Earned settlement: what the government decided, and what is not law yet

Earned Settlement in One Minute

Status on 3 November 2026: announced, not yet law. On 2 November 2026 the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, made a statement to the House of Commons and the government published A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: Government Response to the Consultation (CP 1707). It sets out the final design of "earned settlement", the new framework for indefinite leave to remain. Indefinite leave to remain is usually called "settlement" on this site. It is the permission to live in the UK permanently.

The Immigration Rules have not changed yet. The Home Secretary told Parliament: "The changes that have been announced will begin to be laid from the December immigration rules. They will be implemented over the course of 2027." That timing comes from her answers in the Commons, not from the published response, which gives no start date.

The core of the decision fits in one table. It follows Table 1 of the response (page 42).

On every path, the response says applicants must also meet all the minimum requirements, and on the 3, 5 and 10-year paths they must not have used public funds in the last 5 years or committed a "qualifying immigration breach".

What "earned settlement" means

Under the current rules most routes lead to settlement after 5 years, with the conditions of each route. The response says this gives "limited differentiation between people who make very different contributions" (page 4). Earned settlement makes 10 years the starting point. The time a person waits then depends on four principles the response names: character, contribution, integration and residence (page 5).

The 2025 immigration white paper, published on 12 May 2025, first announced the move from 5 to 10 years. A public consultation ran from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026. The earned settlement consultation received 204,667 responses: 202,241 from individuals and 2,426 from organisations (page 5). The decision changed several parts of the original proposal; our guide to what changed between the proposal and the decision sets them out side by side.

Decided, in the rules, or dated: where each change stands

A change can be at three stages. It can be decided as policy (in the response), written into the Immigration Rules (laid before Parliament), or both with a published start date. As of 3 November 2026, most of earned settlement is only at the first stage.

The English row needs care. A rule laid on 5 March 2026 already raises settlement English from B1 to B2 from 26 March 2027 on most routes; see our B2 English guide. The response makes B2 the standard for settlement under earned settlement too, but does not say whether it means all four language skills or only speaking and listening, and does not mention the March 2027 rule.

The Four Paths: 3, 5, 10 and 20 Years

The 10-year standard path

The response calls 10 years "the starting point for anyone playing by the rules and making a contribution to the UK" (Table 1, page 42). It covers anyone on a qualifying route who does not use one of the shorter paths and has not been placed on the 20-year path.

The contribution test is an income figure: £12,571 a year, which the response links to the basic rate of income tax (page 11). Children, people aged 65 and over and people unable to meet it because of a physical or mental condition are exempt from it (page 11).

Our guide to the 10-year standard path covers this path in more detail.

The 5-year path: higher earnings, public service jobs, British connection

The response gives three separate ways onto the 5-year path (Table 1, page 42). Meeting one of them is enough, together with the minimum requirements.

• Higher earnings. At least £50,271 in 3 of the 5 years immediately before applying (page 12). The response links the figure to the higher rate of income tax in England (pages 11 and 48).
• A listed public service job. 5 years working in "an eligible public service occupation". The list is in Annex C of the response: 30 health and education occupations paid on national pay scales, plus social workers. It includes doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, pharmacists, teachers and head teachers. Prison officers are not on it; the Home Secretary confirmed this in the Commons. Our guide to the public service jobs list reproduces it in full with occupation codes.
• A British connection. The response says a recognised British connection "will include eligible partners, parents and children of British citizens; and Commonwealth citizens who qualify through the UK Ancestry route on the basis of having a UK-born grandparent" (page 14). It notes this part was "not subject to consultation".

The response also says that permission on the Family and Private Life routes "will not qualify a person for the three or five-year settlement pathways" (pages 19 to 20). People on those routes use the 10 or 20-year paths.

The 3-year path: the highest earnings and the Highest Talent Group

The response gives two ways onto the 3-year path:

• Earnings of at least £125,141 in 3 of the 4 years immediately before applying (page 12). The figure is linked to the additional rate of income tax in England (page 48).
• The Highest Talent Group. The response does not define this group. A footnote to Table 1 says this part is "Subject to review pending MAC report", meaning a report from the Migration Advisory Committee, the independent body that advises the government on migration. It does not say which report or when.

Elsewhere the response lists "high talent permission" routes as Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Scale-up, Innovator Founder and International Sportsperson (page 19, footnote 10). For Global Talent and Innovator Founder, the most recent permission must have been on that route. Because the response does not define the Highest Talent Group itself, this guide does not say which routes lead to 3 years on talent alone.

The 20-year path: public funds and immigration breaches

Two things place a person on the 20-year path, according to the response:

• Public funds. Applicants on the 3, 5 and 10-year paths "will be expected not to have accessed specified public funds during the five years immediately before applying for settlement. Alternatively, if they continue to access public funds, they will have to complete 20 years on a qualifying route" (page 14). Which benefits count will be "set out before implementation". The government will start from the existing definition of public funds; see our guide to no recourse to public funds.
• Immigration breaches. "Specified immigration breaches committed as an adult will place an applicant on a 20-year pathway to settlement, regardless of higher earnings or other positive contributions" (page 9). The response says breaches "will include overstaying a visa, breaching a condition attached to immigration permission, using deception in an application, and taking action to frustrate immigration controls". It applies only to things done at age 18 or over.

Separately, the response says anyone who enters the UK illegally will "ordinarily face an additional 10 years waiting period before becoming eligible for settlement, regardless of the immigration route on which they seek to settle" (page 34). This does not apply where Article 31 of the Refugee Convention protects the person (page 35). The response does not say how this interacts with the 20-year breach path for people who are not refugees.

How earnings are counted

The response uses a "best years" approach. Each path looks at a window of recent years and asks for the threshold in a number of them, not in every year:

Couples. For the minimum contribution requirement, "eligible couples will be able to combine their earnings". The household figure is £25,142, twice the individual figure, and will change with the National Insurance threshold (page 13). One partner can meet it alone, or both can together. The partners must be in a "genuine and subsisting relationship", and only one may rely on the other's income. The response does not say whether couples can combine earnings for the £50,271 or £125,141 tests. Our guide to partners and children covers this in detail.

Thresholds move. The response says the earnings thresholds "will remain linked to the relevant income tax thresholds and will therefore move in line with any future changes to those thresholds" (page 11).

Where the government's documents describe the £12,571 test differently

The published documents do not describe the minimum income test the same way:

The response also describes £12,571 as aligned to the basic rate of income tax (page 11) and to the 2026/27 thresholds for paying National Insurance (page 48). The rules themselves will settle which wording applies. They have not been laid.

Requirements for Everyone

The response says all applicants "will need to meet minimum mandatory requirements. These cannot be offset by higher earnings, public service or other positive contributions" (page 4). There are five.

The criminal record rule

The response says a criminal record "includes custodial or suspended sentences, out-of-court disposals such as absolute and conditional discharges, conditional cautions, court-imposed fines, community sentences, detention and training orders, and civil orders where there has been a conviction" (page 8). Convictions abroad will also lead to refusal "where the underlying conduct would constitute a criminal offence in the UK".

This is stricter than the current rule. Today, refusal is mandatory for a sentence of 12 months or more, and below that it is a matter of discretion (page 7). See our guide to settlement and criminal records for the rules in force now.

English and the Life in the UK test

B2 is described in the response as the "equivalent of A level in a foreign language". The current level for most settlement routes is B1, the "equivalent of GCSE in a foreign language" (page 17). The government is also "reviewing the test to ensure it better reflects life in modern Britain". The response confirms that C1 English will not shorten the wait. See our guides to B2 English and the Life in the UK test.

Which Time Counts Towards Settlement

Routes that count

The response lists the routes that count towards settlement (page 19):

• "Core permission": Tier 2 Minister of Religion, Skilled Worker, UK Ancestry, Global Talent, Scale-up, Innovator Founder, International Sportsperson, Family (Partner), Family (Partner or Parent, not Article 8 cases) and Stateless Person.
• "High talent permission": Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Scale-up, Innovator Founder and International Sportsperson.
• Family and Private Life (10 and 20-year paths only).
• Protection routes: Core Protection, Core Protection Work and Study, and Safe and Legal routes.

Routes that do not count

According to the response (page 20), time on these routes will not count: Visit, Student, Global Business Mobility, Temporary Worker routes, Youth Mobility, Seasonal Worker, Overseas Domestic Worker, Graduate, High Potential Individual and the Ukraine schemes. The response says it will "give further consideration" to people with leave outside the rules.

The Long Residence route will close

The current Long Residence route gives settlement after 10 years of continuous lawful residence, and time on Student and Graduate visas can count towards it. The response says: "Under Earned Settlement, the Long Residence route will close. Time spent on temporary routes will no longer build towards settlement simply because an individual subsequently reaches 10 years of lawful residence" (page 19).

No closure date has been published, and the response does not describe any arrangement for people part-way through the 10 years. Until the rules change, the Long Residence route is open on its current terms.

Time on different types of route

Time on protection or human rights routes, such as refugee or Article 8 routes, "will not be able to be combined with time spent on work or family routes" (page 21). The qualifying period for the new path starts when the person moves onto it. The response does not say directly whether time on two different work routes can be combined.

Our guide to which visas count sets out the full lists.

People Already in the UK: the Published Transitional Arrangements

The response is direct about people who are already in the UK: "Successive governments have always retained the ability to change the Immigration Rules. The courts have recognised that, unless transitional provisions are made, applications are ordinarily considered under the Immigration Rules in force at the date of settlement decision. Being in the UK does not give someone an automatic right to settle under the rules that existed when they first arrived" (page 37).

It then names a small number of groups with their own arrangements, which "apply to clearly defined cohorts who were already in the UK before publication of the Immigration White Paper in May 2025. They do not create a wider exemption for everyone already living in the UK" (page 38).

Care workers who started before May 2025

Care workers "who entered, or switched into, the route before publication of the Immigration White Paper in May 2025 will retain the existing five-year qualifying period for settlement where they meet the applicable salary (£25,000 a year), sponsorship and employment requirements" (page 38). They must also meet the new minimum requirements, including B2 English and the criminal record rule.

The response says those who do not meet the requirements "will not qualify after five years", but can apply for "a further five-year Health and Care visa, restricted to genuine work in the sector" (page 39). Care workers who entered after May 2025 go on the 10-year path. The government expects around three quarters of the care workers in its forecast to meet the conditions to keep a 5-year route. Our care workers guide covers the conditions in full.

Care workers whose sponsor loses its licence

"From 1 February 2027 care workers who have lost their employment due to the sponsor licence being removed will have up to 120 days to get a secure job offer, and a further 60 days to resolve their visa and employment status" (page 39). If they cannot do so, the response says their visa will be cut short and they will need to leave the UK. This is one of the few dated parts of the response.

Health and education workers below degree level

Workers in health and education jobs below Regulated Qualifications Framework level 6 (roughly degree level) that are on a national pay scale, "such as nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants, will retain a five-year route to settlement if they came to the UK before the May 2025 Immigration White Paper publication and meet the requirements of their visa" (page 40). The response calls this "a one-off arrangement for the existing cohort". It does not publish a list of the jobs.

Workers below degree level: the 15-year path was dropped

The consultation proposed a 15-year path for jobs below degree level. The response says these workers "will no longer face the 15-year pathway proposed in the consultation. They will instead qualify through the 10-year pathway" (page 38).

Skilled Workers sponsored before April 2024

Skilled Workers who were sponsored before the April 2024 salary changes can currently extend on their original terms until 2030. The response extends this: "they can extend their visas on their current terms until 2035" (page 40). Their qualifying period for settlement still moves to 10 years for roles below degree level.

Partners and Children

The response moved away from asking every family member to earn settlement separately (page 24). In summary:

The response does not mention adult dependent relatives. The government's forecast includes about 223,000 people on family routes sponsored by a British citizen, who keep a 5-year path, and about 39,000 on family routes sponsored by someone who is not a British citizen, who move to a longer path (Annex A, page 46). See our guide to partners and children.

Groups That Keep Their Current Arrangements

The response lists groups that stay on their existing arrangements (pages 21 to 23):

• Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route: settlement after 5 years.
• Afghan schemes: immediate settlement.
• Windrush: existing status confirmed, no qualifying period.
• HM Armed Forces: settlement after at least 4 years' service; partners and children after 5 years.
• Bereaved partners and victims of domestic abuse: can apply immediately, as now.
• Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, children in local authority care and children and young adults who have grown up in the UK: existing arrangements.
• Legacy resettlement schemes, including UK Resettlement Scheme arrivals before 6 April 2027: 5 years.

The response adds that people on these routes "will need to meet the strengthened requirements that will apply generally to settlement, including the new criminality requirements and the B2 English language standard, unless an existing exemption or safeguard applies" (page 21). The Home Secretary confirmed in the Commons that this includes Hong Kong British National (Overseas) holders, with people over 65 exempt from the English requirement. They are exempt from the income test.

A separate list is "not affected by the Earned Settlement reforms" (page 23): the EU Settlement Scheme, the Turkish businesspersons and workers arrangements, Tier 1 (Investor), the pre-2012 Overseas Domestic Worker route, and children brought from the Calais camps. See our EU Settlement Scheme guide and our Hong Kong British National (Overseas) guide.

Refugees and People With Protection

The response keeps the overall structure proposed for refugees (page 33). There are four protection paths (Table 2, pages 43 to 44):

Refugees who claimed asylum before 2 March 2026, other than on Safe and Legal routes, "will move to Core Protection. Any time spent with refugee status will count towards settlement" (page 34, footnote 14). The response says more detail on time already spent will follow. See our refugee settlement guide for the rules in force now.

What Changed From the 2025 Proposal

The response says the government "listened and made changes to the original proposals" (page 4). The main differences:

Our guide to what changed between the proposal and the decision covers each change in full.

What the Government Has Not Yet Published

As of 3 November 2026, the response and the Home Secretary's statement leave these points open:

• A start date for any part of the framework, apart from the 1 February 2027 care worker rule. No statement of changes to the Immigration Rules has been laid; the latest is HC 584 of 3 September 2026.
• The closure date of the Long Residence route, and whether anything applies to people part-way through.
• Which benefits count as "specified public funds", and the safeguards for vulnerable people.
• The full list of qualifying immigration breaches, including whether a short overstay counts.
• Who is in the Highest Talent Group, pending a Migration Advisory Committee report.
• How earnings are measured: gross or taxable income, tax year or calendar year, and how Scottish income tax bands are treated.
• Which language skills B2 covers under earned settlement, and how it fits with the B2 rule already laid for 26 March 2027.
• The jobs list for the one-off arrangement for health and education workers below degree level, and whether that group also gets a further 5-year visa.
• Leave outside the rules, which the response says will be considered "in due course".
• An impact assessment. The Home Secretary said one will be published around the time the rules are laid.

The response says the government "will publish further guidance setting out additional technical and operational detail" before implementation (page 6).

The Numbers Behind the Decision

The response includes a forecast of settlement between 2026 and 2030 (Annex A, pages 45 to 47). News reports have sometimes described these figures wrongly.

• The forecast. The government's central forecast is that 1.9 million people would settle in the UK between 2026 and 2030 if nothing changed, within a range of 1.3 million to 2.2 million. It says over 500,000 of them will now become eligible to settle later, which lowers the central estimate to 1.4 million. The larger figure is what would happen if nothing changed, not the number of people affected. The smaller one counts people inside the forecast, not every migrant in the UK. The forecast excludes the EU Settlement Scheme.
• Care workers. The government's forecast includes about 196,000 care workers and 186,000 dependants. It indicates that around 146,000 of the workers and 136,000 dependants meet the conditions to keep a 5-year route, and around 50,000 workers and 50,000 dependants do not.
• Families. The government's forecast includes about 223,000 people on family routes sponsored by a British citizen, who keep a 5-year path, and about 39,000 on family routes sponsored by someone who is not a British citizen, who move to a longer path.
• The consultation. In the independent analysis of the consultation, 84% of individuals and 79% of organisations who answered disagreed with the proposed changes. The government says the responses "should not be treated as representative of the general public".

Source: Home Office — A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: Government Response to the Consultation (CP 1707), Annex A, pages 45 to 47.

Key Dates

Where to Read More on This Site

• Which visas count towards settlement
• Care workers and earned settlement
• Public service jobs on the 5-year path
• Partners and children under earned settlement
• What changed between the 2025 proposal and the 2026 decision
• The 10-year standard path
• Settlement: the rules in force today

Sources

• Home Office, A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: Government Response to the Consultation, CP 1707, November 2026. Page numbers in this guide are the printed page numbers of that document.
• Home Secretary, oral statement on earned settlement, 2 November 2026, and the Hansard record of the statement and questions.
• Home Office news story, Home Secretary unveils new rules for migrants settling in the UK, 2 November 2026.
• GOV.UK, statements of changes to the Immigration Rules.

This guide describes published policy. It does not say which path applies to any one person. Only an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority or a solicitor can advise on an individual case; see our guide to getting help with an application.

Questions and answers