Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s proposed overhaul of indefinite leave to remain faces resistance within Labour, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham has stopped short of endorsing the plan in full. The proposal could lengthen the settlement wait from five years to as much as 15 years for some workers.
No 10 has declined to rule out changes. The consultation ran from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026 and received over 200,000 responses.
Burnham says ministers will decide after considering those submissions. The final rules remain unsettled.
Applicants who qualify now can still use the current routes
The Immigration Rules have not changed. People who already meet the requirements can apply through the existing five-year routes or the ten-year long residence route.
The rule in force on the day someone applies will determine the application, Mahmood told the Home Affairs Committee. People who already hold settlement, or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, are not affected. The government’s stated intention is also to preserve a five-year route for partners and children of British citizens and British National (Overseas) visa holders. That is not a guarantee.
One English-language change is confirmed. From 26 March 2027, the settlement requirement rises from B1 to B2. In a written answer published 21 October 2026, the Home Office said the proposals would not change which routes count toward the qualifying period. The Immigration Rules contain almost 70 routes, approximately 40 of which lead to settlement.
Those who qualify under current rules can apply now. The application-day rules govern the decision.
The consultation schedule ranges from three to 30 years
The proposals would replace the current five-year standard with different qualifying periods based on earnings, occupation and personal circumstances. A ten-year default appears in the detailed schedule, while the broader plan has also been described as extending waits to as much as 15 years.
| Proposed route or circumstance | Proposed qualifying period |
|---|---|
| Default route | 10 years |
| Earnings above £125,140 | 3 years |
| Higher-skilled work earning above £50,270, or qualified public-sector teachers, doctors or nurses | 5 years |
| Standard family visa holders | 5 years |
| Lower-skilled roles, including care workers and teaching assistants | 15 years |
| People granted asylum and benefit claimants | 20 years |
| People who first entered the UK illegally | 30 years |
Some community volunteers could qualify after five or three years. The asylum proposal would allow shorter waits for people who take up work or study; the schedule also sets a 20-year period for benefit claimants, including people whose claims lasted less than 12 months.
Other elements remain proposals, not settled rules. They include B2 English for everyone, a minimum income of £12,570 for three to five years before applying, and separate qualifying clocks for dependants. The government is also considering closing the ten-year long residence route. Another proposal would apply the changes to people who arrived from 2021 onward, including those already in the UK without settlement.
Home Office figures put the number who could become eligible for settlement between 2026 and 2030 at up to 1.6 million. The schedule includes 15 years for Skilled Workers in roles below degree level, or RQF 6, while higher earners and some public-service workers could qualify sooner.
Care-worker exemptions have become a test of Labour support
More than 100 Labour MPs and leading unions oppose extending the care-worker wait, including for people nearing the end of their current five-year period. In July, 80 MPs wrote to Burnham urging him to dilute the Immigration and Asylum Bill, warning that Labour risked losing “progressive” voters.
Former immigration minister Mike Tapp, who clashed with Mahmood over the plan, urged her to “read the room.” He said workers who had genuinely worked in the sector should retain the right to apply after five years, “as they expected.”
The Home Office has argued that exempting care workers could prompt foreign staff to leave once visa conditions no longer bind them. Mahmood previously said care workers are “never expected to be net economic contributors.” A reported option would exempt some health and care workers from longer waits, while Mahmood has also hinted at possible concessions.
Burnham said settlement should be earned through contribution, but did not promise to keep every part of the proposal. “We're in a position where we've been consulting on those reforms, and we will come forward with our decisions soon. But I strongly support the home secretary when she says that settlement is a right to be earned through contribution, and that will be the principle that guides our reforms.”
His press secretary said the consultation had specifically sought views on transitional arrangements for people already in the UK who had not received settled status. A senior ally of Mahmood said Burnham had been on her side and was “holding the line.” Reports also said she was resisting changes.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh repeatedly declined to endorse the 15-year plan in an interview. She said, “I 100% back Shabana Mahmood and everything she is trying to do,” but pushed back when asked whether she supported the specific proposal: “Don't … put words in my mouth.” She declined to back it 16 times during the interview and said she had pledged to “never lie” when entering politics.
A post about a community discussion on Fahnbulleh’s Peckham constituency website, later removed, quoted her saying: “If we continually prolong the time people have to wait for settlement, we can also prolong the process of building cohesion.” She later posted on X that she fully supported the Home Secretary and the government’s migration position.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner had criticised applying the reforms retrospectively and called them “unfair” and “un-British.” On Tuesday she said she had “full confidence” and expected Mahmood to settle on a policy fair to taxpayers and migrants.
The dispute has reached unions. Talks with Unison broke down after Mahmood refused to allow a migrant care worker to attend. The 2026 Association of Directors of Adult Social Services annual survey reported a £715m deficit and high staff turnover among adult social care directors.
The Home Office has not set a date for its final response
On 15 September 2026, Mahmood told the Home Affairs Committee the final policy and transitional arrangements would be published later in 2026, in good time before February 2027. That is when the first people who arrived in 2022 would reach five years in the UK. She said the changes would be made through a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules.
The Home Office said its response would come “in due course” and that no final decisions had been made on transitional arrangements. In its written answer, it said the final model would follow economic and equality impact assessments. The department also said it could not commit to a response date, and that which public-service occupations qualify for shorter waits would depend on analysis of the consultation responses.
The government had previously indicated the new rules would start in autumn 2026. They had not taken effect as of the 17 October 2026 update. The first people who arrived in 2022 reach the five-year mark in February 2027.
