UK Earned Settlement Overhaul: Mahmood Doubles Wait for Permanent Residency to 10 Years

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set out a sweeping overhaul of how migrants earn permanent residency in Britain on Monday 2 November 2026, doubling the standard wait for indefinite leave to remain from five years to 10 years.

The earned settlement plan, unveiled in the House of Commons, replaces a route the Home Secretary described as almost automatic with a contribution-based system in which permanent residency must be earned.

“To settle in this country forever is not a right, but a privilege, and it must be earned. Today, that is not the case,” Mahmood told MPs, adding that indefinite leave to remain is currently granted “almost automatically after five years in the country”. Mahmood said 1.6 million people are forecast to achieve settled status between 2026 and 2030, and “that will now change”.

UK Earned Settlement Reforms — Key Changes at a Glance

A minimum bar before the clock even starts

Before any faster route applies, applicants must clear minimum standards, including a clean criminal record, English to A-level standard, sustained National Insurance contributions and no debt in the country.

The contribution-based model was first set out in the government’s Immigration White Paper in May 2025, and the Home Office consultation on earned settlement drew more than 200,000 responses.

A higher standard of English test for indefinite leave to remain is already due to apply from 26 March 2027 for main applicants and dependants over 18.

The model rewards some groups with shorter waits: people who speak English to degree level could qualify after nine years, while higher-rate taxpayers could qualify after five years and those on the top rate after three. Doctors, nurses and teachers could qualify after five years, and volunteers could qualify between five and seven years.

Bindmans has published background on the earned settlement policy.

The longer waits for benefits claims and illegal arrival

The other side of the plan is a much longer wait for some groups. People who have received benefits for less than 12 months would have to wait 15 years for settlement, rising to 20 years for those who claimed for more than 12 months.

The government is also proposing that benefits “might not be available to those who have settled status, reserving them instead to those who have British citizenship”.

Those who arrive illegally could have to wait up to 30 years, while refugees on core protection could qualify after 20 years, a period that could be reduced by changing to a work or study visa.

Those who entered on the health and social care visa from 2021, and their dependants, could have to wait 15 years before earning settlement.

Who keeps the five-year route — and who the plan covers

Not everyone is affected. Partners of British citizens will continue to qualify after five years, a point not subject to consultation, as will British Nationals Overseas from Hong Kong.

Those qualifying under the EU Settlement Scheme and Windrush will see no changes.

The government is proposing that the new rules apply to everyone in the UK today who has not yet received indefinite leave to remain, but not to those who already have settled status.

Reports put the number of people who arrived after 2021 and could be affected at around 2.6 million, with a forecast peak of 450,000 settlements in 2028.

Why ministers say the system had to change

Ministers frame the overhaul as a response to the post-Brexit surge in arrivals, which brought large numbers of healthcare workers and students to Britain.

Official figures show net migration almost halved to 171,000 from 331,000 a year earlier, down from a record 944,000 in 2023.

Junior business minister Chris McDonald said before the announcement that immigration levels had become unsustainable under the previous Conservative government.

The government has said it wants to balance voter demands for lower immigration with business warnings that tougher rules could deter workers the country still needs.

Healthcare organisations, migrant-rights campaigners and some Labour politicians had opposed applying longer waits retrospectively to people who entered under existing arrangements.

What remains unresolved after the Commons statement

The statement leaves key detail to the formal policy document.

Before the announcement, media reports suggested ministers could soften elements of the original proposals, potentially exempting care workers already in Britain or offering them a quicker route.

The statement as reported instead sets a 15-year wait for health and social care visa entrants from 2021, so the final transitional protections for care workers already in Britain are not publicly verified.

No implementation or start date for the new routes has been publicly verified either, and the consultation response beyond the statement has not been published.

In the same week’s economic backdrop, the Bank of England is widely expected to raise interest rates.

Reuters reported the settlement overhaul after months of debate.

How long will migrants have to wait for settlement under the new plan? 10 years as standard, with faster and slower routes depending on contributions, English, earnings and benefits history.

Does the plan affect people who already have settled status? No; the government says it will not change the rules for those who already have settled status.

Can anyone still qualify after five years? Yes: partners of British citizens, British Nationals Overseas from Hong Kong, higher-rate taxpayers, and doctors, nurses and teachers are among those who could still qualify after five years.

When do the new rules start? Not publicly verified; no implementation date has been confirmed in the statement reporting.

A common misunderstanding is that the 10-year figure applies identically to everyone. It does not: it is a standard minimum that can fall to three years for top-rate taxpayers or rise to 30 years for illegal arrival, depending on the route and record.