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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood outlined the Government’s final ‘earned settlement’ rules, following its consultation on the ‘Fairer pathway to settlement.’
Under the changes announced, the default qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) doubles from five years to ten for most migrants.
The wait time is now largely dependent on salary, occupation and visa route, with stricter mandatory conditions in place to be eligible.
What has changed?
The key Government shift is the standard length migrants will have to live in the UK before they are eligible to claim ILR, doubling from five to ten years.
Migrants need to have earned a minimum of £12,571 for five of the seven years before a settlement application is accepted.
Elsewhere, there will be shorter qualifying periods of five years for specific groups, such as:
Those earning over £125,141 per year, alongside ‘highly skilled migrants’, will qualify for ILR after just three years.
People with a history of immigration breaches or recipients of certain benefits will be able to settle after 20 years, while adults with a criminal record will be refused settlement.
In terms of mandatory conditions to be eligible for settlement, migrants will also need to:
What do the changes mean for employers?
For UK employers, these changes have the potential to cause complex, long-term workforce retention issues, alongside additional costs.
‘Earned settlement’ eligibility is now closely intertwined with salary and visa routes, meaning some sponsored workers may request pay rises to secure a more direct path to ILR.
For example, a sponsored worker earning just below £50,271 may seek a salary increase with the intention of reducing the ILR qualifying period from 10 years to five.
As a result, employers may struggle to retain staff, particularly where competitors can offer salaries that can accelerate a worker’s path to settlement.
There will also likely be greater uncertainty and instability for future international talent, who may be deterred by the prospect of having to secure a sponsorship for 10 years to gain ILR.
What are the next steps?
For sponsored workers and migrants, it is advisable to begin auditing your salary history to see how long your wait for ILR will be under the new rules.
In addition, migrants may want to update their UKVI account and contact details, start a separate savings pot for visa fees and obtain a B2 English language qualification early to avoid the inevitable booking backlog.
For employers and HR departments, there will need to be rigorous sponsor reporting and tracking to ensure sponsorship has no inadvertent impact on a worker’s pathway.
By auditing salary bands and drafting an internal status protection policy, employers can identify potential retention risks at an early stage and reduce the likelihood of unexpected salary demands from sponsored employees.
As the ‘earned framework’ becomes entrenched, careful workforce planning is needed to retain talent and avoid unwanted disruption to sponsorship initiatives.
Speak to a solicitor
The new earned settlement framework could add years to a migrant’s route to ILR, so the sooner advice is sought, the more options likely to remain available.
Whether you are an employer with sponsored workers or a migrant concerned about how the changes may impact your path to settlement, our immigration solicitors can help you understand the changes.
Unsure how the changes will impact you or your organisation? Speak to our expert immigration solicitor, Pooja Kaur.
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