Most migrants in the UK will have to wait 10 years instead of five before they can settle permanently, under new rules announced by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, on 2 November 2026.
Settlement, known as indefinite leave to remain, will no longer follow almost automatically after five years. Instead, the waiting time will depend on how much a person earns and contributes. High earners and some public service workers will be able to settle sooner, while people who have broken immigration rules will wait much longer.
“Those who contribute most will settle fastest.”
Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary
The new waiting times
According to the Home Office announcement and the Home Secretary’s statement to Parliament:
| Wait for settlement | Who it applies to |
|---|---|
| 3 years | The highest earners (reported as about £125,000 or more a year) and people on the UK’s top talent schemes |
| 5 years | People earning above about £50,000 a year; doctors, nurses, teachers and some other public service workers; care workers who met their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 a year; refugees who came through approved safe routes |
| 10 years | Everyone else (the new standard). People can keep renewing their temporary visas until they qualify |
| 20 years | People who have broken immigration rules, and refugees who did not come through a safe route (cut to 10 years for those who work or study) |
| Up to 30 years | People who arrived by small boat or other illegal means |
Immigration law firm DavidsonMorris reports that the 10-year route will also require earnings of at least £12,571 in five of the seven years before applying, with some exemptions. An earlier proposal for a 15-year wait for workers in jobs below degree level has been dropped.
Four conditions for everyone
Whatever the waiting time, every applicant will have to show:
- A clean criminal record
- English to a high standard, which the government compares to A-level English as a foreign language
- No debts owed to the government
- A record of National Insurance contributions
Families
DavidsonMorris reports that couples will be able to combine their earnings towards a household threshold of £25,142, and partners who arrive together can settle together. Young adults aged 18 to 24 who are still dependants can settle with their family. Those aged 25 or over when their family becomes eligible will generally need to qualify on their own.
Who is protected
- Anyone who already has settlement will keep it.
- Care workers who arrived before May 2025 and met their visa conditions keep their five-year route. Those who did not can apply for a further five-year care visa, not tied to their old employer.
- Some health and education workers who arrived in the same period are covered by similar arrangements.
- Family members of British citizens, Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa holders and members of the armed forces keep their current routes.
The government estimates that more than 500,000 people will now wait longer than five years. Its consultation, launched in November 2025, received more than 200,000 responses, EIN reported.
When the rules start
Nothing changes immediately. The new rules will be introduced during 2027, starting with changes to the Immigration Rules due in December 2026, according to EIN.
Reactions
The government says the changes reward contribution. “From today, it must be earned,” Mahmood said of settlement. The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has said migration should follow the economy’s needs, City AM reported.
Campaigners welcomed the U-turn on care workers but criticised the rest. Dora-Olivia Vicol of the Work Rights Centre said people already in the UK faced “changing the goalposts halfway”. Andrea Egan, general secretary of the public service union Unison, said the government had “spent a year attacking workers”, LabourHub reported. Some Labour MPs said they still oppose earned settlement.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, criticised the care-worker concession on cost, pointing to government research that care workers and their dependants settling between 2026 and 2030 could cost taxpayers nearly £10 billion over their lifetimes, City AM reported.
What students and graduates should know
Most graduates should expect the 10-year route. Many graduate jobs pay well below £50,000 a year, so the five-year route would usually be out of reach in the early years of a career.
Key questions are still unanswered. The announcement does not say whether time spent on a Student visa or a Graduate visa will count towards the 10 years, how PhD holders will be treated, or exactly who counts as “highest talent”. These details are expected in the Immigration Rules.
Plan with the full picture. If long-term settlement is part of your reason for choosing the UK, take these changes into account, alongside the shorter Graduate visa from January 2027.
Check official sources. Follow the indefinite leave to remain guidance on GOV.UK, which will be updated when the new rules take effect.
Disclaimer
This article is general information based on the government’s announcement of 2 November 2026 and reporting at the time of writing. It is not immigration advice, and it should not be relied on for decisions about your own situation. The rules are not yet in force, and the final details may differ.
In the UK, only advisers regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA), or solicitors and barristers regulated by their professional bodies, can give immigration advice. For advice on your own case, find a regulated immigration adviser on GOV.UK or speak to your university’s international student advice team. StudyAbroad.ac and LSLIT do not provide immigration advice.
Sources: Home Office, “Home Secretary unveils new rules for migrants settling in the UK” and earned settlement statement, 2 November 2026 (contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0); EIN, 2 November 2026; DavidsonMorris, 2 November 2026; City AM, 2 November 2026; LabourHub, 2 November 2026. Checked on 2 November 2026.