Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has revised immigration settlement plans following backlash from cabinet ministers and backbench Labour MPs, allowing up to 300,000 care workers and their dependants to apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years instead of the previously proposed 15-year wait.
Revised Settlement Pathways
Under the revised proposals, care workers earning more than £25,000 will qualify for indefinite leave to remain after five years, a third of the time announced last year. The initial plans had categorised workers in occupations below degree level (RQF Level 6) for an extended 15-year wait before settlement eligibility.
A Home Office response to the consultation, published on Monday, stated: "Workers in occupations below the RQF6 will no longer face the 15-year pathway proposed in the consultation. They will instead qualify through the ten year pathway where they meet strengthened minimum requirements, with opportunities to qualify sooner where they demonstrate the contribution required for an accelerated pathway."
The document noted a five-year pathway "for an estimated 146,000 care workers and 136,000 dependants." About 100,000 skilled workers, including butchers and chefs, will wait 10 years before applying. Highest earners earning more than £125,000 can settle within three years, while those earning more than £50,271 and some public service workers such as doctors, nurses, and teachers can settle after five years.
Stricter Rules for Refugees
Most hardline plans remain, including forcing those who arrived by small boats to wait up to 30 years before applying for settlement. Refugees entering via small boat and reliant on public funds face a minimum 30-year wait for permanent settlement. The exception is a small number entering through designated safe and legal routes, such as the reopened scheme for Afghan women and girls and Palestinians. No other refugees will be eligible for settlement if they have accessed any public funds.
Refugees claiming asylum after entering legally will wait up to 20 years for settlement, reducible to 10 years if they move into sustained work or study and demonstrate sufficient earnings. Those entering illegally face a 10-year penalty: a 20-year wait for those working or studying, and a minimum 30 years for those not working or studying. Most refugees must meet language requirements and owe no debts.
Political and Economic Context
The softening follows pushback from trade unions, care providers, and senior Labour figures including housing secretary Angela Rayner and London mayor Sadiq Khan. In June, Rayner described making care workers wait up to 15 years as "un-British." In September, energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said the plans would have been "tough" for her family, who came to Britain as refugees.
Home Office projections from last year suggested granting permanent residency to care sector staff and their adult family members from 2026 through 2030 could represent a lifetime expenditure of roughly £10bn for the public purse. Analysis published on Monday found skilled migrants settling in Britain were expected to contribute billions more than they cost over their lifetimes. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said skilled migrants and their adult dependants were expected to make a net lifetime contribution of about £115bn through taxes.
Mahmood met union general secretaries on Monday to map out final details. The Home Office has granted about 200,000 health and care worker visas in the last five years, with many more people coming as dependants. Launching the consultation last year, Mahmood described Britain as a "multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy" demanding "contribution and integration," adding: "To become a part of this country, permanently, is therefore not a right but a privilege – and one that must be earned."
