Overview of the ILR Changes for UK Settlement
The Earned Settlement proposals are outlined the document ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: A statement and accompanying consultation on earned settlement‘ published today, 20 November 2025. A public consultation runs until 12 February 2026 and no rules have changed yet.
The core proposal is to replace automatic eligibility for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) after five years with a new “earned settlement” framework built around character, contribution, integration and residence.
The baseline qualifying period for most visa holders would increase from five years to ten years. Migrants would need to demonstrate continued employment, National Insurance contributions, a clean record, higher English language ability and full compliance with immigration conditions. Settlement becomes something that is achieved rather than assumed.
The Command Paper says the separate 10-year long residence route will be removed, with its purpose absorbed into the adjustable baseline.
Alongside the longer residence requirement, the Home Secretary has set out core conditions that would apply to all applicants under the earned settlement model. Applicants would have to meet suitability requirements under the new Part Suitability, with the government’s stated expectation that people should not be able to settle with a criminal record, to meet at least B2-level English, to show a period of earnings above the income tax and National Insurance threshold, and to have no outstanding litigation, NHS, tax or other government debt.
Failing any one of these baseline conditions would prevent someone qualifying for settlement even if they meet the residence requirement.
The paper proposes a tiered set of reductions linked to taxable income. Under the time-adjustment model, applicants with taxable income above £125,140 for the three years before applying could see the baseline ten-year period reduced by seven years, giving a three-year qualifying period. Those with taxable income above £50,270 for three years could see a five-year reduction, retaining a five-year path in effect, subject to meeting all mandatory requirements and not attracting any upward adjustments.
The government is consulting on setting a 15-year standard qualifying period for workers sponsored in occupations below RQF level 6, including many Health and Care roles, instead of the 10-year baseline.
Reliance on benefits would bring further penalties. Benefits for less than twelve months would add five years and benefits for more than twelve months would add ten years, creating potential twenty-year routes for some applicants. For people who entered the UK illegally, the consultation materials and the Home Secretary’s speech point to even longer routes, with settlement timelines of up to thirty years in some scenarios.
The command paper also consults on introducing a No Recourse to Public Funds condition at the point of settlement, which would mean that ILR no longer automatically gives access to many benefits, with access shifting more towards citizenship or separate policy decisions.
The paper confirms that people who already hold settled status, those with status under the EU Settlement Scheme, and Windrush cases are outside the scope of the consultation and the planned settlement reforms.
Certain family routes, such as partners, parents and children of British citizens and BN(O) status holders, are brought into the earned settlement system but are intended to keep an effective five-year pathway, through a fixed reduction of five years from the ten-year baseline, subject to the mandatory conditions.
| Area | Headline proposal | At a glance |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline qualifying period | Move most settlement routes to a 10-year “earned settlement” model | Standard ILR residence period for most routes would become 10 years instead of 5, with additional conditions on contribution, conduct and integration. |
| 10-year long residence route | Separate long residence route to be removed | The stand-alone 10-year long residence route would be abolished, with its function absorbed into the new 10-year baseline and adjustment system. |
| Mandatory conditions | Stricter universal conditions for settlement | All applicants would need to meet suitability thresholds under the new Part Suitability, pass Life in the UK, demonstrate at least B2 English, show earnings above the income tax / NIC threshold for a set period and have no NHS, tax or other government debt. |
| High earners | Time reductions linked to higher taxable income | Taxable income above £125,140 for 3 years could reduce the 10-year baseline by 7 years (3-year route). Income above £50,270 for 3 years could reduce it by 5 years (5-year route), subject to all mandatory conditions and any upward adjustments. |
| Global Talent & Innovator Founder | Accelerated routes for specified high-skill categories | Global Talent and Innovator Founder migrants could see up to a 7-year reduction from the 10-year baseline, giving a 3-year route where all mandatory conditions are met. |
| Lower-paid / sub-RQF 6 roles | Extended qualifying period for lower-skilled sponsorship | The government is consulting on a 15-year standard qualifying period for workers sponsored in roles below RQF 6, including many Health and Care roles, instead of the 10-year baseline. |
| Use of public funds | Additional years where benefits are claimed | Public funds for less than 12 months would add 5 years to the qualifying period. Public funds for 12 months or more would add 10 years, potentially creating 20-year routes in some cases. |
| Illegal entry / overstaying | Significant upward adjustments for irregular history | People who entered illegally, overstayed or misused visit permission could face substantial additional years on top of the baseline, with some example scenarios stretching to around 30 years before settlement. |
| Family members | Family routes brought into earned settlement with some protections | Partners, parents and children of British citizens and BN(O) status holders are intended to keep an effective 5-year route through a fixed time reduction from the 10-year baseline, while other dependants may have their own qualifying periods assessed separately. |
| Groups out of scope | Certain cohorts excluded from the reforms | People who already hold ILR, those with status under the EU Settlement Scheme, Windrush scheme cases and some other protection cohorts are stated to be outside the scope of these settlement reforms. |
| NRPF at settlement | Consultation on restricting access to public funds for ILR holders | The paper consults on attaching a No Recourse to Public Funds condition to some grants of settlement, so that access to many benefits would not automatically follow from ILR and may be linked more to citizenship or separate policy decisions. |
| Implementation & timing | Consultation phase only, no immediate rule change | The proposals are subject to public consultation (closing 12 February 2026). No changes to the Immigration Rules have taken effect yet and existing ILR routes remain in force until new rules are formally laid and commenced. |
Impact on Workers & Entrepreneurs
For most workers, settlement becomes a longer and more conditional journey. For most workers earning under the higher-rate tax threshold, the starting point is a ten-year qualifying period, unless they can benefit from other reductions, for example through advanced English, specified public service roles or other contribution criteria. The eligibility changes would also include maintaining stable income, avoiding any period of benefit use, remaining debt-free with public bodies and meeting strengthened English and integration requirements.
A single year of short-term unemployment or reduced hours that triggers benefit eligibility risks extending the route to fifteen years.
On top of the extended timelines, workers also have to factor in the four baseline conditions. A criminal conviction, a failure to meet the higher English standard, gaps in National Insurance contribution records or unresolved public debts could each block an ILR application regardless of how long the person has been in the UK. That creates a parallel risk: some people may never qualify for settlement if they cannot satisfy the conduct and contribution tests, even after ten or fifteen years of lawful residence.
Workers in lower-paid occupations, including many in health and social care, face the longest paths. Their base route rises to fifteen years, which could become twenty if they ever rely on public funds. This creates ongoing exposure to immigration risk over a significant part of their working lives.
At the opposite end, the proposals create a competitive offer for high earners and for certain high-skill routes. Anyone with taxable earnings above £125,140 for three years could reach settlement in three years, which is shorter than the current system. Global Talent and Innovator Founder visa holders are expressly targeted for similar accelerated benefits, though the detail remains in consultation form.
The result is a sharper divide between those who can anchor their long-term plans in the UK quickly and those who are expected to wait a decade or more before gaining the stability of ILR.
Impact on Family Members
Family members are being drawn into the earned settlement structure. Settled partners of British citizens are expected to remain on the five-year route, but dependants of workers are likely to have their own qualifying periods assessed separately. A dependant with limited earnings or a break from work could therefore reach settlement later than the main applicant.
The same baseline conditions are expected to apply to adult dependants, so a partner with a criminal conviction, weaker English or a period of benefit reliance could face an extended route or refusal, even if the main worker qualifies. That pulls household-level decisions on work, care, study and benefits into the settlement equation for the whole family.
Benefit penalties may also apply to dependants in their own right, which introduces new planning considerations for households where one partner pauses work due to childcare, study or caring responsibilities.
The consultation raises questions about children, especially those approaching 18. The paper suggests a move away from automatic alignment with parents’ status and towards a model that looks at residence, integration and contribution indicators, though details remain open. For families, this introduces less predictability about long-term status, particularly during the school-to-adulthood transition.
Impact on Employers
Employers will see clear effects on attraction, retention and workforce planning. The removal of the five-year route for most workers reduces the certainty many overseas recruits have relied on. A ten- or fifteen-year path may deter candidates in sectors where pay progression is slow or where short gaps in employment are common.
Lower-paid roles, including care and frontline health positions, become harder to sell as long-term UK opportunities. Employers in these sectors may need to build stronger support packages, clearer progression routes or higher starting salaries to offset the extended period of immigration precarity.
At the senior end, the three- and five-year fast-track options will be valuable when competing for international specialists. Employers may be able to use this as a differentiator in global recruitment by offering clear acceleration to ILR for high earners.
Longer conditional routes increase the operational importance of right to work systems. A decade-long sponsorship relationship means more chances for gaps in permission, missed renewals and changes in personal circumstances that require monitoring. HR teams should expect higher volumes of immigration-related queries from staff whose eligibility now depends on income levels, job stability and avoiding benefit triggers.
The new baseline conditions also raise the stakes for internal policy. Disciplinary issues that lead to criminal convictions, support for employees with debt problems and HR responses to sickness, redundancy or reduced hours can all have indirect consequences for a worker’s settlement prospects. Employers that sponsor staff over longer periods are likely to see more requests for letters, evidence of contribution and support with disputes where a negative outcome could derail an ILR application.
DMS Strategic Perspective
The proposed move from ‘automatic’ to ‘earned’ settlement would have significant implications across most legal migration routes that lead to settlement. The incentive now sits with high earners and priority sectors, while the majority face longer timelines and more conditions.
For employers, senior hires would gain attractiveness through accelerated settlement, but lower-paid roles are likely to become harder to staff and retain.
The operational burden would increase on employers, who will need more robust, longer-term internal systems to support decade-long immigration journeys and manage the compliance risks this will inevitably entail. Proactive guidance to staff will also be required on the consequences of job changes, reduced hours or breaks in employment.
From a workforce planning perspective, the most significant issue is churn. Long routes with conditional criteria could drive sponsored workers to re-evaluate their long-term, UK-based plans. Employers that depend heavily on sponsored talent and labour should start scenario-planning now so they can adjust recruitment strategies if the new system reduces retention or deters applicants.
To discuss how these changes could affect your organisation, speak to our UK immigration specialists.
The consultation is open for responses until 11:59pm on 12 February 2026. Read the Home Office’s full ‘Fairer Pathway to Settlement’ document here.
