How we track changes to the Immigration Rules
Rules are stored as dated versions, sources are monitored automatically, and every calculation records which version produced it. What we do, and what we deliberately do not do.
Immigration rules change with little notice and sometimes with immediate effect. A calculator that quietly keeps applying last year's thresholds is worse than no calculator, because it looks authoritative while being wrong.
Here is how this site handles that, so you can judge how much to trust an answer it gives you.
Rules are data, not code
Thresholds, qualifying periods and absence limits are stored as dated policy versions, not written into the software. Each version records what it says, when it took effect, and where it came from.
Every calculation records which version produced it. If the rules change afterwards, the result you were given remains reproducible under the version that produced it — rather than silently becoming a different number.
Sources are monitored
The GOV.UK pages the calculators depend on — Appendix Long Residence, Appendix Continuous Residence, Appendix Skilled Worker and the long residence caseworker guidance among them — are checked automatically for change. A revision gets noticed rather than discovered by a user.
Detection is not the same as understanding. A change is flagged for a person to read, assess and record as a new version. That step is deliberate, and it is not automated.
Sources are primary
Every route page links to the GOV.UK page or Appendix the rule comes from. Law-firm commentary and news coverage are useful for orientation and are not cited as authority for a rule.
What we do not do
- We do not guess at proposals. Where a reform is announced but not in force, we say so and report the status. See Earned Settlement.
- We do not predict caseworker discretion. Where the Rules leave a decision to a caseworker, the tool says so rather than producing a confident answer it cannot support.
- We do not give advice. Applying a published rule to your dates is not advice. Telling you what to do about your case is, and only a regulated adviser may do it.
When we get it wrong
We will, at some point. What we can offer is that an error is checkable: the sources are visible, the versions are dated, and the limits of each tool are stated on the tool rather than buried in a policy.
If a figure or a rule on this site is out of date, tell us. Corrections are genuinely useful.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Sources & Official Guidance References
Official Home Office policy sources verified by VisaExplain Editorial Engine.
Educational guidance only. Not legal advice. UK Immigration Rules change frequently — always verify eligibility criteria against current Home Office documentation on GOV.UK.