The UK has no retirement visa. Here are the routes that actually work.

Portugal has the D7. Spain has a non-lucrative visa. The UK has nothing — the retired-person route closed in 2008, and no passive-income visa replaced it. If you're American or Canadian and want to retire to Britain, you need family, ancestry, work, or a business. Or a part-year life on visits. Here's every realistic option, with 2026 numbers.

Why there's no retirement route

The UK once admitted "retired persons of independent means". That route closed in 2008, and its guidance has been formally withdrawn. Since then, no UK visa has been available on the strength of pensions, savings, or investment income alone. There is no digital-nomad visa either. Every current route demands something else: a British or settled partner, a UK-born grandparent (and Commonwealth citizenship), a sponsored job, or an endorsed business.

The visitor rules close the obvious loophole, too: living in the UK through frequent or successive visits is expressly prohibited. Border officers can and do refuse entry to people running a de facto residence on visitor stamps.

First: check whether you're already British

Before pricing any visa, check your parents. Under section 2 of the British Nationality Act 1981, if you were born to a parent who was a British citizen "otherwise than by descent" — typically a parent born in the UK — you are automatically a British citizen. No visa, no fees, no timeline. You prove the claim and apply for a passport. GOV.UK has a free checker (see Sources).

A UK-born grandparent does not make you a citizen — but for Canadians it opens the Ancestry visa, the next best thing.

The realistic routes at a glance

USD/CAD conversions in this guide use £1 ≈ $1.32 / C$1.88 (1 July 2026). Rates fluctuate daily.

The Ancestry visa — Canada's quiet advantage

Commonwealth citizens aged 17+ with a grandparent born in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man get a 5-year live-and-work visa: £726 fee plus £5,175 immigration health surcharge, decisions in about 3 weeks. Canada is in the Commonwealth; the US is not, so Americans are excluded regardless of ancestry. The catch for retirees — you must be able to work and intend to work — is softer than it sounds: paid, part-time, voluntary, and self-employment all count. Full Ancestry visa guide →

The partner visa — £29,000 and a British other half

If your partner is British, Irish, or settled in the UK, the family route works at any age. The sponsor needs income of £29,000 a year (as of July 2026 — a proposed rise to £38,700 has not been enacted), or savings can substitute. Fees: £2,064 outside the UK plus £3,105 IHS for the first 2 years 9 months, then an extension, then ILR at 5 years. Miss the income bar and you're looking at a 10-year human-rights route instead. Full partner visa guide →

Skilled Worker — if you're not done working

Plenty of people in their 50s and early 60s move on a sponsored job. The salary threshold is £41,700 a year (2026) or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher — it was raised from £38,700 in July 2025, with the skill level set at degree-equivalent (RQF6). You need a job offer and a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed employer. Fees: £819 (up to 3 years) or £1,618 (over 3 years) from outside the UK, plus IHS at £1,035 a year and £1,270 in maintenance funds. ILR at 5 years. Note: self-employment can't be your main activity on this visa.

Innovator Founder — the 3-year route

For people starting a business, not buying a visa: your venture must be innovative, viable, and scalable, endorsed by an approved body, and you need English at B2. No fixed minimum investment is stated. Fees: £1,357 outside the UK, £1,000 endorsement, £500 per checkpoint meeting at 12 and 24 months, plus IHS at £1,035 a year. The prize is speed — ILR is possible at 3 years, the fastest mainstream route to settlement.

The Adult Dependent Relative visa — and why it nearly always fails

On paper, this is the "join my kids in London" route. In practice it's notoriously hard. You must need long-term personal care — as a result of age, illness, or disability — that is unavailable or unaffordable in your home country, and your sponsoring child must be British, Irish, or settled. "Unavailable or unaffordable in the US or Canada" is an extremely high bar to evidence. The fee is £3,635 (2026). The one bright spot: if your sponsor is settled, a successful applicant gets indefinite permission immediately. Treat it as a route of last resort for genuine care needs, not a retirement plan.

The part-year alternative: six months at a time

If none of the routes fit, the workable compromise is part-year living. US and Canadian citizens need an ETA — £20 in 2026 — and can visit for up to 6 months at a time. No work is allowed; remote work for your overseas employer is tolerated on a visit only if it's not the main purpose of the trip. And to repeat the hard rule: you cannot live in the UK through successive visits. A pattern of back-to-back six-month stays is exactly what the rules prohibit.

Two caveats before you build a life around this:

• Tax. Spend 183+ days in the UK in a tax year and you're automatically UK tax resident under the Statutory Residence Test — and the "sufficient ties" test can catch heavy visitors on fewer days. US citizens keep filing with the IRS wherever they are; Canadians should watch their provincial ties.
• Healthcare. Visitors aren't ordinarily resident, so NHS entitlement doesn't work the way it does for visa holders. Medicare does not cover you outside the US, and Canadian provincial coverage lapses if you're away too long (Ontario's OHIP, for example, requires 153 days a year in the province).

If you do move: the timeline to a British passport

• Years 0–5: hold your visa, keep absences under 180 days a year — it counts at settlement.
• Year 5 (year 3 on Innovator Founder): indefinite leave to remain. Fee £3,226 (2026), decision within 6 months (£1,000 super-priority available). Life in the UK test £50 — you're exempt at 65+, which matters to this audience. English at B1 for ages 18–64 today, rising to B2 from 26 March 2027 — including for people already on a pathway. ILR lapses after 2 years outside the UK.
• The pending reform: a May 2025 white paper proposed a 10-year standard qualifying period. As of 3 July 2026 it is not law — consultation closed 12 February 2026, no outcome published, and the March 2026 rule changes did not enact it. Plan on: 5 years today, 10-year reform pending, decision expected later in 2026.
• Year 6: naturalisation after holding ILR for 12 months (waived if you're married to a British citizen). Requirements: no more than 450 days absent over the 5 years and 90 in the final 12 months, English plus the Life in the UK test (65+ exempt from the test), good character. Fee £1,839 (2026). The US, Canada, and the UK all allow dual citizenship.