instead: extend, then apply for ILR
The practical route is to extend your Skilled Worker visa before 15 September 2026, then apply for settlement once you reach five years. To extend, GOV.UK requires that you "apply online before your current visa expires," that you have the same job in the same occupation code, and that you are still working for the sponsor who issued your current certificate of sponsorship.
A short extension keeps your leave continuous and carries you past the five-year point, so you can then submit your ILR application within the 28-day early window (or any time after you complete five years, while you still hold valid leave). Read more on how a break in leave affects Skilled Worker continuous residence and on whether the 28-day rule lets you apply for ILR early.
Step-by-step
- Confirm your exact start date. Check your first Skilled Worker grant date (here 11 November 2021). Five years from that is your earliest qualifying date.
- Check absences. You must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period across the qualifying years.
- Plan your extension early. Apply to extend your Skilled Worker visa well before 15 September 2026 — do not let leave lapse.
- Apply for ILR once you reach (or are within 28 days of) five years, using the SET(O) settlement application and passing the Life in the UK Test.
Immigration rules change, and the government has consulted on longer settlement periods, so always confirm your position against current GOV.UK guidance or take advice on your specific dates before applying.