UK doubles wait for permanent residency to 10 years, with five-year route for care workers

Settlement becomes earned, not automatic

On Monday, 2 November 2026, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set out in the House of Commons how permanent residency, known as indefinite leave to remain, will work under a revised system. Most migrants will now wait 10 years, double the current five, while higher earners can settle sooner. People earning more than £125,141 a year, and those on routes such as Global Talent and Innovator Founder, can apply after three years. Doctors, nurses, teachers and people earning more than £50,271 a year face a five-year wait, while refugees who arrive by small boat can face up to 30 years. Mahmood summed up the principle in a single sentence.

“Settlement should not be automatic. It should be earned.”

Earnings over £125,141 a year3

Earnings over £50,271 a year5

Standard route10

Small-boat arrivals without work or study30

Earnings over £125,141 a year

3 years

Earnings over £50,271 a year

5 years

Standard route

10 years

Small-boat arrivals without work or study

30 years

Data from the article text

Care workers keep a five-year route

The 15-year wait that some foreign care workers faced under the first proposal has been dropped. Care workers who came to Britain before May 2025 and earn at least £25,000 a year keep the five-year route, a concession announced on Monday. Those who miss that test can apply for a new five-year visa and then seek settlement. In March the Home Office estimated the net lifetime cost of care workers and their adult dependants settling between 2026 and 2030 at £10 billion. Asked about the cost of the revised plans, Mahmood declined to give a figure, saying detailed costs will be published when the changes go before Parliament. She said the changes still bring "savings in the billions" because care workers who would have settled at five years and then claimed benefits will not do so.

Conditions and rollout

Settled status will require a clean criminal record, English to the equivalent of A-level standard as a foreign language, no debts to the taxpayer and a sustained record of National Insurance contributions. The rules apply retroactively to workers already in the country and take effect next year. The government estimates that up to 1.4 million people will be granted settled status between 2026 and 2030. The revised plan follows a consultation that drew more than 200,000 responses.

Opposition and backbench criticism

The Conservatives called the revised plan a "U-turn" that will cost the state billions of pounds. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the government had "caved in completely" and claimed settlement for care workers could cost taxpayers £10bn a year through benefits, healthcare, pensions and social housing. Speaking to LBC, he objected to the fact that people who broke the rules would still be allowed to stay.

“She's going to let them all stay, even the ones who have committed fraud to get here, which is absolutely staggering.”

Diane Abbott, the Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, warned that Mahmood risked another Windrush scandal by turning upside down the residency rights of people who came to Britain legally to work. Mahmood replied that she does not accept the description of the changes as retrospective. Dame Meg Hillier, Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, raised concerns about the availability of English lessons.

“Many women in particular are trapped because they do not have access to English.”

Labour rebel Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, urged Mahmood to scrap the earnings-based system, arguing that low-wage workers often make the greatest contribution.