The UK government is consulting on the biggest overhaul of Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in 50 years. Under the plans, the default qualifying period for settlement would double from 5 to 10 years, with shorter routes earned through high earnings, public-service work or volunteering, and longer routes triggered by non-compliance, irregular entry or use of public funds.

The Home Office published the consultation document, A Fairer Pathway to Settlement (Command Paper CP 1448), on 20 November 2025. It closed on 12 February 2026 after a 12-week window, drawing roughly 130,000 responses. As of 1 June 2026 the Home Office is analysing those responses; a formal response paper and economic and equality impact assessments will follow “in due course”.

The headline shift matters because the consultation expressly proposes that the new framework will apply to everyone in the UK today who has not yet received ILR. This post sets out what the proposals actually say, with citations to the consultation document, the Immigration Rules, the Home Affairs Select Committee, the Migration Observatory, ILPA, JCWI and the Joint Committee on Human Rights — so readers can verify each point against primary sources.

The current system in one paragraph

Most migrants currently qualify for ILR after 5 years of continuous lawful residence on a single route — Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, the family-partner route, Global Talent, Innovator Founder and others. Skilled Worker holders cannot be outside the UK for more than 180 days in any rolling 12-month period during the qualifying period. The family-partner route requires £29,000 minimum combined household income (raised from £18,600 on 11 April 2024). A separate 10-year route under Appendix Long Residence (in force since 11 April 2024, replacing paragraphs 276A–276D) aggregates lawful residence on multiple permission types. All applicants aged 18–64 must pass the Life in the UK Test and demonstrate English at CEFR B1, with B1 rising to B2 from 26 March 2027 independently of the earned-settlement package. The Skilled Worker general salary threshold rose to £41,700 on 22 July 2025. The current good-character bar excludes those with prison sentences over 12 months.

That is the system the consultation proposes to replace.

What the consultation actually says — the 10-year baseline

The consultation states explicitly:

“The default qualifying period for settlement will be increased from the current 5 years to 10 years.”

“We will move to a system in which the baseline qualifying period for settlement for most migrants is increased from 5 years to 10 years.”

Two separate baselines sit alongside the 10-year default:

  • 20 years for refugees on “core protection” support (10 years for resettled refugees).
  • 15 years for Skilled Worker and Health and Care route holders in roles below RQF Level 6 — a band that captures most care workers.

The existing Appendix Long Residence 10-year aggregation route would be abolished.

The qualifying clock would then move up or down based on individual circumstances under two structured tables.

Table 2 — Earned reductions (shorter routes)

The consultation’s Table 2 sets out the reductions. Only one reduction (the largest) applies per application; reductions do not stack with each other.

Headline reductions (all subject to consultation unless flagged):

  • Minus 7 years for taxable income at or above £125,140 in each of the 3 years immediately before applying (the additional-rate income tax threshold). This brings settlement to a 3-year route.
  • Minus 7 years for 3 years’ continuous residence as a Global Talent or Innovator Founder visa holder.
  • Minus 5 years for taxable income at or above £50,270 in each of the 3 years immediately before applying (the higher-rate threshold). This preserves an effective 5-year route for higher-rate Skilled Workers.
  • Minus 5 years for 5 years’ employment in a “specified public service occupation” at RQF Level 6 or above — examples include NHS medical and teaching professionals on national pay scales, though the full occupation list is not yet published.
  • Minus 3 to 5 years for community contribution / qualifying volunteering — the range is to be decided.
  • Minus 1 year for C1-level English (above the new B2 floor).

Two reductions are confirmed, not subject to consultation:

  • Minus 5 years for partners, parents and children of British citizens — preserving the existing 5-year route for these groups.
  • Minus 5 years for Hong Kong BN(O) status holders.

Following Royal College of Nursing lobbying, nurses working in the NHS were effectively exempted from the changes and retain a 5-year route.

Table 3 — Earned increases (longer routes)

Where any Table 3 increase applies, it takes precedence over any reduction.

  • Plus 5 years for receipt of public funds for less than 12 months during the route to settlement.
  • Plus 10 years for receipt of public funds for more than 12 months.
  • Plus up to 20 years for illegal entry (e.g. small boat or clandestine arrival). With the 10-year baseline that produces a 30-year combined route.
  • Plus up to 20 years for entry on a visit visa.
  • Plus up to 20 years for overstaying for 6 months or more where the breach does not warrant outright refusal. The consultation expressly asks whether 5, 10, 15 or 20 is the right figure for overstaying.

The document gives a worked example: an applicant in receipt of public funds for less than 12 months (+5) and meeting C1 English (–1) ends up at net +4 years — a 14-year qualifying period.

Mandatory floor — what every applicant must meet

Before any reduction is even calculated, the consultation proposes five mandatory baseline requirements:

  1. English at CEFR B2 (up from the current B1). C1 buys a one-year reduction; B1 will no longer be sufficient.
  2. Life in the UK test retained, with a “refresh” signalled but no detail.
  3. Clean criminal record. The document states: “our expectation is that you should not be able to settle with a criminal record.” This would replace the current 12-month-sentence threshold. A separate “root and branch review of criminality thresholds” will follow.
  4. Annual taxable earnings above £12,570 (the personal allowance / NICs threshold) for between 3 and 5 years.
  5. No current litigation, NHS, tax or other government debt. The drafting is binary, with no monetary threshold named; council tax arrears would arguably count.

Note on thresholds: the income figures (£12,570, £50,270, £125,140) are pegged to current tax thresholds. The document explicitly says they will not track future tax changes — fiscal drag is baked in.

The four pillars of contribution

The consultation frames the assessment around Character, Integration, Contribution and Residence.

Contribution is dominated by earnings. Non-earnings routes are:

  • 3 to 5 years of qualifying volunteering — unpaid activity benefiting someone other than close friends or relatives, the community or environment. Possible accreditation is signalled.
  • 5 years in a specified public service occupation at RQF Level 6+.

Integration evidence is left open. Options on consultation include volunteering records, employment records, cultural orientation courses, character references from public service professionals or British nationals, and testimonies from community organisations. No single statutory integration test has been finalised.

Rights at ILR vs rights at British citizenship — the radical structural change

The most far-reaching proposal sits in the citizenship-side reforms. The consultation seeks views on amending primary legislation so that ILR itself could be granted subject to a “no recourse to public funds” (NRPF) condition.

If enacted, the following would only unlock on naturalisation as a British citizen, not on ILR:

  • Universal Credit
  • Child benefit
  • Housing assistance and social housing
  • Homelessness support

The political driver is DWP data from June 2025 showing 213,000 settled migrants claiming Universal Credit.

What is not proposed to change:

  • NHS access at ILR. ILR holders remain exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge.
  • Voting rights. General elections remain restricted to British, Irish and qualifying Commonwealth citizens under separate electoral law.
  • The HM Armed Forces pathway.

Dependants are also reframed: each adult dependant must now earn settlement on their own attributes; the principal applicant’s clock no longer automatically carries family members. Dependants of British citizens keep the 5-year route; dependants of non-citizens shift to the 10-year baseline.

The retrospectivity problem

The single most important sentence in the consultation, for anyone already in the UK on a visa, is this:

“We propose to apply these changes to everyone in the country today who has not already received indefinite leave to remain. This would mean that those who are due to reach settlement in the coming months and years would be subject to the new requirements for earned settlement, as soon as our immigration rules have changed.”

Those who already hold ILR keep it. The EU Settlement Scheme, Windrush Scheme and existing settled status are out of scope. Transitional arrangements are open to consultation but not guaranteed.

The estimated cohort: roughly 1.6 million people are forecast to settle 2026 to 2030 (peak ~450,000 in 2028), with around 2 million people who have arrived since 2021 potentially affected.

Migration Observatory modelling: 350,000 to 425,000 work-route migrants would face extended waits. IPPR analysis: children make up 23 per cent (309,000) of the affected cohort facing 10- or 15-year baselines. 74 per cent of Health and Care visa holders are women — the group most likely to face the 15-year baseline.

The Migration Observatory concludes that a 10-year baseline would make the UK more restrictive than most high-income countries, comparable only to Switzerland and Japan.

Key dates timeline

DateEvent
12 May 2025Immigration White Paper “Restoring Control over the Immigration System” (CP 1326) published
6 September 2025Mike Tapp MP appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Migration and Citizenship)
20 November 2025Earned Settlement consultation opened. Command Paper CP 1448 “A Fairer Pathway to Settlement” laid before Parliament. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood MP made the oral statement to the Commons
12 February 2026, 23:59Consultation closed. Roughly 130,000 responses received
13 March 2026Home Affairs Select Committee published “Earned Settlement: Examining the Government’s proposed reforms”, urging caution
April 2026Earliest signalled implementation window for first earned-settlement rule changes via Statement of Changes (staggered rollout)
13 May 2026Date by which the HASC requested a government response to its report
26 March 2027Already-confirmed rise in ILR English language requirement from CEFR B1 to B2 takes effect (HC 1691) — independent of the earned-settlement package

Civil society and parliamentary reaction

Reaction has been overwhelmingly critical of the proposals from migration-policy and rights bodies:

  • Migration Observatory — the 10-year baseline would put the UK alongside Switzerland and Japan as the most restrictive high-income destinations.
  • Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) — JCWI and 120+ rights organisations rejected the proposals as “racist and classist” and refused to engage with the formal response process.
  • Free Movement — flagged disproportionate impact on migrant women given the 12.8 per cent gender pay gap, average 39+ week maternity leaves, and £1,521/month average childcare costs.
  • ILPA (Prof. Bernard Ryan briefing, April 2026) — flagged a procedural gap: the consultation is silent on appeal or administrative review rights for earned-settlement refusals. Under current rules administrative review is not available where refusal is on suitability or character grounds.
  • IPPR — 309,000 children would face 10- or 15-year baselines.
  • Work Rights Centre — flagged retrospectivity as “an extraordinary betrayal”.
  • CBI and the Law Society — warned on retrospectivity risk to global talent and the earnings-only test ignoring essential lower-paid roles.
  • 100+ Labour MPs signed a letter of protest; Angela Rayner called the plans a “breach of trust”.

What this means in practice

For migrants already on a 5-year track

The consultation proposes that the new rules apply to everyone who has not yet received ILR. If your current visa was issued on a 5-year qualifying-period assumption, that assumption is at risk. Three concrete steps:

  1. Take stock of your current position now. When is your current visa due to expire? When would you have been eligible for ILR under the 5-year rules? Are you a partner / parent / child of a British citizen (in which case the 5-year route is preserved by the consultation as not subject to change)?
  2. Audit your evidence of contribution. Earnings history (P60s, P45s, NI records), continuous employment, council tax payments, and any volunteering history all become valuable. Disputes with HMRC or the NHS over fees become higher stakes if the binary “no government debt” test goes through as drafted.
  3. Read the Home Affairs Select Committee report. The HASC report of 13 March 2026 is the clearest summary of the parliamentary scrutiny, including transitional fairness, social care, children and procedural rights.

For sponsors, employers and HR

  • The cliff edge at five years is replaced by a graduated framework. Skilled Worker employees outside additional-rate or higher-rate thresholds face longer waits.
  • Health and Care visa holders in roles below RQF Level 6 (most care workers) face a 15-year baseline.
  • Retention strategy: visa sponsorship and immigration support now interact directly with retention. Specifically: roles paying below £50,270 face a 10-year minimum to ILR; roles paying below £41,700 (general SW threshold) need additional planning.
  • Senior hires earning above £125,140 retain a fast 3-year route.

For asylum-route migrants

The 20-year baseline for refugees on core protection support is the most contested element politically. JCWI, Refugee Council and Migration Observatory have all flagged this as a breach of the UN Refugee Convention’s framework for durable protection. The 10-year baseline for resettled refugees adds a 5-year delay to the current 5-year route to ILR under refugee Convention status.

For platforms and pro bono lawyers

Demand for legal advice is forecast to spike between consultation response and Statement of Changes laying. Practitioners should track the gov.uk consultation page for the response paper and impact assessments, the Home Affairs Select Committee for follow-up, and the House of Commons Library briefing CBP-10267 for parliamentary summaries.

How to respond now that the consultation has closed

The consultation closed at 23:59 on 12 February 2026. Direct responses are no longer being accepted. Other routes remain open:

  1. Write to your MP. They can table written or oral questions and engage with the Home Affairs Select Committee on the ongoing scrutiny.
  2. Feed evidence through stakeholder umbrellas — ILPA, JCWI, Praxis, Work Rights Centre, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, Migration Observatory — which all have ongoing channels into the Home Office.
  3. Prepare for the published response paper, draft Statement of Changes and impact assessments. Use the gap to review your current immigration position with an immigration solicitor, so that any transitional window or fast-track reduction route is captured at the earliest opportunity.

What is still uncertain

Several material points remain open:

  • Implementation date. April 2026 was the initial signal, but staggered rollout is expected. The consultation document itself names no commencement date.
  • Transitional arrangements for migrants already on a 5-year track. The proposal applies to everyone without ILR, but grandfathering could still be added.
  • Criminality “plus X years” adjustment — to be set out after a separate “root and branch review”.
  • The full list of “specified public service occupations” attracting the minus-5-year reduction is not enumerated.
  • The volunteering reduction range (minus 3 to minus 5 years) — qualifying volume, duration and types of volunteering are unresolved.
  • The plus-20 ceiling for illegal entry, visit-visa entry and overstaying is a maximum; the consultation explicitly asks for views on the right number.
  • The NRPF-on-ILR proposal would require primary legislation; the legislative timetable is not yet published.
  • Appeal / administrative review rights for earned-settlement refusals — a procedural gap flagged by ILPA and Free Movement.
  • Whether the B2 English requirement applies identically to adult dependants is explicitly out for consultation.
  • Council tax arrears are not named as a specific bar but would arguably fall within “other government debt”.

Authoritative sources

The consultation and its supporting papers:

Current Immigration Rules and statistics:

Migration-policy commentary:

Worried that the earned-settlement proposals affect your route to ILR? Book a free 15-minute consultation with RakLAW Solicitors. We advise on Skilled Worker, Health and Care, family-route and long residence applications, and on transitional risk planning while the consultation response is awaited.