Submitted by Ali Savas Alkan on Saturday 22nd November 2025
Published on Friday 19th December 2025
Current status: Open
Open until: Friday 19th June 2026
Current Signatures: 659
(count is updated approximately hourly)
Relevant Departments
Tagged with
asylum ~ asylum claim ~ asylum claims ~ Covid ~ Covid-19 ~ Covid-19 pandemic ~ delayed ~ Ensure ~ Extraordinary ~ Fairness ~ Fairs ~ Home Office ~ Immigration ~ Indefinite Leave to Remain ~ Lockdown ~ month ~ Officers ~ Pandemic ~ remain ~ section ~ Staff ~ Visa
Count waiting time from Covid-19 Home Office delays toward ILR 5-year residence
We call on the UK Government to count Home Office delays during the nearly two-year Covid-19 pandemic toward the 5-year residence requirement for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), ensuring fairness for long-term residents affected by delays beyond their control.
During this period, visa extensions, asylum claims, and other applications faced months of delays due to lockdowns, staff shortages, cancelled appointments, and Home Office backlogs. Despite other protections afforded under Section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971, this waiting time is not counted toward ILR. We ask the Government to recognise these delays as extraordinary, count Section 3C periods toward ILR, and ensure no one is disadvantaged.
If you want to sign this petition (as opposed to merely discuss it), you need to do that on the government's e-Petitions website.
216.73.216.219 Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:12:19 +0100