LONDON.- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday set out an overhaul of how migrants can settle in Britain, replacing the current five-year route to indefinite leave to remain with an "earned settlement" system that makes 10 years the standard wait and requires some lower-paid workers to wait up to 15 years, according to Reuters.
The plan is the government's latest attempt to tighten the rules after arrivals surged following Britain's departure from the European Union, with post-Brexit policies bringing large numbers of health workers and students from around the world. Under current rules, most migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years in Britain, a status that enables them to claim some welfare benefits.
What changes for migrants already on the path
Under the proposal, 10 years would become the standard route to permanent residency, while some lower-paid workers, including care workers, would have to wait up to 15 years. The government argues the changes are needed because around 350,000 lower-skilled workers and their dependants who arrived after Brexit are expected to become eligible for settlement in the coming years.
Junior business minister Chris McDonald said before Monday's announcement that immigration levels had become unsustainable under the previous Conservative government. The reforms aim to balance voter demands for lower immigration with warnings from businesses that rules that are too tough could deter workers the country still needs.
Net migration has already fallen sharply
Official figures show net migration in Britain almost halved last year to 171,000, from 331,000 a year earlier, extending a steep decline from a record 944,000 in 2023. The government presents the earned-settlement plan as the next step in that tightening, shifting settlement from a time-served entitlement to something migrants must earn over a longer period.
The announcement lands in the middle of a long-running fight inside and outside the government over the settlement rules, with ministers previously facing criticism from their own cabinet colleagues and from charities over the impact of longer waits on care workers and on families already living and working in Britain.
Read more on The Wire Post: Shabana Mahmood's settlement crackdown stalls as 200,000 are granted permanent status, Shabana Mahmood poised to spare care workers from the 15-year settlement wait and Shabana Mahmood imposes a total UK visa ban on Eritrea as fast-track ends.
Sources: Reuters, November 2, 2026.