Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is due to announce the government’s final decisions on changes to settlement rules for legal migrants in the House of Commons on Monday, November 2, 2026. The proposed reforms could lengthen the route to permanent settlement for many people.
A Home Office source confirmed she will make a statement in the Commons during the afternoon. She is also expected to meet union general secretaries to discuss the final details.
The government has not yet confirmed its final exemptions, transition arrangements or start date. The announcement will show whether ministers have changed plans after opposition to some of the proposed waiting periods.
The five-year route may become a longer, contribution-based test
Most migrants can currently apply for settlement after five years of legal residence. Indefinite leave to remain, or ILR, allows a person to live, work and study in the UK indefinitely, and to seek benefits if eligible.
The status is not the same as the right of abode, which British citizens hold for life. ILR can lapse if its holder spends two or more continuous years outside the UK.
Mahmood published the original proposals for consultation in November 2025 under the title “a fairer pathway to settlement.” They would replace a broadly time-based route with an “earned settlement” system, weighing factors such as earnings, English proficiency, good conduct and contributions to British society.
| Group under the original proposal | Proposed route to settlement |
|---|---|
| Most migrants | 10 years, up from five |
| Lower-paid workers, including care workers, and some people receiving benefits | Up to 15 years |
| People who claimed benefits for up to 12 months | 15 years |
| People who claimed benefits for more than a year | 20 years |
| People who entered the UK illegally, including by small boat | Up to 25 years |
| Highly paid professionals and entrepreneurs | As little as three years |
| Doctors, nurses and some other senior public-sector workers | Five years |
The proposals also described a shorter route for people paying higher levels of tax. Mahmood has said applicants could reduce their wait through higher earnings or community contributions, potentially assessed through a points-based system. People who already hold ILR would keep their settled status.
Care-worker exemptions remain the biggest unresolved test
The government’s consultation response is expected to offer some protection to social care workers already in the UK. The BBC has reported that ministers are likely to revise the proposals for most people already working in social care, following internal opposition. The final scope of any exemption remains unsettled.
The consultation drew more than 200,000 responses, including 140,000 from visa holders, in a process that lasted nearly a year. A Whitehall source called it “a colossal exercise and a genuine one,” adding: “We have taken the time to get this right.”
The issue affects a large group. Officials expect between 1.3 million and 2.2 million foreign nationals to become eligible for ILR between 2026 and 2030; 463,000 came on foreign care-worker visas. The Home Office has issued about 200,000 health and care worker visas in the past five years, with additional people arriving as dependants.
A separate increase in the English-language requirement is scheduled to take effect in March 2027. It is distinct from the settlement changes being considered now.
Ministers cite arrivals and pressure on public services
Mahmood has defended the original plan by pointing to arrivals under the previous Conservative government. She said net migration rose by an additional 2.6 million between 2021 and 2024, adding: “Around one in every 30 people in this country today arrived in these four years.” She described the scale and speed of migration as destabilising in a speech to the IPPR think tank.
The government has also cited about 350,000 lower-skilled workers and their dependants who arrived after Brexit and are expected to become eligible for settlement. Mahmood argued that lower-paid migrants with non-working dependants could create fiscal pressures, as they may become eligible for benefits and council housing after five years under current rules. She said that threshold was expected to begin affecting arrivals from 2022 in 2027.
Official figures show net migration fell to 171,000 last year, from 331,000 a year earlier, after reaching 944,000 in 2023. The government’s proposed restrictions were framed against the earlier increase, even as the latest figures showed a sharp fall.
Mahmood warned that failing to implement her original plan in full would cost taxpayers £10 billion. She called dilution “an affront to the idea of fairness within our society” and said it could add “further strain on public services like housing and healthcare.”
Labour figures and unions have pressed for protections
Angela Rayner, now Housing Secretary, called the proposals “un-British” in March, arguing they would move the goalposts for people who came under earlier rules. In an interview the weekend before the announcement, she said she expected a system fair to taxpayers and to foreign workers in public services.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has repeatedly declined to endorse extending the qualifying period. In September, she said the proposals would have been “tough” for her family, who came to Britain as refugees. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has backed the principle that settlement should be “a right to be earned,” while stopping short of endorsing every proposed change. He has also said planned migration should respond to gaps in the economy.
Union leader Andrea Egan, general secretary of Unison, has objected to a 15-year wait for foreign care workers. She criticized Mahmood for not allowing a care worker to attend a meeting about the policy. The worker, a Nigerian named Kolade, said he wanted to tell the Home Secretary:
“We are not a burden to the British state. We are also contributing as much as we can, supporting British families.”
A letter dated 29 October 2026, addressed to Mahmood and Health Secretary Yvette Cooper, urged ministers to abandon the proposals or add safeguards. Its signatories included Labour MPs Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Diane Abbott, Clive Lewis and Rachael Maskell, and Green MPs Ellie Chowns, Carla Denyer, Siân Berry and Hannah Spencer. The Work Rights Centre, Action for Race Equality, Care England and the Society of Radiographers also backed it.
The letter called the proposals “an iteration of Windrush era policies” and warned that exemptions for some public-service staff might not cover workers at independent care and health providers or their family members.
The final statement will determine the next stage
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accused the government of preparing a “U-turn” and said the Conservatives would keep a 10-year route only for high-wage workers. He argued that low-wage workers already in the UK should leave when their temporary visas expire. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party has called for ILR to be abolished.
Junior business minister Chris McDonald said migration policy should also encourage investment in young people in Britain so they can fill jobs. The Commons statement will set out whether the government intends to retain, revise or exempt groups under the original plan.
