Guides

Rolling 12‑month absence limit (the 180‑day rule)

Last reviewed: 2026-01-23

Not legal advice. For official wording, see the references at the bottom of the page.

TL;DR

  • Many settlement routes require you to be outside the UK for no more than 180 days in any 12‑month period (180 is allowed; 181+ breaks the limit)[1].
  • “Rolling” means you can’t just check calendar years — you must consider overlapping 12‑month windows across your timeline[2].
  • UKVI guidance talks about counting absences in whole days. If you only track dates (not times), a practical approach is to count only the full days in between your departure date and return date — so travel days often add 0 absence days[2].

What “any 12‑month period” means

In plain English, “any 12‑month period” means you don’t only check fixed blocks like “Jan–Dec” or “the last 365 days”. You must be able to pick any 12‑month window. The total absence days inside it must be within the limit[1].

When you do the calculation yourself, think “the same calendar date 12 months earlier” (calendar months), not “minus 365 days”. In a leap year, a 12‑month window can be 366 days[2].

In caseworker guidance this is often explained as a rolling assessment of 12‑month periods[2].

Example: how a breach can “hide” in the overlap

Scenario

You take three long trips that individually feel “fine”, but overlap inside a 12‑month window:

  • Trip A: 60 days
  • Trip B: 70 days
  • Trip C: 60 days

Even if each trip is well under 180 days, a rolling 12‑month window that contains all three could total 190 days, which is over the 180‑day limit and would be flagged as a breach in a “rolling” check[1].

Note: the exact day count depends on how “whole days” are counted (departure/return treatment)[2].

How to monitor this (and calculate it yourself)

There are two common “views” of the same rule that are useful when you’re checking your own numbers:

  • Trailing 12 months (as of a date): “How many absence days are in the 12 months ending on this date?” This is the easiest to check day-by-day and is great for seeing trends.
  • Worst 12‑month window (max): “What’s the maximum absence days in any 12‑month period across my history?” This helps you find the riskiest overlap of trips.

Both are grounded in the same underlying rule (“any 12‑month period”), but they answer slightly different planning questions[1][2].

DIY: trailing 12 months on a chosen date

  1. Pick the date you want to check (for example, today).
  2. Find the date 12 months earlier (use calendar months, not “365 days”).
  3. Count how many of your full days abroad fall inside that period.
  4. If the total is more than 180, that date is within a breach window.

DIY: find your “worst” 12‑month window

  1. List each trip’s full days abroad (see How UKVI counts absence days).
  2. Test multiple 12‑month windows across your timeline (shift the window forward over time).
  3. Track the maximum total you see, and the window dates where it happens.

Common pitfalls to watch for

  • Overlapping trips / duplicates can inflate totals if you don’t merge date ranges.
  • Trips that overlap the window boundary must be clipped to the window (only the overlapping days count).
  • “What counts” can be broader than people expect in guidance (for example, some time outside the UK can count even if permission is pending)[2].

References

  1. Immigration Rules: Appendix Continuous ResidenceSee CR 3.1 (180 days) and related paragraphs (CR 1.1, CR 3.2–CR 3.4).↩
  2. Home Office guidance: Continuous residence (guidance, accessible version)Explains the 12‑month period and whole-day counting; version 8.0 (29 July 2025).↩