Britainupdated 1h ago3 min read
Archive photoShabana Mahmood Scraps 15-Year Wait For Foreign Care Workers’ Permanent Settlement
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Indefinite leave to remain timeline raised from five to ten years for most migrants. Retroactive application applies to long-standing legal residents, increasing waiting period and obligations.
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Scrapped 15-year wait
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood scrapped plans to make foreign care workers already in the UK wait 15 years to qualify for permanent settlement, after she had proposed doubling the wait for indefinite leave to remain from five years to 10 for most migrants, with some facing a 15-year wait. Mahmood told the BBC that she did not accept that she had u-turned, and she said some 500,000 people in the UK "will not now settle at five years". Mahmood said settlement "should not be automatic, it should be earned," and she told MPs that care workers who earn £25,000 a year and arrived in the UK before May 2025 would continue to qualify after five years.
The Home Office said its figures show net migration added 2.6m people to the UK population between 2021 and 2024, and it estimated that between 2026 and 2030 between 1.3m and 2.2m people will settle in the UK. The BBC reported that Mahmood refused to say what the cost will be of scrapping her plans, while the Home Office had previously forecast the existing rules would cost £4.2bn for 117,000 foreign care workers expected to settle in the UK from 2026-2030.
Backlash and revised routes
Labour MPs and cabinet colleagues pushed back on Mahmood's earlier approach, and the BBC described how Mahmood revised the policy after a backlash from several Labour MPs. Angela Rayner said the retrospective approach would "change the goalposts," and the BBC reported that Mahmood declined to outline whether Prime Minister Andy Burnham had told her to change tack. The Guardian said Mahmood "scrapped plans for lower-paid workers to wait for 15 years" and set a new norm for most workers of a 10-year wait.
Marley Morris, associate director for migration at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said "It is unfair that workers who were in the UK before these rules were raised in May 2025 are not protected" and warned the government could be accused of "moving the goalposts". The Guardian said the updated version reduced the number of people whose settlement would be delayed from 799,000 to 517,000, while it kept stringent requirements for refugees arriving in small boats.
Earned settlement and timelines
The government confirmed that the standard qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain would increase from five to 10 years for most migrants under the earned settlement model, and it said the reforms would be implemented "over the course of 2027". Mahmood said a five-year route would remain available to people earning more than £50,000 a year and to those working in certain public service professions including doctors, nurses and teachers, while the highest earners with salaries exceeding £125,000 could apply after three years. The Home Secretary said applicants would also have to meet baseline requirements including speaking English to a high standard, having no criminal record, having no outstanding debts to the taxpayer and having made at least three years of National Insurance contributions.
The reforms set refugee timelines at five years for those arriving through new safe and legal routes, while refugees who had not arrived through a safe and legal route would face a 20-year qualifying period, rising to 30 years for those who entered the UK illegally, including by small boat. The Home Secretary later told MPs that "The changes that have been announced will begin to be laid from the December Immigration Rules" and that she would be providing impact assessments and other detailed guidance as the changes were rolled out.