UK doubles standard wait for settlement to 10 years, with a carve-out for care workers

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the Commons on Monday 2 November that most migrants will have to wait 10 years, rather than five, before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK. This report draws on the Mirror, ITV News and the Guardian. ## The new rules "Settled status is one of the most valuable rights this country can offer. Until now it has been given almost automatically. From today, it must be earned," Mahmood said, the Mirror reports. Applicants will need a clean criminal record, a high standard of English, no debt to the government and a record of National Insurance contributions, according to the Mirror. Those earning more than £125,000 will be able to settle within three years, and those earning more than £50,271 and some public service workers such as doctors, nurses and teachers after five, the Guardian reports. People who arrive by small boat face 20 years, rising to 30 if they do not enter work or study, ITV News reports. The Home Office estimates that about 500,000 people will now wait longer than five years, the Mirror and the Guardian report. ## Care workers Care workers who arrived before May 2025 and earn more than £25,000 will keep a five-year route, after criticism of the original 15-year plan from senior Labour figures including Angela Rayner, ITV News reports. The Guardian says the exception covers an estimated 280,000 care workers and their dependants. ## Reaction Prime Minister Andy Burnham, on his way to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua, said in a statement: "Following Brexit, the previous government lost control of immigration, with an unprecedented spike in numbers. This Home Secretary is gripping this problem, and she has my full support in doing so," ITV News reports. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp called the announcement "a U-turn" and claimed it would cost the taxpayer £10 billion, and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called it "the beginning of the capitulation", ITV News reports. Labour MP Diane Abbott warned of the risk of another Windrush scandal: "You can come in legally, you can work legally and then have your residency rights turned upside down," she said, the Guardian reports.