Settlement rules: most migrants face 10-year wait to stay in the UK

3rd November 2026

Most migrants will have to wait ten years instead of five before they can settle permanently in the UK, under final rules set out by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Higher earners and key workers can still qualify sooner.

🛂 New settlement rules: who waits how long
💷 Earning over £125,000: 3 years
👩‍⚕️ Earning over £50,000, doctors, teachers and other key public service workers: 5 years
📋 Most others earning under £50,000: 10 years
⛵ Refugees who arrived illegally: 20 years if working or studying, 30 if not
✅ No change: Hong Kong BN(O), armed forces, Windrush

What is changing for indefinite leave to remain?

Indefinite leave to remain (ILR), also called settlement, lets people live in the UK permanently and is usually the step before British citizenship. Most people on work visas can currently apply after five years.

Under the final plans, set out in the Commons on Monday, most migrants earning under £50,000 will have to wait ten years unless they are exempt. People earning more than £50,000, and doctors, teachers and others working in health and education, keep the five-year route. Taxpayers earning more than £125,000 can apply after three years.

Refugees who arrived by small boat or another illegal route face a 20-year wait if they work or study, and 30 years if they do not.

Is it a U-turn on the original plan?

The first version, published in November 2025, would have doubled the wait for most migrants, with some facing 15 years. More than 200,000 people responded to the consultation. Care workers earning at least £25,000 who arrived before May 2025 will now keep the five-year route.

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The Home Office says 517,000 people will now have their settlement delayed, down from 799,000 under the original plan. It estimates between 1.3 million and 2.2 million people will settle between 2026 and 2030.

Ms Mahmood rejected the idea that this was a U-turn, saying: “I don’t accept that.” She said settlement “should not be automatic, it should be earned”. She did not give a cost and said an impact assessment would follow.

What have critics said?

The Conservatives’ Chris Philp called it a “U-turn” that would cost billions, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the Home Secretary had “shown her true colours”. From the other side, the Refugee Council said the 30-year wait was “unfair and unworkable”, and Green MP Siân Berry described the plans as a “new obstacle course of hoops and barriers”.

What does it mean if you are on a work visa?

Check which route you fall into based on your salary and job. The Home Office has not yet confirmed when the new rules will take effect, so keep an eye on gov.uk for updates.

Sources: PA via AOL, ITV News. Photo: Eric Fischer / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.