The UK just changed the road to settlement. Your salary now sets the timeline
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the Commons today that indefinite leave to remain (ILR) will no longer be close to automatic after five years. Under the new “earned settlement” model, the standard wait doubles to ten years, and how much you earn decides whether you can settle sooner. She also scrapped her earlier plan for some lower-paid migrants, including care workers already here, to wait 15 years. The BBC reports that 517,000 people will now have settlement delayed, down from 799,000 under the original plan. Here’s what was announced and what it means if you’re working in the UK on a sponsored visa, or hoping to.
How long you’ll wait.
| 3 years | Salaries above £125,141, and highly skilled migrants on routes such as Global Talent and Innovator Founder. |
|---|---|
| 5 years | Salaries above £50,271, plus skilled public service workers such as doctors, nurses and teachers. Also care workers who joined before May 2025, met their visa conditions and earn at least £25,000. |
| 10 years | The new default for everyone else, including anyone earning under £50,000 who has no other protection, and care workers who came after May 2025. You can keep renewing your temporary visa until then. |
| 20 years or more | Anyone who commits an immigration breach. The BBC's summary also lists claiming certain benefits. |
The conditions everyone must meet. Whenever you arrived, you’ll need a spotless criminal record, English spoken to a high standard (equivalent to A-level English as a foreign language), no debts to the taxpayer, and a record of National Insurance contributions, which the Home Secretary put at three years. The benefits rule is less clear for now: she told MPs that anyone who has claimed benefits must have had five continuous years without them before applying, while the BBC’s summary puts people who claim certain benefits on the 20-year path. Check the published rules before relying on either.
If you're already in the UK. Arriving before today doesn’t protect you on its own. Mahmood said the rules are set “when a settlement decision is made, not at the point when someone arrives”, so most people here on a five-year plan should now assume the new bands apply to them. Anyone who already holds settled status keeps it, and the government says no one will be forced to leave.
Care workers got a separate deal. Care workers who joined before May 2025, met their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 a year in the sector keep their five-year route. Those who didn’t meet the conditions can apply for another five-year care visa, not tied to their old employer, and can seek settlement after that. A similar arrangement covers public service workers in healthcare and education who arrived in the same period, in roles identified by the Migration Advisory Committee, such as auxiliary nurses. None of this covers anyone who came after May 2025.
Who keeps their current path. Family members of British citizens, Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) and members of the armed forces stay on their existing routes.
Refugees. Refugees on approved safe and legal routes can settle after five years. Others face 20 years, cut by ten if they work or study, with a further ten years for anyone who arrived by small boat or another clandestine route.
When it starts. Not today. The changes will begin to be laid in the December Immigration Rules and rolled out over 2027, with detailed guidance and impact assessments still to come. No single start date has been given. Government sources told the BBC no Commons vote is needed, because the Home Office believes it can do this through a statement of changes to the Immigration Rules.
The reaction. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp called it a “U-turn” and claimed it would cost taxpayers £10bn. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called it a “capitulation”. Mahmood says it is a “fair solution” that will save billions in benefits. In the consultation, which drew more than 200,000 responses, 84% of individuals disagreed with the proposed changes.
What we'd do if you're job hunting. Treat salary as part of your settlement plan, not just your visa. A role paying just over £50,000 could now mean settling five years earlier than one paying just under it, so it’s worth weighing that when you compare offers. Keep your payslips and National Insurance records, and take the English requirement seriously now. If you’re in healthcare or education, watch for the list of covered public service roles.
What we still don't know. The announcement sets out bands by earnings, and the coverage we’ve read doesn’t address Skilled Worker visas by name. Nor does it spell out what this means for worker dependants, Graduate visa holders or citizenship, or say whether the public service route has a salary floor. We’ll update this page when the rules are published.
Sources. BBC News live: home secretary scraps 15-year wait for migrant care workers, GOV.UK press release, and the Commons statement via EIN.
This article is general information, not immigration advice. For decisions about your own situation, use the official guidance on GOV.UK or a regulated immigration adviser. If salary is now part of your plan, you can browse roles at verified sponsors or get this kind of update by email through our free newsletter.