UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood Scraps 15-Year Settlement Wait for Migrant Care Workers Earning £25,000
Some lower-qualified care workers will now qualify for settlement after 5 years, while other migrants face longer waits under revised rules.
- On Monday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced revisions to immigration reforms in Parliament, allowing eligible foreign care workers to retain a five-year path to settlement instead of waiting up to 15 years.
- Mahmood's original proposals, introduced last year, aimed to double wait times to 10 years with a 15-year baseline for carers. Critics including Housing Secretary Angela Rayner argued the retrospective changes "changed the goalposts" for migrants already in Britain.
- Approximately 300,000 care workers earning at least £25,000 annually will benefit from the revised policy. Revised estimates indicate around 517,000 migrants will still face a longer path to indefinite leave to remain than originally anticipated.
- Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accused the government of a "substantial climbdown" under pressure from the Labour Left. Mahmood defended the changes, claiming the package remains "transformative" and achieves welfare savings in the "billions."
- The government is proceeding with plans to extend the standard settlement wait to 10 years for most other migrants. Labour MPs remain concerned that restrictive policies could worsen ongoing skills shortages, particularly in the care sector.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Shabana Mahmood's U-turn proves sometimes a climbdown is the right thing to do – Nigel Nelson
At first sight, ministers should never have second thoughts. When they do, they get the kind of headlines Shabana Mahmood woke up to this morning.Far from the praise the Home Secretary might have hoped for following another trot around the paddock to put right a policy she got wrong, she was greeted with "cave in", "climbdown" and "U-turn".Yet by keeping the existing rule that overseas care workers only have to wait five years, rather than 15, b…
UK government reverses 15-year ILR wait for existing care workers
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has confirmed that the government will withdraw plans to extend the waiting period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for social care workers already in the UK. Under the revised arrangements, care workers earning at least £25,000 who were present in the country before May 2025 will remain eligible for ILR after five years, rather than the 15 years previously proposed. This adjustment was announced during a state…
Victorious Immigration Rebel Rayner Spent Only Three Years as a Care Worker
Angela Rayner, who has all but claimed responsibility for forcing Shabana Mahood’s £10 billion immigration U-turn for the care worker visa route spent less than three years as a carer herself. Despite claiming it was far longer… Rayner’s intervention against Mahmood has meant that the Home Secretary has dropped plans to extend the amount of…
Mahmood Admits Migrant U-Turn Will Increase Welfare Bill
Shabana Mahmood has admitted the Government's migrant climbdown and decision to spare nearly 300,000 care workers from stricter migration rules will increase the welfare bill and have an "impact on the numbers".
The Economic Times
Times of IndiaUK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood scraps 15-year settlement wait for migrant care workers earning £25,000
The UK government has revised its immigration settlement rules, particularly for foreign care workers. Eligible care workers can now qualify for permanent residency after five years instead of 15. In addition, changes will extend the standard settlement period for most migrants from five to ten years. Stricter eligibility conditions are also being introduced for all applicants and refugees.
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