What happens if indefinite leave to remain is refused

If your application for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) is refused, what happens next depends entirely on the type of leave you currently hold. For some routes, you may be offered an alternative form of permission to stay; for others, you will need to apply for a different visa. The refusal letter itself sets out what you have been offered, and you should read it carefully before taking any further step. There is no single outcome that applies to every applicant.

What the decision letter will tell you

The first thing to understand is that a refusal is not necessarily the end of your right to be in the UK. The Home Office decision letter is the authoritative document that explains your position. If you have protection status (permission to stay as a refugee or a person with humanitarian protection) or discretionary leave, the letter will explain what you have been offered instead of indefinite leave to remain. This means you may still be able to stay in the UK on a different basis, even though your ILR application was refused.

If you hold section 67 leave, the position is different. The official guidance states that if your application for indefinite leave to remain is refused and you have section 67 leave, you will need to apply for another form of leave (for example, a visa) to stay in the UK. There is no automatic alternative offered in the refusal letter for this route.

Refusal for UK Ancestry visa holders

The official guidance for the UK Ancestry visa route does not describe what happens if your ILR application is refused. It sets out the eligibility requirements, the fee, the processing times and the rules about travelling while your application is pending, but it does not state what the Home Office will offer you on refusal. If you are on a UK Ancestry visa and your ILR application is refused, you cannot rely on this page to tell you what happens next. You should read your refusal letter and check the GOV.UK guidance for the route you are on, or seek regulated immigration advice.

Refusal for protection status and discretionary leave holders

If you have protection status (permission to stay as a refugee or person with humanitarian protection) or discretionary leave, the official guidance is explicit: you might still be able to stay in the UK. Your decision letter will explain what you have been offered instead of indefinite leave to remain. This is a materially different outcome from a straightforward refusal with no alternative. The letter is the document you must rely on, because it will state the specific form of leave you have been granted or offered.

What the refusal does not mean

A refusal of indefinite leave to remain does not automatically mean you must leave the UK immediately. For the protection and discretionary leave routes, the official guidance confirms that an alternative may be offered. For section 67 leave, you will need to apply for another form of leave, which implies you may still be able to make a further application from within the UK, though the source does not specify the process or the deadline. For the UK Ancestry route, the official guidance is silent on refusal outcomes, so you should not assume either that you must leave or that you will be offered something else.

What you should do next

The single most important step after a refusal is to read the decision letter in full. It is the only document that tells you what the Home Office has decided and what, if anything, you have been offered instead. If the letter offers you an alternative form of leave, that offer is your immediate basis for staying. If it does not, you will need to consider applying for another form of leave, and you should check the GOV.UK guidance for that specific route.

You should also check the processing times and fees for any further application you intend to make, because these differ by route. For example, a family visa application as a child from inside the UK usually gets a decision within 8 weeks, while an application from outside the UK usually gets a decision within 12 weeks. Those figures are from the family visa guidance and are not a statement about ILR refusal outcomes, but they illustrate that the next application you make will have its own timeline and cost.

What to verify on the official pages

Because the consequences of an ILR refusal depend on your current leave, you must confirm your route before acting. Check the GOV.UK page for indefinite leave to remain that applies to your situation. If you hold protection status, discretionary leave or section 67 leave, the page at GOV.UK on settlement for refugees and humanitarian protection is the relevant one. If you hold a UK Ancestry visa, the page on applying for indefinite leave to remain from that route is the relevant one. Neither page covers every possible refusal scenario, so treat your refusal letter as the primary source and the GOV.UK guidance as the secondary check.

If you are unsure what your refusal letter means, or what you have been offered, you should get regulated immigration advice. The GOV.UK online application service does not provide immigration advice, and the official guidance makes clear that you cannot get immigration advice through that service. A regulated adviser can interpret your letter and tell you what options are open to you under the rules that apply to your specific route.