FAQ

What does ‘continuous residence’ or ‘continuity of residence’ mean?

Continuous residence, or continuity of residence, simply means living in the UK. However, too much absence from the UK can break continuity of residence.

The rules are different depending on whether you are applying to the EU Settlement Scheme, or for British citizenship.

EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS):

To be eligible for settled status, you usually need to have been ‘continuously resident’ for at least 5 years. (In some limited circumstances it is possible to qualify with less than 5 years continuous residence - see here for details.)

If you have been ‘continuously resident’ for less than 5 years, you will instead be eligible for pre-settled status (as long as you fulfil all other eligibility requirements).

As a very rough summary, continuous residence means being physically present in the UK for half the time. Usually this means showing no more than six months absence per 12 months (we call this the 6/12 rule). 

However, on 16th July 2025 the Home Office simplified the rules for those who already have pre-settled status, which allows people to demonstrate a maximum of 2.5 years absence in a 5 year period (30 months out of 60, so we call this the 30/60 rule). This still means being physically present in the UK for half your time, but with more flexibility on when exactly the absences took place. 

Please note that those who missed the 30 June 2021 deadline and still need to make a late application for EUSS status, are not able to make use of the more flexible 30/60 rule and need to satisfy the 6/12 rule. We describe both rules below.  

THE '6/12' RULE (MAXIMUM 6 MONTHS' ABSENCE IN EVERY 12)

You are allowed six months’ absence (with some exceptions*) from the UK out of any 12 month period before breaking your continuous residence.

The ‘out of any 12 month period’ is trickier to calculate than you might think, because you really do have to look at every possible 12 month period, not just checking each calendar year. For example, if you are away for 4 months between August and November in one year, and then 3 months from February to April the next, you might think that you didn’t break your continuity of residence. Unfortunately you did, because you were away for 7 months between July of the first year and July of the second.

To help you calculate your greatest total absence in any rolling 12-month period, we have created a ‘6/12 absence calculator’ for you. Click here to see the calculator.

*It is possible to have up to two extended absences, one for an ‘important reason’ and another relating to COVID-19. See the Home Office guidance here.  For full details, see the definition of “Continuous qualifying period” within the section "Qualifying residence" in the EU Settlement Scheme caseworker guidance.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Unless you are applying to the EU Settlement Scheme as a joining family member, your eligibility for (pre-)settled status depends on continuous residence which needs to have started before 31 December 2020.

THE '30/60' RULE (MAXIMUM 30 MONTHS' ABSENCE IN THE LAST 60)

From 16 July 2025, an alternative ‘30/60’ rule is available to pre-settled status holders when applying for settled status.

This simplified requirement means that pre-settled status holders can qualify for settled status by demonstrating a total of 30 months (2.5 years) of UK residence in the last 60 months (5 years). 

Taken over five years, this is an equivalent total allowable absence as the 6/12 rule. However, there is much more flexibility over how the absences are spread out, and it is no longer necessary to justify and provide evidence for longer absences (for example for ‘important reason’, or to make use of Covid concessions).

To help you calculate whether you have more than a total of 30 months of absences in the last 60 months, we have created a ‘30/60 absence calculator’ for you. Click here to see the calculator.  

Some important notes:

• To become eligible to apply for settled status, your residence in the UK should have started at least five years previously (with some limited exceptions see here for details). So if you arrived in the UK in December 2020, you cannot apply for settled status before December 2025, even if you already have 30 months’ residence in the UK.
• The 30/60 simplified requirements are an alternative way of demonstrating continuous residence. Pre-settled status holders will also be able to rely on the 6/12 definition of ‘continuous qualifying period’ instead if, for example, they want to make use of some of the longer absence allowances such as for compulsory military service. It is not possible to use the 30/60 rules and then claim an additional longer absence for an ‘important reason’.
• It does not matter if your pre-settled status was previously considered to have 'lapsed'. Before 21 May 2024, pre-settled status was deemed to have automatically lapsed after a continuous absence from the UK of two years. However, the Home Office have clarified in a policy paper that "The rules for continuous residence have been simplified so a pre-settled status holder can be granted settled status if they have been resident in the UK for at least 30 months in total in the most recent 60-month period, including those whose leave was previously considered to have lapsed."

See our webpage Changes to the absence policy for pre-settled status holders under the EU Settlement Scheme for some examples of how this rule applies.

ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED SETTLED STATUS: You then no longer need to maintain ‘continuous residence’ as described above. You will be able to leave the UK for up to five years (four years if you are Swiss or a family member of a Swiss citizen) without losing your settled status (see this FAQ for more details).

BRITISH CITIZENSHIP

See this question on allowance absences when applying for British citizenship. The requirements are stricter than for the EU Settlement Scheme.