New 'Earned Settlement' requirements

The Home Office has responded on 2 November to the consultation on its 'earned settlement' proposals.

This response is not law. At the time of writing (5 November), we do not know when the detailed rules will be published, nor when the proposals will be implemented.

As noted below, there are some significant questions raised in the Response about the new requirements and which may only be answered once the rules are published.

We do know, however, that the new rules – whenever they are brought in – will represent one of the largest sets of changes to UK immigration law in 50+ years.

The main points

In most visa routes, the baseline period to achieve settlement will change from 5 years to 10 years.

However, this 10 year period of time can be lengthened, or shortened, in certain circumstances.

With some limited exceptions, these changes will affect non-settled migrants already in the UK, irrespective of their date of arrival.

The 10-year long residence route – where you can knit together different periods of stay – will be scrapped.

Some routes won't be considered within the 'earned settlement' framework, and there are different rules for refugees. The following summary applies to those routes affected by the changes.

Mandatory minimums for ILR

Settlement will not be automatic based simply on time spent in the UK. There are now some requirements which all applicants will need to meet.

Firstly, no criminal record. This includes:

… custodial or suspended sentences, out-of-court disposals such as absolute and conditional discharges, conditional cautions, court-imposed fines, community sentences, detention and training orders, and civil orders where there has been a conviction. Overseas convictions will also lead to refusal where the underlying conduct would constitute a criminal offence in the UK.

Any adult applicant with a criminal record in the UK (as defined here) will be refused settlement.

Overseas convictions will also lead to refusal where the underlying conduct would constitute a criminal offence in the UK.

This is significantly stricter than the current rules: there will be lots of migrants in the UK who disclosed historic offences which looks like it may prevent an application for settlement when these rules are implemented.

Secondly, no government debt, including unpaid taxes. This includes:

NHS debt; tax debt, including unpaid tax; and National Insurance contributions; and litigation debt owed to the Home Office

This expands existing rules to cover unpaid taxes and NI contributions.

Thirdly, English language level at B2. This will be subject to the existing exemptions for children, people aged 65 and over, and those unable to meet the requirement because of a physical or mental condition.

B2 is a relatively high level: equivalent to an A-level in the English school system.

Fourthly, a minimum salary. (Note that this one of the aspects the Response is not 100% clear on.)

Applicants on the 10-year route not working in a specified public service role (see table below), and not on an Appendix FM/ancestry route, must earn a salary of £12,571 for a five of the seven years immediately prior to their application.

The earnings thresholds will remain linked to the relevant income tax thresholds and will therefore move in line with any future changes to those thresholds.

Note that income considered on a household basis: eligible couples will be able to combine their earnings to meet the minimum economic contribution requirement.

A household income threshold will therefore be £25,142, twice the individual minimum income requirement, in order to meet this mandatory minimum requirement.

However, the Response also says that “Applicants must meet a threshold of £12,571 a year for at least three years”.

This raises questions for e.g. Global Talent visa holders, who qualify for settlement in 3 years under the proposals via "the HighestTalent Group" (page 42), and will presumably also need to meet this mandatory minimum requirement.

On the basis that they do, it is not clear how 3 years earnings might be counted: there can't be a "best years" approach, because (excluding exceptional promise) most Global Talent visa holders only apply for 3 years, because this is what they needed to get to settlement.

We look forward to clarification on this point from the HomeOffice.

Lastly, a Life in the UK pass. This already exists. The government says it will improve the test.

When does the 10-year period reduce?

You can reduce the period of residence required in the UK before becoming eligible for settlement.

Earnings

Applicants earning £125,141+ in three of the four years immediately before applying for settlement will be eligible to apply for settlement after a 3 year residence period.

Applicants earning £50,271+ in three of the five years immediately before applying for settlement will reduce the 10 year period to 5 years.

We don't know the specifics of what documents will need to be provided to meet this requirement.

As above, the earnings thresholds will remain linked to the relevant income tax thresholds and will therefore move in line with any future changes to those thresholds.

The Highest Talent Group

The Response also offers a 3-year pathway to those who qualify through the "Highest Talent Group", as an alternative to earning £125,141.

(As stated above, it is not 100% clear whether this High Talent Group would still be required to earn the minimum income threshold of £12,571.)

The Response does not define this group, and a footnote says it is "subject to review pending MAC report", although we assume it will include Global Talent visa holders.

The Response also says that anyone applying under the 3 or 5-year pathway on the basis of Global Talent or Innovator Founder permission must have been granted their most recent permission in that route.

Work in a public sector job

Under Earned Settlement, eligible workers in specified health and education occupations (for instance, doctors, nurses and teachers) will be able to qualify for settlement after five years, provided they meet the other settlement requirements.

The occupations are listed below.

Have a British connection

Under Earned Settlement, recognised British connections will continue to qualify for a five year pathway, provided the applicant meets the relevant route and mandatory settlement requirements.

A recognised British connection will include:

• eligible partners, parents and children of British citizens; and
• Commonwealth citizens who qualify through the UK Ancestry route on the basis of having a UK-born grandparent.

How can the 10-year period get longer?

The 10 year period can also be extended in certain circumstances.

Immigration breaches

Specified immigration breaches committed as an adult will place an applicant on a 20-year pathway to settlement.

These will include overstaying a visa, breaching a condition attached to immigration permission, and using deception in an application.

At the current time, immigration breaches are not usually a bar to settlement.

Public funds

Under Earned Settlement, applicants seeking to qualify through the three, five or ten-year pathways will be expected not to have accessed specified public funds during the five years immediately before applying for settlement.

Alternatively, if they continue to access public funds, they will have to complete 20 years on a qualifying route before being eligible for settlement, provided they meet the other mandatory requirements.

Public funds are defined here.

Which routes count towards settlement

With the abolition of the 10 year long residence route, the Home Office aims to create a clearer distinction between temporary permission and routes intended to lead to permanent status. The routes that will count towards settlement are:

• Core Permission

  • Tier 2 Minister of Religion
  • Skilled Worker
  • UK Ancestry
  • Global Talent
  • Scale Up
  • Innovator Founder
  • International Sportsperson
  • Family – Partner
  • Family – Partner/Parent (excluding Article 8 ECHR cases)
  • Stateless Person

• High talent permission

  • Skilled Worker
  • Global Talent
  • Scale Up
  • Innovator Founder
  • International Sportsperson

• Family and Private Life

• Core Protection Work and Study

• Core Protection; and

• Safe and Legal routes

Time spent on protection or human-rights routes (for example, refugee or Article 8 routes) will not be able to be combined with time spent on work or family routes to meet the qualifying residence period.

Where someone moves between these routes, the qualifying period for the new settlement pathway will start when they move onto it.

Dependants

The government stepped back from its proposal to treat Applicants and Dependants as separate economic entities.

A partner who arrives with the principal applicant will continue to be able to settle at the same time, provided they meet the relevant requirements. A partner who joins later will need to complete the same qualifying residence period before settling.

Children under 18 will continue to be able to settle with their parents. They will be exempt from the income, government debt, English language and Life in the UK test requirements, but will remain subject to the relevant suitability and criminality requirements.

Young adults aged 18 to 24 who retain child-dependant status will continue to be able to settle alongside their family. They will be expected to meet the adult mandatory requirements, but will not need to meet the individual income/earnings requirement.

However, someone who is aged 25 or over when their family becomes eligible for settlement will be expected to qualify independently or move onto an appropriate immigration route in their own right.

Vulnerable groups

Age and disability

Under Earned Settlement, the existing exemptions from the English language and Life in the UK requirements will continue. Anyone who is exempt because of their age, or because a physical or mental condition prevents them from meeting the requirement, will remain exempt.

Maternity leave, caring responsibilities and long-term illness

Contribution will be assessed using a "best years" approach, looking at a longer period than the minimum qualifying period. This means temporary dips in earnings caused by maternity or parental leave, caring duties or ill health should not automatically push someone onto a longer route to settlement.

Bereaved partners

Eligible bereaved partners can still apply for settlement without completing the standard qualifying period, although they will have to meet the suitability and character requirements unless an exemption applies.

Vulnerable children and young people

Children in local authority care, and young people who have grown up in the UK and reach 18 having lost their route to settlement through their parents (or who face an undue wait for similar reasons), will stay on their existing settlement arrangements rather than being brought into the new framework. The Government says it will keep engaging with these young people and the organisations that support them, and that this will shape more detailed guidance.

Victims of domestic abuse

Eligible victims will also remain outside the Earned Settlement framework and continue to settle under their existing arrangements.

Overall approach

Across all of these groups, the Government says that where appropriate they must still meet the strengthened minimum standards, including the criminality and English language requirements, with existing exemptions and safeguards continuing to apply. The detailed arrangements are to be set out in guidance next year.

Transitional arrangements

There is no general protection for people already in the UK.

The Response notes that applications are ordinarily decided under the Rules in force at the date of decision, and the targeted arrangements below apply only to defined cohorts who were in the UK before the May 2025 Immigration White Paper.

This was a huge point of contention during the consultation.

Workers below RQF 6

The 15-year pathway proposed in the consultation for workers in occupations below RQF 6 has been dropped. They will instead qualify through the 10-year pathway, or sooner if they meet the requirements for an accelerated pathway.

Care workers

Care workers who entered, or switched into, the route before the May 2025 White Paper keep the 5-year pathway if they meet the salary (£25,000), sponsorship and employment requirements, as well as the strengthened minimum requirements.

Those who do not qualify after five years can apply for a further five-year Health and Care visa, restricted to genuine work in the sector, with no recourse to public funds.

From 1 February 2027, care workers who lose their job because their sponsor's licence is removed will have 120 days to secure a job offer and a further 60 days to resolve their status, failing which their visa will be curtailed.

Care workers who switched into the route after the White Paper is on the standard 10-year pathway.

Public service workers below RQF 6

Workers in health and education occupations below RQF 6 that are on a national pay scale (e.g. nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants) keep a 5-year route if they came to the UK before the White Paper and meet their visa requirements. This is a one-off arrangement, and later arrivals are on the 10-year pathway.

Pre-April 2024 Skilled Workers

Skilled Workers who benefited from the pre April 2024 salary threshold transitional arrangements can extend their visas on their current terms until 2035, rather than the previous 2030 sunset date.

Exempt routes

The Response makes clear that certain routes are not included in the framework:

• Hong Kong BN(O): settlement after five years, subject to route requirements.
• Afghan Schemes: immediate settlement, subject to scheme eligibility.
• Legacy Safe and Legal Routes (UK Resettlement Scheme for arrivals before 6 April 2027, Community Sponsorship, Mandate Resettlement Scheme, predecessor schemes): settlement after five years, subject to route requirements.
• Windrush: eligible individuals can have their British citizenship or settled status confirmed, with no qualifying period.
• HM Armed Forces (including Gurkha and Hong Kong military unit veterans discharged before 1 July 1997): service personnel qualify after at least four years' reckonable service, and their partners and children after five years' continuous residence.
• Bereaved partners: can apply for settlement immediately where the partner their status depended on has died.
• Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children: existing five-year arrangements.
• Children in local authority care: existing bespoke arrangements.
• Children and young adults with insecure status who grew up in the UK: existing five-year arrangements.
• Victims of domestic abuse: can apply for immediate settlement where the relationship their status depended on broke down because of abuse.

The Response makes clear that although individuals on these routes will need to meet the strengthened requirements that will apply generally to settlement, including the new criminality requirements and the B2 English language standard, this is unless an existing exemption or safeguard applies.

Refugees

The proposed framework makes specific provision for refugees.

Safe and Legal routes

Refugees admitted through designated Safe and Legal Routes, such as the UK Resettlement Scheme, will qualify for settlement after five years, the shortest pathway. Claiming asylum after entering legally on another route does not qualify. They are exempt from the five-year public funds bar, and UK Resettlement Scheme refugees need only A2 English and remain exempt from the Life in the UK test until a suitable version exists. Other designated routes keep the B2 requirement.

Refugees who claim asylum in the UK

Those granted protection after claiming asylum outside a Safe and Legal route will ordinarily move onto Core Protection, with settlement after 20 years. Moving into sustained work, education or training allows a switch to Protection Work and Study, with settlement after 10 years on that route. Time on Core Protection does not count towards the 10 years, and further detail is due on how time already spent in the UK will be treated. Those relying on work must earn at least £12,571 in three qualifying years, so temporary lower earnings need not disqualify them.

Illegal entry

Illegal entry adds 10 years to the pathway on any route, giving 20 years on Protection Work and Study or 30 on Core Protection. This does not apply to those protected by Article 31 of the Refugee Convention, with detail on its operation to follow before implementation.

Requirements for settlement

Refugees must generally meet the same core requirements as other applicants, with targeted adaptations. Those on Core Protection and Protection Work and Study need B2 English. Those who claimed asylum in the UK must generally avoid public funds for five years to qualify for any pathway shorter than 20 years, with safeguards for the most vulnerable still to be set out. Anyone required to repay asylum support costs must have repaid in full or be complying with an agreed repayment plan.

Annex C: Qualifying Public Service Occupations for the 'Public Service Discount'

The table below sets out qualifying occupations for the public service discount (enabling applicants to apply for settlement within the 5-year pathway). The list is derived from Table 3 Appendix Skilled Occupations (health and education SOC 2020 occupations where going rates are based on national pay scales).

Occupation code title
Generalist medical practitioners
Specialist medical practitioners
Physiotherapists
Occupational therapists
Speech and language therapists
Psychotherapists and cognitive behaviour therapists
Clinical psychologists
Other psychologists
Therapy professionals not elsewhere classified
Midwifery nurses
Registered community nurses
Registered specialist nurses
Registered nurse practitioners
Registered mental health nurses
Registered children's nurses
Other registered nursing professionals
Pharmacists
Optometrists
Dental practitioners
Medical radiographers
Paramedics
Podiatrists
Other health professionals not elsewhere classified
Further education teaching professional
Secondary education teaching professionals
Primary education teaching professionals
Nursery education teaching professionals
Special and additional needs education teaching professionals
Head teachers and principals
Social workers