Changes to UK visa and settlement rules after the 2025 immigration white paper

In May 2025 the government published a white paper policy document called Restoring control over the immigration system. The document proposed some changes to make it harder to move to and settle in the UK, with a view to reducing net migration.

A white paper does not, by itself, alter the law or the immigration rules. It puts forward changes the government intends to make in future. Many of the white paper’s proposals have now been implemented, while others are still to come.

In particular, high-profile proposed changes to how long it takes to qualify for permanent residence (indefinite leave to remain) have not yet been finalised. See section 3 below.

1. What changes did the May 2025 immigration white paper propose?

The document covered both high-level principles and specific policy changes. An accompanying civil service analysis looked at eight particularly important proposals and tried to estimate how much they might reduce net migration (PDF).

These eight proposals were:

• Shortening the list of jobs for which employers can sponsor a worker from overseas for a Skilled Worker visa. Jobs assessed as being medium-skilled –RQF levels 3-5 – would no longer be sponsorable unless the Migration Advisory Committee recommends an exemption and the industry demonstrates efforts to recruit domestically.
• Ending an existing exemption for social care workers, so that employers would no longer be allowed to recruit them from abroad.
• Exploring alevy on English universities’ income from international student fees.
• Making it harder for universities to keep their licence to sponsor student visas by introducing tougher compliance rules.
• Reducing the standard length of theGraduate visa, for international students to stay on and work in the UK, from two years to 18 months.
• Stricter English language rules: higher standards for those already taking language tests, and requiring the partners of people moving to the UK on work visas to have basic English to qualify for a ‘dependant’ visa.
• Increasing the standard qualifying period for permanent residence (also known as indefinite leave to remain or settlement) from five to ten years, with some people qualifying sooner based on criteria to be decided following public consultation.
• Making it easier for people to come to the UK on certain visas aimed at highly skilled migrants, includingGlobal Talent and High Potential.

Most of these changes can be made by amending the immigration rules. They do not require an act of Parliament, except for the levy on student fees.

2. When are the changes coming in?

There is no overall timetable for the white paper proposals to come into force. So far, the main relevant changes are:

• An initial reduction to the list of jobs eligible for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship took effect on 22 July 2025. The revised list will be in place until the end of 2026; the Migration Advisory Committee has published its recommendations on which medium-skilled jobs should be on the list beyond that.
• Overseas recruitment of social care workers also ended on 22 July 2025.
• Some liberalisation of the High Potential and Global Talent routes took effect in November 2025. There were further changes to Global Talent in 2026.
• The immigration skills charge increased on 16 December 2025.
• New applicants for Skilled Worker, Scale-up and High Potential visas have needed B2 English (a higher standard than the previous B1) since 8 January 2026.
• Changes to student visa compliance rules for universities took effect on 1 June 2026.

Looking ahead:

• Graduate visas will only last 18 monthsif the person applies from 1 January 2027 (but 36 months if they have a PhD).
• A higher standard of English language test will be required for indefinite leave to remain on various visa routes from 26 March 2027. The Home Secretary has said that further changes to settlement rules will happen “later this year”: see section 3.6 below.
• The international student levy will start in August 2028 at a rate of £925 per student per year of study, at English universities only, assuming the relevant legislation passes.

3. Will migrants have to wait ten years for indefinite leave to remain?

The government announced more details of this proposal in November 2025. The policy is more complicated than simply extending the qualifying period from five years to ten. It has two major elements:

• Stricter minimum requirements for being eligible for indefinite leave to remain
• For those who meet the minimum requirements, different qualifying periods depending on their individual circumstances

This is known as “earned settlement”.

The exact plans may change when final decisions are taken following the consultation that finished in February 2026. There were over 200,000 responses.

3.1 Proposed minimum requirements for indefinite leave to remain

The consultation document said that people would need to meet revised minimum criteria to qualify for settlement. These would include:

• “Not having a criminal conviction”. If this means that literally any conviction would disqualify the person, this would be stricter than the current rules, where the threshold is generally a sentence of 12 months or longer.
• “Annual earnings above £12,570 for a minimum of 3 to 5 years… or an alternative amount of income”. There would be exemptions from this requirement for people on maternity leave or with a long-term illness/disability, and the consultation invited views on whether there should be additional exemptions for other groups.
• More advanced English (at level B2 instead of B1). As mentioned above, this has now been added to the immigration rules, to take effect in March 2027. Only certain visa routes are affected for now, but the government is “continuing to consider whether the B2 standard should be extended more widely”.

3.2 Proposed qualifying periods for indefinite leave to remain

Those who meet the minimum requirements would also need a certain length of lawful residence in the UK. Instead of this being five years as standard (or ten years in some cases), there would be a much wider range of possibilities.

The ‘baseline’ qualifying period for many migrants would be ten years, but this would be adjusted up or down depending on the person’s situation. For example:

• People earning over £125,140 would qualify for a reduction of seven years, allowing settlement after three years.
• People in higher-skilled jobs who either earn over £50,270 or work in public sector healthcare and teaching roles would qualify for a reduction of five years, allowing settlement after five years.
• People with a standard family visa sponsored by a British citizen, or on the Hong Kong BNO visa, would also qualify for a reduction of five years, allowing settlement after five years.
• People who volunteer in the community would qualify for a reduction of three to five years, allowing settlement after five to seven years.

On the other hand, the qualifying period would be extended if the person claimed benefits (adding five to ten years) or first entered the UK illegally (adding up to 20 years). Some people might both qualify for a reduction and be penalised in this way, meaning that there is a range of possible outcomes between three and 30 years.

In addition, there would be different approaches for certain groups:

• For people in jobs considered low-skilled or medium-skilled, the baseline starting point for the calculation would be 15 rather than ten years. This would include social care workers.
• For people granted asylum in the UK, it appears that there would be a 20-year qualifying period with no reductions possible unless the person takes up work or study, in which case they could earn reductions from a 20-year baseline.

3.3 Proposed changes aside from minimum criteria and qualifying period

The consultation also said that accompanying family members of people on work visas would need to qualify for indefinite leave to remain in their own right rather than alongside their sponsor. The Home Affairs Committee has highlighted that “it is currently unclear how these changes will apply to children, especially children who turn 18 before their parents achieve settlement”.

The consultation also floated the idea that those granted settlement might no longer gain access to the welfare system as a result – they would stay on ‘no recourse to public funds‘ – with the right to claim benefits restricted to British citizens.

3.4 Which immigration categories will be affected by the settlement changes?

Most of them. Even if some groups remain eligible for permanent residence after five years, people in those groups (such as stay-at-home parents with no income) might be unable to meet the toughened minimum requirements.

People with post-Brexit residence rights under the EU Settlement Scheme are entirely “out of scope” of the changes. The consultation asked for views on whether other groups, such as victims of domestic abuse and children who grew up in the UK, should also keep their existing settlement rules.

3.5 Will people already in the UK be affected?

Likely yes, although a final decision has not been announced.

The consultation said “we propose to apply these changes to everyone in the country today who has not already received indefinite leave to remain. This would mean that those who are due to reach settlement in the coming months and years would be subject to the new requirements for earned settlement, as soon as our immigration rules have changed”.

This is subject to final decisions following the consultation, which invited views on whether there should be “transitional arrangements” to exempt some people already in the UK. Refugees do appear to have transitional arrangements:

Adults and accompanied and unaccompanied children granted 5 years leave as a result of an asylum claim or further submissions made by 1 March 2026 will remain eligible to apply for settlement after 5 years under Appendix Settlement Protection.

Ministers have repeatedly said that they are considering whether to offer transitional arrangements of some kind to other existing residents. But the stated purpose of the changes is to prevent people who arrived in the last few years from claiming benefits after achieving permanent residence. Generous exemptions for many other groups, beyond refugees, would undermine this aim.

3.6 When will the immigration rules be changed to implement ‘earned settlement’?

The Home Secretary told MPs on 15 September 2026 that she would be making final decisions “very soon” and publishing the new policy “later this year”. There is no exact timetable for when new immigration rules would come into force.

4. Will MPs be voting on the white paper changes?

Unlikely, in most cases. Revision of visa and settlement regulations is done through statements of changes to the immigration rules. A statement of changes takes effect automatically, without a vote being necessary.

To reject the changes, MPs must pass a ‘prayer’ motion expressing disapproval of the new rules within 40 days. But the government is not obliged to allow a debate or vote on a prayer motion.

Some MPs signed prayer motions against statements of changes to the immigration rules from July 2025 and March 2026. There was no vote on either motion.

There may however be non-binding debates which do not involve a motion to formally disapprove the rules. MPs held such debates in September 2025, February 2026 and March 2026. 

The government could also choose to implement changes normally done in the immigration rules through an act of Parliament. But it did not include anything relevant in the Immigration and Asylum Bill published in June.

Certain elements of the white paper proposals, such as the levy on international student fees and any changes to naturalisation law, do require an act of Parliament and therefore the endorsement of MPs.

5. What about changes to the asylum system?

The Library’s briefing for a 17 March debate on ‘Immigration reforms’ summarises some of the government’s proposed changes to the rules for asylum seekers and granting refugee status.