Indefinite Leave to Remain
A few months ago I mentioned that I passed my Life in the UK test. That was something I needed to do in order to apply for ILR…
On a few different social media platforms, I’ve been writing about ILR, which inevitably leads to the question, “What is ILR?” And then I say, “Indefinite Leave to Remain.” But I often get more questions, so then I talk about permanent residency. We go back and forth, and we get to a point where no one’s asking me more questions, but I’m pretty sure they still don’t know what I’m talking about.
This is happening offline, too, in real life, with both American friends and British friends. And honestly, I’m not sure what ILR means either. Even when I look it up, it leads to more things that I have to look up. But the short and long of it is that, as of January 8, 2024, I can stay in the UK for as long as I like. I can live here until I die. I can enter and leave the country as I please. As long as I don’t leave, at any point, for two years of my life, I maintain my status as a permanent resident of the UK.
But paths to residency and citizenship are really not things you need to understand unless you’re an expat. I have quickly learned how few people in my circles are expats, and those who are—I am clinging to them. We’re celebrating together, understanding what it is that we’re going through or what we’ve been through already. When I tell them I got ILR, their cheekbones rise, their eyebrows, their whole face becomes more animated in their recognition of what I’m talking about. They congratulate me with such sincerity and I feel myself melt. If they touch their hand to my arm, I melt into the warm spot their hand makes.