Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced on Monday that most foreign workers in Britain will now have to wait 10 years to apply for permanent settlement, doubling the previous five-year qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain.

The new rules, set to take effect next year, apply to people already in the UK but not to those who already hold settled status or to EU citizens protected by the Brexit withdrawal agreement. High earners making more than £125,000 a year can apply after three years. Those earning over £50,000 and public service workers including doctors, nurses and teachers remain eligible after five years. Care workers will also qualify after five years if they have met their visa conditions and earn at least £25,000 annually.

Mahmood told Parliament that settlement "should not be automatic" and "should be earned," adding that 517,000 people will settle later than under the old rules, saving the government billions in benefits. The changes follow a 12-week consultation that drew more than 200,000 responses. People who have claimed certain benefits or breached visa rules will face a 20-year wait. Refugees who arrived illegally by small boat will wait 20 years, rising to 30 if they have not entered work or study. Those arriving on approved routes such as schemes for Ukrainians and Hong Kong citizens can apply after five years.

The announcement came after backlash from unions and Labour MPs over initial proposals that would have made care workers wait up to 15 years. Mahmood said the revised policy recognized the service of care workers "who worked hard and answered our call when we needed them." Senior Labour figures including Cabinet ministers Angela Rayner and Miatta Fahnbulleh had criticized the earlier plans. Fahnbulleh said in September that the proposals would have been "difficult" for her own family, whose parents fled Liberia in the 1980s. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the UK had "lost control of immigration" following Brexit and gave Mahmood his "full support."

Under the new criteria, applicants must have a spotless criminal record, speak English to a high standard, owe no debt to the taxpayer and have made at least three years of National Insurance contributions. The government estimates that 1.4 million people will receive settled status between 2026 and 2030. Net migration fell to 171,000 in 2025, half the previous year's level, according to official data. The government faces pressure from Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, which has pledged to scrap indefinite leave to remain entirely.