UK to double residency requirement for settlement, introduces fast-track for high earners

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government will raise the standard residency period for permanent settlement in the United Kingdom from five to ten years. Under the new rules, applicants must have earned at least £12,571 in five of the seven years before settlement is granted.

A reduced five-year pathway will apply to specific groups, including individuals who earned £50,271 for three of the five years before applying, care workers earning £25,000 who arrived before May 2025, skilled public-service workers such as doctors, nurses and teachers, other health and education staff who arrived before May 2025, Hong Kong British National (Overseas) status holders, and migrants earning over £125,141 or holding Global Talent or Innovator Founder visas, who will qualify after three years.

Applicants who have claimed certain benefits or breached immigration rules will face a minimum twenty-year residence requirement. All candidates must also meet additional conditions, such as having no criminal record, meeting a high standard of English, owing no taxpayer debt, and earning at least £12,571 a year for three years.

Refugees will be subject to a separate framework. Those arriving through an official government scheme can settle after five years, while other refugees will need ten years of work or study, or twenty years if they do not work or study. Refugees who entered via small boats or other illegal routes will face twenty-year or thirty-year thresholds depending on their activity.

The changes will affect migrants already in the country but will not alter the status of those who have already received settlement. Partners arriving with the primary applicant can settle simultaneously if they meet the criteria; later-arriving partners must complete the same residence period. Couples may combine earnings to meet a household income threshold of £25,142. Children under 18 can settle with their parents without income or language requirements, though they remain subject to suitability and criminality checks. Young adults aged 18 to 24 who remain dependants can settle alongside their families, meeting adult requirements except the individual income test.