The UK Home Secretary has announced a major overhaul of qualification for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), launching an open consultation on “earned settlement.” ILR, commonly known as ‘settlement’, allows people to live, work, and study in the UK without time restrictions, providing a pathway to British citizenship after a further year of continuous lawful residence.
The central proposal is to increase the standard qualifying period for settlement from five years to 10 years for most immigrants, with a phased rollout anticipated from April 2026.
Key Proposed Changes
The Home Secretary confirmed several changes will be enacted starting from this April:
- Qualifying Period: The baseline doubles from five years to ten years.
- Shorter Routes: Certain contributions will allow some to “earn” a shorter path (e.g., high taxable income, public sector work, or voluntary work).
- Longer Routes: Those who have claimed welfare benefits or broken immigration laws may face longer qualifying periods.
- New Requirements: Applicants will need to show a certain amount of National Insurance has been paid, have no outstanding government debt (NHS, tax, etc.), and meet a higher English language requirement (equivalent to a foreign language A-level).
- Criminality: The Home Secretary’s statement suggests the requirement of not having a custodial sentence over 12 months will change to a requirement for a “clean criminal record.”
- Exemptions: The current five-year path will remain the norm for those on the EU Settled Status path, as well as certain family members of British citizens (parent/partner/child), and BN(O)s from Hong Kong.
Impact on Employers and Skilled Workers
There will be a substantial increase in costs for employers sponsoring Skilled Workers with longer qualifying periods to settle. This includes the expense of an additional five years of the Immigration Skills Charge, which is set to rise by 32%, as well the cost of an extra Certificate of Sponsorship and possibly visa fees and Immigration Health Surcharge if the employer is the covering the latter two.
Many on the Skilled Worker route earning above the higher rate tax band (£50,270+ is proposed) may retain a five-year route. Others earning above the additional rate of £125,140 may qualify in three years. However, their dependent partners may now face difficulties with the new higher English attainment requirement and the proposal that they will have to have paid three years National Insurance on their income.
Responding to the Government Consultation
The Home Office consultation, entitled ‘Fairer Pathway to Settlement,’ runs until 23:59 on 12 February 2026 and is open to all interested individuals and organisations.
The government is specifically consulting on:
- Transitional arrangements to ease the impact of the changes.
- A potential 15-year route to ILR for those on work visas in roles under the new standard minimum skill level (RQF6).
- The specifics of how shorter routes will be earned:
- Five-year route for taxable annual income of £50,270 or above in the three years prior.
- A similar provision for highly skilled public servants and those who carry out voluntary work.
- Three-year route for income of £125,140 and upwards, or three years on an Innovator Founder or Global Talent visa.
- Settlement paths for specific cohorts, including children, armed forces members, victims of domestic violence, and bereaved family members.
- Whether ILR will continue to afford rights to welfare and council housing, or if these rights will only come with citizenship.
Any business or person who wishes to contribute to this consultation can respond by following the official link: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/earned-settlement
Scroll down to “Ways to respond” and then follow the link “Respond online”.
The questions are often phrased in rather leading and confusing ways, so it may be worth first reading our guide to what these questions allude to and what is at stake before tackling the anonymised consultation form: https://vanessaganguin.com/news/how-to-respond-to-the-uk-settlement-consultation-on-how-long-ilr-takes/
What we know about the UK’s ‘earned settlement’ ILR changes and consultation
New suitability rules for spouse visas and other family applications