In May 2025, the UK Government published an Immigration White Paper setting out proposed changes to the immigration system, including an intention to increase the qualifying residence period for settlement (also known as indefinite leave to remain or ILR) from five to 10 years. The White Paper also introduced the concept of “earned settlement”, whereby migrants could reduce the 10-year qualifying period by meeting additional criteria in relation to their contributions to and integration into UK society. 

The Home Office has now released its policy paper “A fairer Pathway to Settlement” which launches a public consultation on the “earned settlement” model and includes details of the framework it proposes to use to assess earned settlement. 

Key features of the “earned settlement” proposals

Who is not affected? 

It is proposed that certain visa categories will continue on a quicker path to settlement, meaning that their existing qualifying residence period for settlement will effectively be unchanged. The visa categories are set out below.

• Dependents of British citizens will remain on a pathway to settlement of five years. This would include those on a spouse/partner visa (under Appendix FM) but the policy paper is silent as to whether those on spouse/partner visas sponsored by an ILR holder would be included, so this point will require clarification.
• Individuals and family members under the British Nationals (Overseas) visa route from Hong Kong will continue to qualify for settlement after five years.
• Global Talent and Innovator Founder visa holders will remain on a pathway to settlement of three years, although it is currently unclear whether this will also apply to those Global Talent applicants endorsed under the “exceptional promise” pathway, which currently leads to settlement after five years.

It should be noted that certain factors can extend the qualifying residence period for these visa categories, such as having claimed public funds. For example, under the proposed framework, a Global Talent applicant who has claimed public funds for less than 12 months may be required to add a further five years to the three years, bringing the total qualifying residence period to eight years.

The only group entirely unaffected by the proposal are pre-settled status and settled status holders under the EU Settlement Scheme, who will continue to have a five-year qualifying residence period for settlement under the Withdrawal Agreement.

Mandatory requirements 

These requirements must be met in every settlement application (and are not subject to consultation aside from the “contribution” requirement).

• Suitability: the applicant must meet the normal suitability requirements set out in the existing Immigration Rules (e.g. not having a criminal conviction) and must have no current litigation, NHS, tax, or other Government debt.
• Integration: the applicant must meet an English language requirement at level B2 (Upper intermediate level) – note that this is higher than the current level B1. The applicant must also pass the Life in the UK test.
• Contribution: the applicant must have met an annual earnings threshold of £12,570 for a minimum of three to five years (with the duration subject to consultation).

Default qualifying period for settlement

With the exceptions of the categories set out above, the default qualifying period for settlement is proposed to be increased from five to 10 years. However, this baseline may be reduced where specified criteria are met, and in certain circumstances it may also be extended beyond 10 years. The factors that can shorten or lengthen the 10-year period are outlined below.

Factors reducing the 10-year qualifying period 

The 10-year qualifying period may be reduced where an individual meets specified criteria, set out below. 

It should, however, be noted that it will not be possible to combine reductions from different categories – if the individual meets the criteria from more than one category, the qualifying period will be reduced only by the number of years linked to one category (whichever gives the greatest reduction). 

The categories are set out in the table below.

The Home Office has confirmed that earned taxable income may include UK income not derived from employment (e.g. rental income) and that amounts will be verified using HMRC records. This raises questions as to how non-PAYE income can be validated in practice as these do not appear on HMRC’s system as promptly as PAYE data.

Factors increasing the 10-year qualifying period 

The qualifying residence period applying to applicants in receipt of public funds (benefits) or those who have breached UK immigration laws could be increased above the baseline 10-year period.

• Individuals who have claimed public funds for fewer than 12 months may have to wait for 15 years before qualifying for settlement. Those who have claimed public funds for 12 months or more could have a 10-year increase to the usual qualifying residence period, meaning that this could be a total of 20 years.
• For applicants who arrived in the UK illegally, entered on a visit visa, or overstayed their permission for six months or more, there may be an increase of up to 20 years to the default qualifying residence period, giving a total of up to 30 years before such individuals qualify for settlement.

Calculation of the qualifying residence period where positive and negative factors apply

Where a positive factor reduces the qualifying period and a negative factor increases it, the two will offset against one another. For example, if an applicant benefits from a five-year reduction due to the level of their earnings, but also incurs a 10-year penalty as a result of receiving public funds for more than 12 months, the net effect would be a five-year increase, bringing the qualifying residence period to 15 years.

Lower skilled roles under Skilled Worker visas

As part of the consultation, the Government is considering increasing the baseline qualifying residence period for individuals that came to the UK specifically to work in occupations skilled below degree level (below RQF level 6). They propose that the baseline for this category could be 15 years, instead of 10 years.

Will these changes apply retrospectively?

The Government is consulting on whether transitional arrangements should apply to individuals already in the UK on a visa route that leads to settlement. The Home Secretary has proposed that the changes would apply to everyone who has not obtained settlement by the time the new rules apply, but the consultation specifically seeks views on the scope and design of any transitional arrangements. Given that the proposed framework would accelerate settlement for certain cohorts (e.g. higher earners), careful consideration must be given to ensure that no applicant is at a comparative disadvantage as a result of any transitional arrangements.

Family members 

• Adult dependants

The spouse/partner (and any other adult dependents) of a main applicant would still remain eligible for settlement once the main applicant qualifies. However, they may not necessarily enjoy the same qualifying residence period for settlement. The policy paper indicates that adult dependents are expected to be considered for settlement in their own right and will need to qualify on the basis of their own contribution, which could result in a longer timeline to obtain settlement compared to the main applicant. 

• Children

The Government acknowledges that dependent children (under 18) are unlikely to meet the earned settlement framework due to their age, but it is seeking responses on how to handle dependent children that turn 18 before they are eligible for settlement. 

Abolishing the 10-year long residence ILR route 

Under current rules, individuals may qualify for settlement once they have been in the UK legally for 10 consecutive years (known as “long residence”). However, it is proposed that this settlement route will be withdrawn. The policy paper indicates that applicants must complete the required qualifying residence period entirely within a visa route or combination of visa routes that leads to settlement. Therefore, in practice, this means that time spent in non-settlement routes (such as student visas) may not count towards the qualifying residence period, though this is subject to consultation.

British citizenship 

The Government also intends to amend the requirements for British citizenship, and to align these with the “earned settlement” rules to ensure greater consistency. As such, changes to the British citizenship framework are not expected to be consulted upon until after the “earned settlement” consultation has concluded.

Conclusion

The proposed policy changes constitute the most sweeping revision of the settlement framework in decades and are poised to materially impact the plans and circumstances of hundreds of thousands of individuals. It is therefore essential that interested parties - employers, businesses, advisers and anyone personally affected - engage with the consultation and submit their views before the deadline of 12 February 2026.