Proposed Earned Settlement Rules: Timeline and Status
Earned settlement is a proposal, not a rule. This guide sets out what has actually been published and when, what the consultation asked, and what still has to happen before anything about settlement changes.
- Section
- Costs, English & General
- Reading time
- 8 min
- Last checked
- 22 March 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- Nothing about settlement has changed. The published rules still apply.
- The consultation ran from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026 and GOV.UK says responses are being analysed.
- No start date has been announced. GOV.UK publishes none, and this guide does not estimate one.
- The published proposal adjusts the qualifying period in years. It does not award points.
- Whether people already on a pathway to settlement would be covered is one of the questions the consultation asked, and it is unanswered.
The government has proposed reforming settlement so that it is earned rather than granted after a fixed period. A white paper set the direction in May 2025 and a consultation ran from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026. GOV.UK says the responses are being analysed. No start date has been announced, no changes to the Immigration Rules have been laid, and the settlement rules that apply today are unchanged.
What Has Actually Been Published
Two documents matter, and both are proposals rather than rules.
May 2025: the immigration white paper
Restoring Control over the Immigration System, the 2025 immigration white paper, said settlement should no longer be granted automatically after a fixed period, and that migrants should earn it by showing sustained good conduct, contribution and integration. A white paper sets a direction. It does not change any rule.
20 November 2025: the consultation opened
The Home Office published A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, a statement and consultation on earned settlement. It sets out options and asks for views on them.
12 February 2026: the consultation closed
The consultation closed at 11:59pm on 12 February 2026. GOV.UK records it as closed and says the government is analysing the feedback.
Now: no announced start date
GOV.UK publishes no start date, no government response, and no draft rules. This guide gives no estimate, because an estimate would look like a date and there is not one.
What the Consultation Proposes
The consultation describes a time adjustment model rather than a score. There is a baseline qualifying period, and a person's own circumstances would make it shorter or longer. Everything in this section is proposed and none of it is in force.
The proposed baseline is 10 years. Shortenings put forward include:
- A shorter period for people who have paid tax on income above £50,270 a year, and a shorter one again above £125,140
- A shorter period for partners and children of British citizens, and for people on the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route
- A shorter period for people on the Global Talent and Innovator Founder routes
- A shorter period for English at C1, above the required level
- A shorter period for people in specified public service work, and for sustained volunteering
Lengthenings put forward include:
- A longer period for people who have claimed public funds
- A longer period for people who entered the UK illegally or overstayed
- A longer baseline — the consultation names 15 years — for people whose work sits at skill levels 3 to 5 rather than degree level
The consultation also proposes requirements that would apply to everyone: English at B2, a pass in the Life in the UK test, no relevant criminal record, and earnings above £12,570.
Other guides on this site describe scoring categories — employment, integration and public service — using the language of points. Read them against this: the published consultation adjusts years.
What Would Have to Happen Next
A consultation is one step. For any of this to become a rule someone can apply under, the following would each have to happen and each be published:
- The government publishes its response to the consultation, saying which option it has chosen.
- Changes to the Immigration Rules are laid before Parliament in a statement of changes, with a date from which they take effect.
- Home Office caseworker guidance is published so that the rules can be applied.
None of those three has happened. Each is published on GOV.UK when it does.
People Already on a Pathway to Settlement
The question of what happens to someone who is partway through a qualifying period is not settled. The consultation asks for views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for people already on a pathway to settlement. That is the whole of the published position: a question, not an answer.
This site does not have a view on what people should do about that, and it cannot tell anyone which set of rules will apply to them. The settlement requirements that apply today are published and unchanged, and they are what an application made today is decided against.
One Change That Is Real, With a Date
It is worth separating the proposal from a change that has already been made. The English language level for settlement rises from B1 to B2 from 26 March 2027 on the routes named in the statement of changes HC 1691, which was laid on 5 March 2026. That is enacted, with a future start date. See our guide to the B2 English requirement.
Where the Announcements Appear
- The earned settlement consultation page — the government response is published here when it exists
- The Immigration Rules and the statements of changes listed alongside them
- The Home Office on GOV.UK
Read our comparison of the current settlement rules and the proposal for what would change and what would stay the same.
Questions and answers
When will the earned settlement rules start?
No start date has been announced. The consultation closed on 12 February 2026 and GOV.UK says the government is analysing the responses. Until the government publishes its response and lays changes to the Immigration Rules before Parliament, nothing about settlement has changed.
Is this a points system?
The consultation document does not propose scoring points. It proposes a time adjustment model: a baseline qualifying period that is made shorter or longer by what a person has done. The 2025 white paper used the phrase earned settlement, and the word points has been attached to it in coverage since, but the published proposal adjusts years rather than awarding points.
Would the changes apply to people already on visas?
That has not been decided. The consultation asks for views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for people already on a pathway to settlement. No transitional policy has been published.
Have the settlement rules changed yet?
No. The rules published on GOV.UK today are the rules that apply. One separate change is already law with a future date: the English language level for settlement rises from B1 to B2 from 26 March 2027 on the routes named in the statement of changes HC 1691.
What happens after a consultation closes?
The government analyses the responses and publishes a response setting out what it intends to do. Anything that changes the Immigration Rules is then laid before Parliament in a statement of changes with a date from which it takes effect. GOV.UK publishes both.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.