The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has provided the final details of the Government's 'Earned Settlement' policy, which will reform the route to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) for individuals in the UK. These reforms are described by the Government as largely consistent with the proposals set out in the November 2025 consultation and we have provided a summary of these changes below:
A tiered pathway to settlement
Settlement will be available on a tiered basis linked to earnings and occupation:
- Those earning over £125,141 per year will be eligible to apply after three years
- Those earning over £50,271 per year, along with certain public service workers such as doctors, nurses and teachers, will retain a five-year route
- A new default of ten years will apply to all others
- Those who have breached immigration rules will face a minimum wait of 20 years.
Mandatory conditions for all applicants
Regardless of when they arrived in the UK, all applicants for settlement will need to satisfy four conditions:
- A criminal record free of any offending (raising the current threshold, which permits settlement with a suspended sentence of up to 12 months);
- English language ability equivalent to A-Level standard in English as a foreign language;
- No outstanding debt owed to the taxpayer; and
- A record of sustained National Insurance contributions.
Social care and public service workers
Care workers who met their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 per year will be eligible to settle after five years. Those who do not meet this threshold (which is estimated at around a quarter of those affected) will be offered a further five-year visa, after which they may apply for settlement. A similar approach will apply to public service workers in healthcare and education who arrived during the same period.
Implementation
The changes are expected to be introduced by way of a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules. No implementation date has yet been confirmed, and we will provide further updates as details emerge.
The Government has also not yet announced how these changes will affect dependants of Skilled Worker visa holders, including the pathway available to them for settlement. This is a significant area of uncertainty for many businesses and their employees, and we will share further information as soon as it becomes available.
If you have any questions about how these changes may affect your business or employees, please do not hesitate to contact our immigration specialists, Katie Good and Helen Apostolides.
