What the government has decided
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced her final decision on changes to the rules for permanent settlement in the UK, following a consultation, according to the BBC. The proposals were first set out in detail in November 2025, when Mahmood was also home secretary in Sir Keir Starmer's government.
Mahmood has argued that settlement should be "earned" rather than granted automatically, with those who contribute most able to settle fastest, the BBC reported. Settlement, formally known as indefinite leave to remain (ILR), gives a person the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as they like. People who have held ILR for 12 months can apply for British citizenship if they meet other requirements.
How the new timelines work
Under the plans, the standard qualifying period doubles from five to 10 years. On that route, applicants must have earned at least £12,571 in five of the seven years immediately before settlement is granted.
Several groups will have a shorter, five-year route. These include people who earned at least £50,271 in three of the five years before applying, and "skilled" public service workers in health and education, such as doctors, nurses, teachers and social workers. Other health and education workers below that skill level, such as nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants, qualify if they arrived before May 2025. People from Hong Kong with British National (Overseas) status are also included.
The fastest route, at three years, is for people earning over £125,141 a year and for "highly skilled" migrants, such as those on Global Talent or Innovator Founder visas.
Longer waits apply in other cases. Migrants who have claimed certain benefits or breached immigration rules must wait at least 20 years. Adults with a criminal record will be refused settlement, though officials keep discretion where the offence was committed under the age of 18. Applicants must also owe no debt to the government, such as unpaid taxes, and generally earn at least £12,571 a year for at least three years.
Care workers and the backlash
The biggest revision concerns foreign care workers already in the UK. The BBC said elements of the original proposals were changed after a backlash from some Labour MPs, and the plan to make these workers wait 15 years has been scrapped.
Care workers who arrived before May 2025 and have earned at least £25,000 a year while meeting their visa conditions can now settle after five years. Reuters headlined the change as an exemption for care workers from plans to impose long delays on immigrants seeking residence. Business Insider Africa, in its own headline, said the overhaul could delay more than 500,000 migrants but that African care workers who joined the route before May 2025 can keep the five-year path.
Refugees, families and who is covered
Refugees will face a separate set of rules. Those who arrived through an official government scheme will qualify after five years. Other refugees must wait 10 years and either work or study, or 20 years if they do neither. Refugees who arrived by small boat or another illegal route will wait 20 years if they work or study and 30 years if they do not.
The changes will apply to migrants already in the UK but not to those who have already been granted settlement. A partner arriving with an applicant can settle at the same time if they meet the requirements, while a partner who joins later must complete the same qualifying period. Couples can combine earnings, with a household threshold of £25,142, twice the individual minimum.
Children under 18 can still settle with their parents and are exempt from the income, government debt, English language and Life in the UK test requirements, though suitability and criminality rules still apply. Dependent young adults aged 18 to 24 can also settle alongside their families without meeting the individual income requirement. Those aged 25 or over must qualify independently. Eligible partners, parents and children of British citizens will continue to qualify after five years.
