Mahmood Revises UK Settlement Rules for Migrant Workers

Britain's government is preparing changes to permanent residency requirements for foreign workers, as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood faces pressure to soften proposals affecting people already employed in the country. The revised policy, due to be presented to Parliament on Monday, November 2, 2026, is expected to offer concessions to existing social care workers while retaining stricter settlement requirements for other migrants.

Under the original proposal, most foreign workers would need to spend 10 years in the UK before qualifying for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), double the existing five-year requirement. Some lower-paid workers, particularly those in social care, faced a waiting period of up to 15 years.

The proposals have attracted criticism within the governing Labour Party because they could retrospectively change the conditions faced by migrants already living and working in Britain. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner previously described the approach as changing the rules after people had already committed to them.

The BBC reported that the government was likely to revise the arrangements for most existing social care workers. However, The Guardian reported that the broader tightening of settlement requirements would remain, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of people.

ILR allows eligible individuals to live, work and study in Britain indefinitely. Holders can also access public benefits when eligible and use their settlement status as a basis for applying for British citizenship.

Mahmood has defended the proposed changes as necessary to address immigration pressures and public spending. In her consultation document, she argued that the threshold for entering Britain had been reduced substantially, particularly through the health and care visa system.

Mahmood described the previous approach as a potential "drain on our public finances". She also argued that entry requirements had been "lowered significantly", with the change being "most evident in the health and care visa".

Her consultation document stated that recruitment efforts intended to fill between 6,000 and 40,000 vacancies coincided with the arrival of 616,000 individuals between 2022 and 2024.

"An attempt to fill between 6,000 and 40,000 jobs saw the arrival of 616,000 individuals from 2022 to 2024," Mahmood wrote in her consultation foreword.

She added that "Over half were not even arriving to work in that sector but were instead dependants of those who were."

Home Office estimates suggested that 196,000 care workers and their adult dependants could qualify for settlement between 2026 and 2030. The department estimated their lifetime cost to taxpayers at £9.5 billion.

However, the Institute for Public Policy Research presented a different assessment on Monday. Its analysis estimated that skilled workers and their dependants expected to receive settlement under existing rules could generate approximately £115 billion in net lifetime contributions through taxation.

Former Home Office Minister Mike Tapp has supported exemptions for established care workers, arguing that people who have spent five years providing essential services should not face retrospective changes.

Tapp said: "I very much hope that those who are genuinely working in health and social care for five years are exempt from that retrospective extension to the time they need to be here before they apply for settlement."

He also emphasized the importance of care workers to British families, adding: "We've all known someone in our family or friends who has been cared for by these people, so that would be the right thing to do."

His position has previously put him at odds with Mahmood. In June, the home secretary asked former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to dismiss Tapp after he published an unauthorized article supporting exemptions for foreign care workers.

Dr Ben Brindle, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory, questioned whether the proposed restrictions would substantially influence migration decisions.

Brindle said: "At the broader level, the policy probably won't have too much impact."

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that immigration requirements function primarily as a barrier to entering the country.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has also expressed reservations about the proposals. Although he maintains that permanent residency should involve meeting certain requirements, he has argued that migration policy must reflect actual labor shortages.

Burnham described settlement as a "right to be earned, not just granted automatically". He also said legal migration had "come right down" and explained his position on migration planning.

"I think when you have planned migration, it's difficult to say is it too high or too low, because it's got to be, if you like, following gaps in the economy," Burnham told ITV in an interview scheduled for broadcast on Tuesday.

He added that setting arbitrary migration limits could create shortages in specific sectors. His comments mark a shift in emphasis from the previous government's approach, which had repeatedly called for substantial reductions in immigration.

Conservative politicians have accused Mahmood of weakening her original position. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized the potential exemptions for care workers, referring to Mahmood's earlier warning about their financial implications.

Philp said: "By Mahmood's own admission in a speech this March, letting low wage care workers alone stay forever will cost taxpayers £10bn and be an 'affront'."

He accused the home secretary of preparing to reverse her previous position, while the Conservatives also characterized the developments as a concession to Rayner.

The Liberal Democrats also criticized the proposed reforms. Home Affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson said: "We need an immigration system that supports our economy, public services and integration - but the home secretary's reforms will undermine that."

Reform UK Home Affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf accused Mahmood of being "overruled" by Burnham, describing the development as "a disaster for Britain". His party has proposed abolishing indefinite leave to remain altogether.

The government launched its consultation under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. More than 200,000 responses were submitted, reflecting widespread disagreement over the proposed changes.

Home Office figures cited in the consultation showed that net migration added 2.6 million people to Britain's population between 2021 and 2024. The department projected that approximately 1.6 million people could qualify for settlement between 2026 and 2030 under the relevant migration arrangements.

The government has faced additional pressure from Labour MPs concerned that retrospective changes could undermine migrants' expectations and worsen skills shortages, particularly in social care. The final policy details are scheduled to be presented by Mahmood in a statement to the House of Commons after 3:30 p.m. on Monday.