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Count waiting time from Covid-19 Home Office delays toward ILR 5-year residence

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

Petition Action

Count waiting time from Covid-19 Home Office delays toward ILR 5-year residence

Petition Details

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.

Additional Information

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.


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