UK exempts care workers from plan to impose long delays on immigrants seeking residence

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Britain watered down plans on Monday to impose long delays on immigrants seeking to receive permanent residence, announcing exemptions for hundreds of thousands of care workers to defuse a political outcry within the governing Labour Party.

The government had announced plans last year to require lower-skilled workers to wait 10-15 years to receive permanent residence, up from five years previously.

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But under the plans unveiled on Monday, it said hundreds of thousands of workers in the care sector would now be exempt from the longer waits. Refugees who arrived illegally by boat, however, would face additional penalties, and could now be required to wait decades.

With the exemptions, the policy would still reduce by 500,000 the number of migrants who arrived since 2021 and would qualify for residence by 2030, the government said. As many as 1.4 million will still qualify during that period under the new rules.

The reforms are part of the government's effort to toughen the rules, after arrivals surged following Britain's departure from the European Union, with post-Brexit immigration policies leading to an influx of healthcare workers and students.

Initial government proposals to toughen the rules had sparked a backlash from unions and parts of the governing Labour Party, particularly over the fate of often low-paid workers in the care sector, which has struggled to fill vacancies.

"Those who contribute most will settle fastest," interior minister Shabana Mahmood said. "Those who don't play by the rules will be refused or wait longer."

The changes are a response to political pressure, including from Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK party, which has surged in popularity in recent years with calls for stricter migration controls.

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Previously, legal migrants had to wait for five years before they could be granted "indefinite leave to remain", a status which allows people to live and work in Britain permanently and be entitled to some welfare benefits.

The changes, due to take effect next year, will still double the standard qualifying period to 10 years, and be applied retrospectively to workers already in Britain.

In addition to the new exception for care workers, those earning at least £50,271 ($67,448) and many skilled public sector workers will be able to qualify after five years, while those earning more than £125,000 can qualify in just three.

The government hopes the revisions will satisfy concerns expressed by some members of the governing centre-left Labour Party. Earlier this year, the housing secretary, Angela Rayner, described applying the rules retrospectively as "un-British". Last month, the energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, said the plans would have been tough for her family, who came to Britain as refugees.

The daughter of Pakistani immigrants, Mahmood has long argued that the UK needs to control immigration to protect communities like her own against the rise of right-wing populist policies.

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Reporting by Sam Tabahriti and Andrew MacAskill Editing by Andrew Heavens, Kate Holton, Peter Graff

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