UK Doubles Wait for Settlement Under Earned Settlement Plan

Is Britain making it much harder to build a life there? Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has set out an earned settlement model that raises the wait for indefinite leave to remain from five years to ten for most workers. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the country had lost control of immigration.

Higher earners above £50,271 could settle in three years, while doctors, nurses and teachers qualify after five. Care workers earning £25,000 keep the five-year route after a backlash from unions and Labour members. People who broke immigration rules face a twenty-year wait, and small-boat arrivals can face up to thirty.

The government says it received more than 200,000 consultation responses. People who are already settled are not affected, and the new rules are due to take effect next year. The package is likely to shape debate among employers, health services and migrant communities who now face a longer and more conditional path to permanence.