The 28-day early ILR application window, explained

What the 28-day rule actually says

If you're settling on a route with a continuous qualifying period — five years on the Skilled Worker route is the most common — you don't have to wait until the exact day you complete that period before you apply. GOV.UK's guidance is direct about this:

"The earliest you can apply is 28 days before you've been in the UK for 5 years on a qualifying visa."

The flip side is just as direct, and it's the part that catches people out:

"Your application may be refused if you apply earlier."

In practice, caseworkers treat an application made more than 28 days before the qualifying period ends as one where you haven't yet completed the required period of permission — so it's refused on that basis, not reconsidered or held until you qualify. That's a real cost: the Home Office fee is currently £3,226 per applicant (verified against gov.uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain-tier-2-t2-skilled-worker-visa on 2026-07-04 — check the current figure before you pay, fees change), and GOV.UK's own timing guidance doesn't promise a refund if you apply too early. Don't treat the 28-day window as a rough guideline — treat it as a hard boundary.

Last verified: 2026-07-04 against gov.uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain-tier-2-t2-skilled-worker-visa/when-to-apply.

How to calculate your earliest application date

The 28 days count back from the date you complete your qualifying period — not from today, and not from your visa expiry date. Two dates matter:

The start of your continuous qualifying period. This is usually the date your current route's qualifying leave began — for most Skilled Worker cases, that's your visa start date, not the date you physically entered the UK if the two differ. If you switched into the route from a different visa, or your sponsor or job changed mid-way, get this date confirmed against your own Biometric Residence Permit / eVisa record rather than assuming — the Home Office's own continuous residence guidance treats the qualifying-period start date as route-specific and it's the single most common input error we see in this calculation.
The length of the qualifying period — five years for most Skilled Worker cases, ten years for the long residence route.

Earliest application date = (start date + qualifying years) − 28 days.

Worked example

Say your Skilled Worker qualifying period started on 14 September 2021 and you're on the standard 5-year route.

Qualifying period completes: 14 September 2026
Earliest you can apply: 17 August 2026 (28 days before completion)
Applying on 16 August 2026 or earlier risks refusal for not having completed the qualifying period — even though it's only one day early.

Use the ILR Absence & Eligibility Calculator to set your own qualifying start date and it will work out this date for you alongside your 180-day absence check — the two calculations depend on the same start date, so it's worth confirming it once and using it for both.

Common mistakes

Using the visa issue date instead of the qualifying-period start date. Visas are sometimes issued (and vignettes stamped) days or weeks before the leave itself starts — use the leave start date on your BRP/eVisa, not the document issue date.
Confusing the 28-day window with the decision date. The 28 days govern when you can submit the application, not when the Home Office decides it. Processing can (and often does) run well past your qualifying-period completion date; that's normal and doesn't affect your status while the application is pending, provided you applied validly and on time.
Assuming dependants share the main applicant's date. Each dependant's own continuous residence is calculated from their own qualifying period, which is not always identical to the main applicant's — check each person's date separately rather than assuming the family applies on one shared "earliest date."
Waiting past your current visa's expiry to apply. GOV.UK is explicit that you should not let your current permission lapse while waiting for the 28-day window — if your visa will expire first, you need to extend it before you can rely on the 28-day rule.

Related tools and guides: 180-day absence rule with worked examples, ILR application step-by-step, and the Family Immigration Cost Planner for working out the total cost across a family application.