UK Home Secretary softens settlement rules for migrant care workers amid claims of fiscal “savings”
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The government will let eligible foreign care workers seek indefinite leave to remain after five years, a shift that ministers say will cut welfare costs while expanding the number of people locked into the immigration system.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government will let foreign care workers who meet visa conditions and earn at least £25,000 a year apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years of residence. The policy replaces an earlier proposal that would have forced them to wait 15 years for ILR, a much harsher plan that underscored how aggressively the system has been tightened and then partially relaxed. Mahmood said the change will still generate "savings in the billions" compared with the Home Office’s earlier estimate of a £10 billion rise in welfare costs for the cohort.
The revised rules apply to roughly 300,000 care workers who meet the earnings threshold, while about 100,000 care workers who do not meet the conditions will have to wait ten years for settlement. The Home Office estimates that around 500,000 migrants will face longer waiting periods under the new framework, showing how the government is reshaping settlement rules in a way that affects huge numbers of people.
"There will be savings in the billions, but allowing people to settle at five years, given the unique contribution of care workers, obviously has an impact on the numbers," Mahmood told the BBC. She added that a full cost assessment will be published in the new year when the legislation is presented to Parliament, leaving key details to be scrutinized later rather than now.
Border security and asylum minister Anna Turley said the adjustment could deliver at least £1 billion in welfare savings over the next couple of years. The government also announced that doctors, nurses, teachers and other high-earning migrants will be eligible for ILR after five years, while refugees arriving illegally by small boat will face a 30-year wait unless they engage in work or study, a punitive contrast that rights advocates are likely to view as deeply unequal.
Mahmood emphasized that the package seeks to balance the interests of migrant workers and British taxpayers, noting that the changes affect roughly half a million people who were previously on track for settlement after five years.