Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to announce changes to UK immigration rules for legal migrants in a statement to the House of Commons on Monday, a Home Office source has confirmed.
The announcement follows reported pushback from senior Labour figures and speculation that the most contentious elements of her original proposals, revealed in November 2025, could be softened.
Plans to Extend Settlement Waiting Period
Initial proposals would have doubled the qualifying period for settlement for most migrants from five to 10 years, and potentially extended it to 15 years for care workers. Reports suggest the requirement for foreign care workers to wait up to 10 years for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) could be relaxed, with social care workers already in Britain potentially exempt.
Cabinet tensions over the policy surfaced when Housing Secretary Angela Rayner publicly criticised the prospect of backdating the plans earlier this year. Former Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh repeatedly declined to confirm her support for extending the qualifying period.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham last week said he firmly backed the principle that ILR was a "right to be earned", but did not pledge to implement all of Ms Mahmood's reforms.
Political Reactions
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp wrote on X on Sunday: "Tomorrow the Government will announce their U-turn on ILR, or Indefinite Leave to Remain." He added: "It's clear Shabana Mahmood has been forced to surrender to Angela Rayner and the open-borders Labour left."
Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said: "I can't believe Burnham would be stupid enough to give British citizenship to 400,000 people just six years after they came here."
Background and Consultation
Ms Mahmood initially outlined the measures to delay settlement amid concerns over the surge of legal arrivals approaching eligibility following record post-Brexit net migration under the previous Conservative government. During an immigration speech in March, she said that between 2021 and 2024 the country had seen migration levels previously spread across four decades.
She warned that without intervention, approximately 350,000 low-skilled workers and their dependants would become eligible for settlement and benefits over the following five years, carrying a potential lifetime cost to the taxpayer of £10 billion, citing figures from the Migration Advisory Committee.
The proposals generated more than 200,000 responses during a nearly year-long consultation, with Ms Mahmood set to reveal the Government's response having considered them.
ILR is an immigration status that allows an individual to live, work and study in the UK indefinitely and apply for benefits if eligible.
