Applying in the UK

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The terms ‘leave to enter/remain’ and ‘permission to enter/stay’ are used interchangeably. The word ‘permission’ replaces ‘leave’ in the Immigration Rules for simplified routes, but the former term is still used in other categories of stay and the relevant legislation.

In-country applications

A person subject to immigration control in the UK is generally required to make an application in the UK if:

  1. •

    they wish to stay beyond the date their current leave/permision expires, including when they are eligible for settlement (indefinite leave to remain)

  2. •

    their circumstances change so that they no longer meet the requirements of their current immigration route and wish to remain in the UK in a different route

  3. •

    they wish to change their immigration route, or

  4. •

    they wish to regularise their immigration status, eg they have overstayed their previous leave or entered the UK illegally

Where a person already has leave to enter or leave to remain, any application to extend, reduce or otherwise alter this leave is termed under the Immigration Rules an application to ‘vary’ their leave.

In-country applications are decided by the Home Office

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