You Applied for ILR Months Ago. Still No Decision. Here Is What Is Happening.

Indefinite Leave to Remain applications that would normally be decided in 2–3 months are now taking 5–6 months or longer across several categories. Reports indicate that applications submitted as early as September 2025 in Ankara Agreement (ECAA) and certain Skilled Worker categories are still pending. This is not an isolated processing issue — it reflects a systemic backlog created by a combination of policy uncertainty and an unprecedented surge in application volumes.

Understanding why the delay is happening, and what options exist while waiting, matters both practically and strategically — particularly given that the earned settlement rule changes are approaching.

Why Applications Are Backed Up

The backlog has two primary causes. The first is volume: the government’s signals that settlement rules would change from April 2026 prompted many applicants who would otherwise have waited to submit early, creating a spike in demand that the Home Office was not resourced to absorb quickly. The second is less certain but observable: decisions in specific categories appear to have slowed in a way that suggests internal guidance may be under review ahead of the rule changes. UKVI has not confirmed this publicly.

The Key Constraint: You Cannot Leave the UK

An ILR application that is pending inside the UK will be treated as withdrawn if the applicant departs the Common Travel Area before a decision is reached. For applicants with family in Turkey or elsewhere, this is a significant practical constraint. Travel plans made before submitting an application may need to be reconsidered, and any urgent travel need should be assessed with an immigration adviser before departure.

A pending application does extend your lawful residence under Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971, provided your previous leave had not already expired when you submitted. This means you remain lawfully present in the UK while the application is outstanding, and your employment rights under your existing visa continue.

What You Can Do While Waiting

Track your application status through the UKVI online portal regularly. If your application has been outstanding for more than 6 months without any communication, you can contact UKVI to request a progress update in writing. For applications exceeding this threshold with no clear reason for delay, raising the matter through your local MP’s constituency office — who can formally write to the Home Office — is a legitimate avenue that sometimes accelerates decisions in straightforward cases.

Do not withdraw and resubmit without taking legal advice first. Withdrawing a pending application forfeits the queue position and resets the Section 3C protection that preserves your lawful status in the interim.

Will the Earned Settlement Changes Affect Your Pending Application?

The government has stated that settlement reforms will apply to people already in the UK who have not yet obtained ILR. However, applications already submitted and pending at the point the new rules come into force have not been definitively addressed in published guidance. Legal opinion is divided, but the cautious reading — and the one most immigration practitioners are advising — is that decisions on applications submitted before the rule change should be made under the rules in force at the date of application. This position is not guaranteed to hold if there are extended delays, which is one reason why clearing the current backlog matters both to applicants and to the Home Office.