Settlement in Britain must now be earned: three years, five or ten

The Home Office set out a new settlement model before Parliament on 2 November 2026. It is called earned settlement, and it ends the near-automatic grant of indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years of lawful residence.

What changed on 2 November 2026?

The government published its response to the consultation "A Fairer Pathway to Settlement" and set out the new policy before Parliament the same day. The Home Office statement is blunt: the right to live in the UK forever "will no longer be granted to migrants almost automatically after 5 years". How long someone waits will now depend on their contribution and character.

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The consultation ran from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026. The government says it considered more than 200,000 responses. The starting point for settlement rises from five years to ten.

Who settles in three years, and who in ten?

Earnings set the clock, and the thresholds are tied to income tax rates. Three years for the highest contributors earning at least £125,141 a year, in line with the additional rate. Five years for higher earners on at least £50,271, in line with the higher rate. Ten years is the new default for those demonstrating the minimum sustained contribution of £12,571.

A separate five-year route stays open for eligible health and education public-service workers — doctors, nurses and teachers — in the occupations already identified in the Immigration Rules as paid on national pay scales. The same five-year pathway applies to recognised British connections: partners, parents and children of British citizens, and Commonwealth citizens qualifying through UK Ancestry on the basis of a UK-born grandparent.

Which requirements are now mandatory?

Four conditions are described as non-negotiable. A spotless criminal record: any adult applicant with a UK criminal record will be refused, up from the current threshold of a 12-month suspended sentence. English to a high standard: B2, the equivalent of A-level in a foreign language, replacing the current B1. No outstanding debt owed to the taxpayer, including NHS debt, tax and National Insurance debt, and litigation debt owed to the Home Office. And a record of sustained National Insurance contributions. The Life in the UK test remains in place.

What about rule-breakers and people on benefits?

Those who have breached immigration rules will only be able to settle after at least 20 years. Applicants on the three, five or ten-year pathways are expected not to have accessed specified public funds in the five years immediately before applying; those who continue to access them must complete 20 years on a qualifying route.

Refugees have their own terms: those on Home Office-approved routes settle after five years, others after 20 years, reduced to ten for those who work or study.

When do the new rules start?

No start date has been given. The government has published the framework; the detailed rules and operational arrangements still have to be written. Before implementation it will publish further technical guidance and a full impact assessment setting out how the reforms will work in practice and how people will move into the new system. Until then the current rules stand, and settlement is decided under the rules in force at the date of decision.