Government Outlines New “Earned Settlement” Proposal Ahead of Consultation

We take an in-depth look at the new earned settlement model proposals in the UK as well as how ILR eligibility will be effected for executives, skilled workers, families, refugees and others. We compare the current settlement system with the earned settlement proposals, and answer some of the key questions migrants (including those already in the UK) may have.

At this stage, A Fairer Pathway to Settlement is in the consultation stage and therefore is not yet policy in the UK. In fact, you can have your say as an individual or organisation on the rules, application of the rules and potential exemptions.

• You can complete the survey online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/earned-settlement
• Alternatively, you can request the form in an alternative format at: [email protected]

What is settlement?

Settlement means permission to stay in the UK indefinitely, work without restriction and access benefits for which you qualify. There is only one remaining “open” route to settlement which is known as indefinite leave to remain (ILR) which is often referred to as settlement. It is the last step before British citizenship by naturalisation.

How settlement works today

Under current ILR rules, once you reach the qualifying period and meet standard suitability/integration tests, settlement is largely automatic for most routes. That is precisely what the government wants to change, providing new frameworks and ILR rules from which the Home Office must base decisions. Currently:

• Most economic and family routes have a 5-year qualifying period for ILR
• High-value economic routes (Global Talent, Innovator Founder) allow accelerated settlement after 3 years.
• There is a 10-year “long residence” route to ILR for people who have lived lawfully in the UK across different visas
• Settlement (ILR) currently requires passing an English and Life in the UK test and meeting good-character and immigration compliance rules (mainly showing you have met and continue to meet the immigration rules for the visa you are on, right up until your ILR application.

Current Settlement Routes Summarised

The new “qualifying period” for settlement

The new qualifying continuous residence period to obtain indefinite leave to remain in the UK would undergo significant changes under the new proposal. Settlement will be earned – and each visa route in the UK will have a default or baseline qualifying period, before adjustments (up or down) are made for contribution, integration and character. 

• The default qualifying period for ILR, for most migrants would increase from 5 to 10 years with some exemptions
• Some groups (especially lower-paid Skilled Workers or lower skilled workers, including many on Health & Care visas) could see a 15-year baseline to qualify for settlement
• There would be minimum mandatory requirements that everyone must meet, pertaining to character, integration, contribution and residence
• Your ILR qualifying period could be adjusted down (rewarding higher contribution or strong integration) or adjusted up (penalising public funds use, irregular entry, overstaying and some other factors).
• The separate ILR 10-year long residence route would be abolished, with time instead “earned” through these adjustments.

For those who are already in the UK and making plans for settlement after 5 years, the new consultation may be agonising. If you are able to apply for ILR now or soon, don’t delay. If you are eligible for ILR in the coming years and you don’t know how the announcement will affect your personal and family timeline – our immigration lawyers can help.

The new “earned settlement” model – headline changes

The consultation proposes a single overarching model with four pillars to define how settlement can be earned in the UK. The four pillars are:

• Character
• Integration
• Contribution 
• Residence

Current vs proposed ILR qualifying period summary

Minimum mandatory criteria – the core “earned settlement” test 

Table 1 of the consultation sets out the minimum requirements every applicant would have to meet.

What has changed in the eligibility criteria for settlement?

• B2 English is a higher bar than some current routes, which currently only require B1 for settlement.
• Everyone (subject to consultation) will need to show a period of tax-paying income, not just workers – so family, private-life and other applicants may need to demonstrate earnings too, unless specific exceptions are adopted. Currently only those on employment visas must demonstrate income requirements, while Family visa applicants “can” rely on savings to meet the income requirement.
• Having no outstanding government debts or ongoing litigation will become a hard requirement, not just a negative factor.

If you are currently on a route that leads to ILR without having to work or earn at a specific level (for example, some family or private-life routes), you need to assume that future settlement may require a more formal earnings history and a higher level of English.

These mandatory requirements are not being consulted on (except for the exact length of the 3–5 year earnings period), so they are the firmest part of the proposals. Home Office caseworkers will not be able to exercise discretion under mandatory conditions for ILR, unless exemptions apply.

Time adjustments – how your qualifying period could go up or down

Beyond the baseline 10 years, your personal qualifying period can be shortened or lengthened through a set of “time adjustments”. Only the largest applicable reduction from Table 2, and the largest applicable increase from Table 3, are taken into account – but reductions and increases can be combined.

Reducing your qualifying period (Table 2)

Some factors reward strong integration, high earnings or specific routes.

Examples of reductions proposed:

• C1 English (higher than required level) → minus 1 year
• Very high earnings (£125,140 taxable income for 3 years) → minus 7 years
• Higher earnings (£50,270 for 3 years) → minus 5 years
• Working 5 years in specified public service occupations (e.g. NHS, teaching at RQF6+ level) → minus 5 years
• Significant community work/volunteering → minus 3–5 years (subject to consultation on scale and evidence)

Who is expected to be exempt from “earned settlement”?

Some route-based reductions are not subject to consultation and are essentially political commitments:

• Partner/child/parent of a British citizen who meets core family rules → can still settle after 5 years (minus 5 years from the 10-year baseline)
• Hong Kong BN(O) route holders → can still settle after 5 years.
• Global Talent/Innovator Founder with 3 years’ continuous residence → minus 7 years (keeping a roughly 3-year path for most).

In practice, the earned settlement system creates “fast lanes” for those who are highly paid, well integrated, in specific public-service or high-skill routes, or closely connected to British citizens – while leaving others on a much longer default path.

Increasing your qualifying period (Table 3)

Negative factors can lengthen your path substantially. This is on top of the 10-year baseline, and the consultation explicitly says that someone who entered illegally could face a route “as high as 30 years” before settlement, if they qualify at all. 

If you have any history of overstaying, irregular entry or recourse to public funds, it is essential to assume that future settlement may involve longer timelines and to get tailored advice before relying on long-term plans based on current 5- or 10-year routes. This simply will not be the case.

Examples of increases proposed:

• Receiving public funds < 12 months → plus 5 years.
• Receiving public funds ≥ 12 months → plus 10 years.
• Entered the UK illegally (e.g. small boat, clandestine) → up to +20 years.
• Entered originally on a visit visa → up to +20 years.
• Overstayed leave for 6 months or more → up to +20 years.

Specific groups – what changes in practice?

ILR New Rules for Skilled Workers and Health & Care route

Right now, most Skilled Workers (including Health & Care) can settle after 5 years of continuous residence, meeting salary and integration requirements. Under the proposals:

• The Skilled Worker baseline qualifying period becomes 10 years.
• For skilled worker roles below RQF Level 6 (many Health & Care and lower-skilled sponsored jobs), there is a specific proposal to increase this to 15 years ILR qualifying period as standard
• Only those who progress to higher earnings or meet other contribution/integration metrics would shorten the ILR baseline

For many people recruited on lower-wage health or care roles from 2022, this could mean waiting until the late 2030s for settlement unless their role or earnings change substantially.

ILR for entrepreneurial and “exceptional talent” routes

Global Talent and Innovator Founder are given protective reductions:

• Three years’ continuous residence in these categories can still lead to settlement, because of the minus 7-year reduction from the 10-year baseline.
• There is also a question in the consultation about offering dependants of these migrants a 5-year reduction, potentially giving families a shorter qualifying period too.
  

Fast-track ILR for family of British citizens and BN(O) visa holders

For:

• Partners, parents or children of British citizens
• holders of BN(O) route permission

The government proposes a guaranteed 5-year route to settlement, via a minus 5-year time adjustment which is not subject to consultation.

This moderates the impact on “core family” groups but still subjects them to the new mandatory criteria, including B2 English and contribution thresholds, unless separate exceptions are introduced.

Under these routes it is not expected to be possible to reduce the timeline further than 5 years (through earned settlement) – it will likely be 5 years standard for these routes or longer if some requirements are not met.

New ILR proposal for long residence, private life and protection routes

The biggest structural change here is the removal of the 10-year long residence route. People who would previously have relied on any 10 years of lawful stay will, in future, need to fall under earned settlement, with their qualifying period adjusted through the tables rather than a standalone rule.

For protection, humanitarian and other vulnerable groups, the consultation signals that special pathways will continue, but it is consulting on how to tailor earned settlement for them – not whether to retain their routes at all.

Settlement for dependents, children and vulnerable groups

Adult dependants

Currently, adult dependents (e.g. spouses) on economic routes can usually settle at the same time as the main applicant, without separate tests. Under earned settlement, that would change.

• Dependants would have their own qualifying period and adjustments, based on their own earnings, integration, public funds history and so on.
  They could settle earlier or later than the main applicant, but only if the main applicant qualifies at all.
  

Children

For children, the paper recognises that it is unrealistic to demand NICs, income thresholds or long volunteering records. It envisages:

• A window during which children who started as dependents can still settle with their parents, even if they have turned 18.
  A possible age cut-off, at which point they switch to a pathway where they must meet earned settlement principles in their own right.
  Safeguards for those who grew up in the UK without realising their status was insecure, in line with commitments from the wider immigration White Paper.
  

Vulnerable groups

The government commits to keeping some immediate/short-route pathways for:

• Adult dependent relatives needing long-term care from UK family
• Victims of domestic abuse whose partner routes have broken down
• Resettled refugees
• Bereaved partners.
  

The government is consulting on how (and how far) earned settlement should apply to them. If you are in a vulnerable category or on a compassionate route, you should assume that a version of your current protection will remain, but that the surrounding rules and timelines may shift as earned settlement is layered on top.

Settlement and public funds – possible NRPF at ILR stage

Another proposal is to attach “no recourse to public funds” conditions to settlement itself, at least for some groups. This would mark a fundamental redefinition of what settlement “means”, shifting some of the traditional benefits of ILR further down the line. This could be:

• For groups considered less likely to make a positive fiscal contribution (e.g. some lower-wage workers), the baseline qualifying period could rise above 10 years to 15 or more.
• Even after settlement, a NRPF condition could still apply, meaning access to many benefits would only fully open at citizenship stage.

Transitional arrangements for ILR – what happens to people already on a route to settlement?

The consultation asks directly whether there should be transitional measures for people already in the system, but it does not promise them. Without such arrangements:

• Anyone who does not already have settlement by the time new rules go live would be subject to the new 10-year baseline and earned settlement tests.
• People part-way through a 5-year route (e.g. Skilled Workers in year 3 or 4) could find their qualifying period extended – potentially to 10 or 15 years – unless they meet fast-track criteria.

The Home Secretary intends to apply the changes to everyone in the country who has not yet reached ILR. If you are within 12–24 months of eligibility for settlement under the current rules, the timing of these reforms could be critical. Bringing forward applications or exploring whether you can qualify earlier under existing categories may make a real difference to your route. You can explore this further with a qualified immigration lawyer today.

What the earned settlement proposal means in practice – strategic takeaways

For migrants and employers, the significance of the earned settlement consultation is hard to overstate:

• Settlement is moving from time-served to behaviour-and-contribution-based.
• Baseline timelines for most routes are likely to double to 10 years, and some lower-paid workers may face 15-year or longer paths.
• High earners, public-service professionals, strong English speakers and volunteers may see faster routes – but only after clearing tougher mandatory criteria.
• Irregular entry, overstaying and reliance on public funds will become even more damaging long-term.
• The traditional understanding of ILR as a “full” status – including access to benefits – is being questioned, with some advantages likely to shift to citizenship instead.
  

For anyone planning a long-term future in the UK, the key message is: assume settlement will become slower, more conditional and more evidence-heavy – and plan your work, study, family and travel decisions with that in mind rather than relying on today’s five-year expectations.

Because this is still a consultation, there is space for details to change. But the overall shape of the ILR system – longer ILR timelines and a heavy emphasis on contribution and compliance under earned settlement – is unlikely to change direction.