Home Secretary outlines overhaul of rules for legal migrants

The Home Secretary has said that long-term settlement for migrants in the UK is a “privilege” that must be earned, as she set out details to end automatic status after five years.

Shabana Mahmood announced a shake-up of rules for legal migration just days after outlining reforms to the asylum system which drew criticism from Labour colleagues.

Under the proposed changes, conditions will be set for migrants to apply for settled status after 10 years, and they could be fast-tracked or forced to wait longer depending on their “contributions” to the UK.

The plan for “earned” settlement and a doubling of the wait time before being eligible for long-term status was first announced under the Government’s immigration white paper in May, and is aimed at reducing the number of people coming to the UK.

The move comes as it is estimated 1.6 million people will settle in the UK between 2026 and 2030, Ms Mahmood said, with a peak of 450,000 in 2028.

She said: “To settle in this country forever is not a right, but a privilege, and it must be earned.

“Today, that is not the case. Settlement or indefinite leave to remain comes almost automatically after five years’ residence in this country.

“At that point, a migrant gains access to many of the rights of a British citizen, including to benefits.”

Under the changes, migrants will be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK after 10 years, if they also meet a number of conditions.

These include having a clean criminal record, speaking English to A-level standard, having no debt to the state and having made sustained national insurance contributions.

But the Government launched a consultation on Thursday, running until February, on a range of conditions that would make migrants have a shorter or longer wait time for settled status.

Among the proposals are that those who work in public services, such as doctors and nurses, or who pay a higher level of tax, could qualify for settlement after five years.

But lower-qualified workers who arrived on health and social care visas during the “Boris wave” from 2022 could have to wait 15 years.

Those who are on benefits could have to wait 20 years before applying for settlement.

Commenting on the consultation, Madeleine Sumption, director of Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, said it would make access to permanent status “considerably more restrictive than comparable high-income countries”, and bring a trade-off of creating an incentive for people to work and the risk of poverty for the lowest earners.

Migrants could also only become eligible for benefits and social housing once they become British citizens, under the proposals, and those who arrived in the country illegally or overstayed their visa could have to wait up to 30 years for long-term residency in the UK.

This change could apply to people who had their asylum claim refused but were able to stay in the country under different grounds, and is separate to the 20-year wait for settlement to be introduced for refugees announced on Monday.

Volunteering and higher standards of English as ways to earn earlier settlement are also being consulted on, ahead of the roll-out of plans expected in spring next year.

Chief executive of charity Work Rights Centre, Dora-Olivia Vicol, described the change in wait time for settlement as “callous” and a “betrayal” of migrant communities.

“It won’t make the system fairer or promote integration,” she said.

“It will just keep people on high-risk employer-tied visas for longer, and drive wedges between communities.”

Dr Vicol added that plans to raise the threshold for migrants on benefits was “particularly dystopian”, as most who are able to access public funds are refugees or people the Home Office deem to be vulnerable enough to make an exception.

“With the new proposals, the Home Secretary is punishing migrant families for getting sick, or becoming vulnerable,” she said.

Dr Vicol also said a longer wait time for health and social care workers who came to the country to plug staff shortages after Covid was a “stab in the back”.

The Homecare Association, the UK’s membership body for homecare providers, warned that 15 years is too long to wait and risks losing “our valued overseas workforce”.

Its chief executive, Jane Townson, urged the Government to “consult with the sector, otherwise we risk repeating the chaos of 2021, when care shortages increased hospital admissions, delayed hospital discharges, and left thousands without the help they needed”.

The proposals will not apply to people who already have settled status in the UK.

Family members of UK citizens and British nationals overseas from Hong Kong will still be allowed to apply for status after five years.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said he supported the plans but that the Government was “copying and pasting” Conservative policies.