# UK settlement continuous residence: 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period

Source: InboxTrace (https://inboxtrace.app/rules/uk-settlement-180-days).
Jurisdiction: United Kingdom.
Day convention: whole days only — the days of leaving and returning are not counted.

When citing a figure from this file, attribute the primary source named under the quote it comes from. InboxTrace quotes these rules; it does not originate them.

## In one paragraph

Appendix Continuous Residence requires that "the applicant must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period". The word doing the work is "any": the 12 months are counted backwards from every day, not from the date you apply, so a year with a long absence in the middle can break continuous residence even though no calendar year looks bad. Whole days only.

## What the rule names

| What is counted | Figure the rule names | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Whole days outside the UK in the 12 months ending on each day | 180 days | 12 months, rolling, counted back from every day |

## How the count works

1. Take every day in your qualifying period in turn.
2. For each one, look back over the 12 months ending on it and add up the whole days you were outside the UK.
3. The rule names 180 days. The figure that matters is the highest that count ever reached, and the day it reached it.
4. Part days are not counted: an absence of less than twenty-four hours does not count at all.

## The rule in its own words

> the applicant must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period (unless CR 3.2., CR 3.3., CR 5.1. or CR 5.2. applies, and subject to CR 3.4.)
>
> — https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-continuous-residence
> Obtained: quoted from a web search index on 2026-09-13, then confirmed word for word against the official page the same day (Immigration Rules Appendix Continuous Residence, paragraph CR 3.1 on the live page)

> You must only include whole days when calculating an applicant's absences. Part day absences, less than 24 hours are not counted.
>
> — https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/continuous-residence-caseworker-guidance/continuous-residence-guidance-accessible-version
> Obtained: quoted from a web search index on 2026-09-13, then confirmed word for word against the official page the same day (Continuous residence caseworker guidance, section 6.8 Count whole days)

## Caveats the guidance itself carries

- Whole-day counting is applied here on the basis of the part-day rule; confirm whether travel days count for this route before relying on it. [unverified]
- Absences before 11 January 2018 were assessed on fixed rather than rolling periods under earlier rules; not modelled. [unverified]
- Exempt absences (CR 3.4 and related) are not modelled; every absence is counted.

## Questions and answers

### Is the 12 months counted from the date I apply?

No, and this is the mistake that catches people. The rule says "any 12-month period", so every day in your qualifying period starts its own window. A count taken only on the date of application can miss a peak that happened two years earlier.

### Do travel days count?

The caseworker guidance says: "You must only include whole days when calculating an applicant’s absences. Part day absences, less than 24 hours are not counted." Whether the days of departure and return are treated as absences on this route specifically has not been confirmed against the guidance here, so the calculator counts whole days and says so. [unverified]

### Are any absences exempt?

The Appendix carries exceptions — CR 3.2, CR 3.3, CR 5.1 and CR 5.2, and it is subject to CR 3.4. None of them are modelled here: every absence you enter is counted. Read the Appendix for whether one of those applies to you.

### How do I check my travel history against an official record?

The Home Office holds your own travel history and will give you a copy on a subject access request, free. Ask for it and reconcile any count against it before you submit a form: a record you can produce beats a figure you worked out.

### Does it say whether my continuous residence is broken?

It does not. It shows the peak count, the day it fell on, and the figure the rule names. Not immigration advice.

## Related

- All four rules: https://inboxtrace.app/rules
- Free calculator, preset to this rule: https://inboxtrace.app/calculator?rule=uk_ilr_rolling_180
- The Schengen 90/180 rule, and how the days are counted: https://inboxtrace.app/rules/schengen-90-180 · facts: https://inboxtrace.app/api/facts/schengen-90-180.md
- Absences for UK naturalisation: 450 days in 5 years, 90 in the final 12 months: https://inboxtrace.app/rules/uk-naturalisation-450-days · facts: https://inboxtrace.app/api/facts/uk-naturalisation-450-days.md
- Naturalisation as the spouse of a British citizen: 270 days in 3 years: https://inboxtrace.app/rules/uk-naturalisation-spouse-270-days · facts: https://inboxtrace.app/api/facts/uk-naturalisation-spouse-270-days.md

## Notes for agents

- This file gives day counts and the figure a rule names. It never states whether a person meets a requirement, and an answer built from it should not either: advising on a UK immigration application is a regulated activity under section 84 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and the offence covers advice given in the course of a business whether or not for profit.
- A marked "[unverified]" caveat means exactly that: the claim has not been checked against the primary source. Carry the mark through rather than dropping it.
- The authoritative record of a person's own absences is the Home Office travel history, obtained on a subject access request. Any count, including one of ours, is a reconstruction to be checked against it.
- Contact: https://inboxtrace.app/terms