UK doubles wait for permanent residency to 10 years under 'earned settlement' rules

The UK government has confirmed that most migrants will have to wait ten years, double the current five, before they can apply to settle permanently in Britain.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set out the final "earned settlement" policy in a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, November 2, alongside the government's response to a public consultation that drew more than 200,000 replies.

"Settlement should not be automatic; it should be earned," Mahmood told MPs.

What is changing

Settlement, known formally as indefinite leave to remain (ILR), lets a migrant live and work in the UK permanently and is usually the step before applying for British citizenship. Most people on work visas can currently apply after five years.

Under the new system, how long someone waits will depend on their earnings, work and contribution:

• 3 years: the highest earners, on more than £125,140 a year, and people on the UK's top talent schemes
• 5 years: people earning more than £50,270, and some public service workers, including doctors, nurses and teachers
• 10 years: the new default for everyone else
• 20 years or more: people who have breached immigration rules, or who have relied on benefits in a way that blocks a faster route

Everyone will also have to meet four conditions: a clean criminal record, a high standard of English, no debts owed to the taxpayer and a record of National Insurance contributions.

Care workers spared

In a significant change from the original proposals, care workers who met the conditions of their visa, including earning at least £25,000 a year in social care, will keep their five-year route. The government said this recognised their contribution during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Around a quarter of care workers who came to the UK on that route between 2022 and 2025 did not meet those conditions, often because of rogue employers. They will be offered a new five-year visa and can apply for settlement once it ends. The Home Office said 1,800 exploitative employers have lost their right to sponsor foreign workers.

Refugees and illegal arrivals

Refugees who arrive through government-approved resettlement schemes can settle after five years. Other refugees face 20 years, cut to ten if they work or study. People who arrive by small boat or other irregular routes face an extra ten years, up to 30 in total.

Who is not affected

The government said no one who already has settled status will lose it, and no one will be forced to leave. Family members of British citizens, Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) and members of the armed forces keep their current routes.

When it starts

The rules are not yet in force. Mahmood said the changes "will begin to be laid from the December Immigration Rules", with implementation over the course of 2027. The government estimates that more than 500,000 people will now wait longer than five years to settle.

The debate

Supporters say the changes will reduce net migration and make settlement a reward for contribution. Critics, including migrant groups, have argued that applying the rules to people already in the UK is unfair to those who planned their lives around the five-year route. Labour's Angela Rayner warned earlier that doing so would "change the goalposts". The government says settlement rules have always been applied at the time a decision is made, a principle it says has been tested in court.