The standard wait for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) will go from 5 years to 10 years. On 2 November the Home Office published its response to the earned settlement consultation, A Fairer Pathway to Settlement. It sets out the final model. The new rules are not in force yet.
No start date yet
GOV.UK says the next step is to turn the framework into detailed Immigration Rules. Before that, the government will publish technical guidance and a full impact assessment. Until the new rules start, the current settlement rules apply.
How long the wait will be
The time to settlement will depend on earnings, job, British connections and immigration record. These are the four pathways in the government response.
| Wait | Who it is for | Main condition |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | The highest earners | Earned at least £125,141 in 3 of the last 4 years, or in the Highest Talent Group |
| 5 years | Higher earners, some public service jobs, people with a British connection | Earned at least £50,271 in 3 of the last 5 years, or 5 years in an eligible health or education job, or a British connection |
| 10 years | The new default | Earned at least £12,571 in 5 of the last 7 years |
| 20 years | People with an immigration breach or who used public funds | Earned at least £12,571 in 5 of the last 7 years |
The 3, 5 and 10-year paths are closed to anyone who used specified public funds in the 5 years before applying, or who committed a qualifying immigration breach. The earnings figures follow the income tax thresholds, so they will change if those thresholds change.
Couples can combine their earnings. The household threshold is £25,142, twice the individual figure. Children, people aged 65 and over and people who cannot meet it because of a physical or mental condition do not need to meet the £12,571 figure.
What every applicant must meet
These requirements apply on every pathway. Higher earnings or public service do not replace them.
- Good character and suitability. The press release says this means a clean criminal record, where today the threshold is a 12-month suspended sentence.
- No outstanding debt to the government.
- English at B2, up from B1 today. GOV.UK compares B2 to A level in a foreign language.
- A pass in the Life in the UK test.
- A record of sustained contribution.
The usual exemptions for English and the Life in the UK test continue for children, people aged 65 and over and people with a physical or mental condition.
Which jobs get the 5-year public service path
The response lists 30 health and education occupations. They are the roles where the going rate in Appendix Skilled Occupations comes from a national pay scale. They include doctors, nurses and midwives, pharmacists, dentists, paramedics, physiotherapists and other therapists, social workers, and teachers from nursery to further education, including head teachers.
Care workers already in the UK
Care workers who entered or switched into the care worker route before the Immigration White Paper in May 2025 keep the 5-year path. They must meet the £25,000 salary, sponsorship and employment requirements, and the new minimum requirements on criminality and English.
Care workers in that group who do not qualify after 5 years can apply for a further 5-year Health and Care visa for genuine work in the sector. They can then apply for settlement again. The press release says this is around a quarter of the group. Care workers who joined the route after May 2025 go on to the 10-year path.
If a care sponsor loses its licence
From 1 February 2027, a care worker whose sponsor loses its licence will have up to 120 days to get a job offer, and a further 60 days to sort out their visa and job. After 180 days without that, the Home Office will curtail the visa.
Other people already in the UK
- Health and education workers in jobs below RQF level 6 on a national pay scale, such as nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants, keep a 5-year path if they came before May 2025.
- Skilled Workers in jobs below RQF level 6 who joined before the April 2024 salary rise can extend on their current terms until 2035. The end date was 2030.
- The 15-year path for jobs below RQF level 6, proposed in the consultation, has been dropped. Those workers go on to the 10-year path.
- Anyone who already holds settled status keeps it.
Apart from these groups, GOV.UK says an application is normally decided under the rules in force on the date of the decision. Being in the UK does not give a person an automatic right to settle under the rules that applied when they arrived. The press release estimates that more than 500,000 people will wait longer than 5 years.
Routes that keep their own rules
Hong Kong BN(O) holders keep settlement after 5 years. Partners, parents and children of British citizens, and UK Ancestry applicants, have a British connection and qualify after 5 years. The armed forces, the Afghan schemes and Windrush keep their own arrangements. People on these routes must still meet the new criminality and B2 English requirements, unless an exemption applies.
Refugees
Refugees who come through a Home Office approved safe and legal route can settle after 5 years. Others wait 20 years, or 10 years if they work or study. People who entered by small boat or another clandestine way face an extra 10 years, so the wait can be up to 30 years.
Where these figures come from
The consultation had 204,667 responses. 73% of the individual respondents were visa holders. Every figure here is from the GOV.UK government response A Fairer Pathway to Settlement and the Home Office press release of 2 November. This is information, not immigration advice. For advice on your own case, speak to a regulated immigration adviser.