Long Residence (10 years) ILR Eligibility

[Tilesdeyy22]

Hello everyone,

I am looking for some clarity regarding eligibility for the 10 year long residence ILR route.

I first came to the UK in July 2016 on a Tier 4 (Student) visa to do a 3 months pre-sessional/summer English course at a university. I then started my Master’s degree in late September 2016 on another Tier 4 (Student) visa and have remained continuously in the UK since then, completing my Master’s and later my PhD. All of my visas have been under Tier 4 (Student), just for different courses.

My question is whether the time spent on the pre-sessional English course counts towards the 10 year long residence ILR period. If it does, would I be eligible to apply around June this year, or would my eligibility only start from August/September?

I’d really appreciate any insight from those with experience or knowledge in this area.

Thank you for your time and help

[zimba]

Treatment of time spent in the UK, as a visitor, short-term student,
seasonal worker or under the Ukraine Scheme.
....
...time spent with entry clearance or permission as a short-term student does
not count in the qualifying period. This includes time granted under Appendix Short term Student (English language),
the current short-term student rules, and any previous short-term student rules (such as paragraphs A57A to A57H of the
Immigration Rules). Any time spent in the UK with permission under any other
student route (such as Appendix Student or Tier 4) does count in the qualifying
period, even if the permission is granted for a short time. You must carefully check
casework systems to make sure that periods marked as a ‘short-term student’ were
actually on the short-term student route (rather than being short periods of
permission as a student) before discounting them.

Guide: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... idence.pdf

I also suggest reading --> Changes to the Long Residence settlement route from 11 April 2024