The revised framework directly links permanent residency timelines to financial metrics, granting those earning £125,000 settlement in three years while lower earners face substantially longer delays. In the care sector, around 146,000 workers and 136,000 dependants arriving between 2022 and 2025 can qualify after five years only if they earn at least £25,000. Workers who fail to meet these thresholds must obtain an additional five-year visa to remain on track for settlement. Meanwhile, asylum seekers arriving on small boats face waits of up to three decades regardless of whether their protection needs are officially validated.
Key points
The government is proceeding with an overhaul that ties settlement eligibility to income…: The government is proceeding with an overhaul that ties settlement eligibility to income levels, tax contributions, and English proficiency.
Hundreds of thousands of recent care workers and their dependants risk longer waits unles…: Hundreds of thousands of recent care workers and their dependants risk longer waits unless they earn at least £25,000 and maintain visa conditions.
Deep disparities will exist in the asylum system based entirely on whether refugees enter…: Deep disparities will exist in the asylum system based entirely on whether refugees enter through designated safe routes or irregular crossings.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Shabana Mahmood has made a partial retreat on her policy to lengthen the wait for some foreign workers who were soon to be eligible for settlement in the UK. But while the home secretary lost the argument in cabinet on a particularly damaging aspect of her proposals, she has won the larger battle that settlement ought to be based not just on residency but also on how much tax has been paid, English language proficiency and the “character” of applicants. Significantly, she has also won the “full support” of the prime minister for this approach.
The home secretary plans to double the standard qualifying period for settlement from five to 10 years for most workers. Importantly, she dropped the proposed 15-year qualifying period for some workers in occupations below graduate level. That is a good thing. Differences in pay, however, should not determine how soon people can put down secure roots. The Home Office’s own figures suggest that a person earning £41,700 makes a similarly positive lifetime fiscal contribution as someone earning £50,271. But the former has to wait five…
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