Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, will announce sweeping new rules on Monday 2nd November 2026 on the changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain rules. Particular focus of the ILR changes is going to be on how long legal migrants must wait for settlement in the UK, with most likely to wait a decade and some up to 15 years. Those planned changes are branded as ‘Earned Settlement’.
Currently most migrants have to wait until they have 5 years continuous residence before applying for Settlement – ILR. Under the ‘Earned Settlement’ 10 years residence is to be the standard but for some it can be even 15 years or more, depending on the circumstances of the visa held and the circumstances of the applicant. However, there will also be some who will be able to qualify for Settlement after 3 years – mainly highly skilled workers with high salaries and Global Talent visa holders.
Earned Settlement to be announced 2nd November 2026
During the last week at the end of October 2026 and over the weekend many newspaper articles were published indicating that the changes will be announced this week on 2nd November 2026. Some UK Ministers had raised concerns about the effect the rules would have on care workers already in the UK who would be likely to face a 15-year wait for settlement.
The government’s response to the consultation on the reforms which resulted in 200,000 responses received, will be put before MPs on Monday, is expected give some exemption to care workers already in the UK with some newspapers suggesting that it will be for those care workers who work in public sector. However, most other professions will face the lengthy waits for settlement.
Mahmood, the Home Secretary, has proposed that the settlement wait could be reduced if legal migrants showed they had contributed to their local communities via a “points based system” or if they were earning higher incomes, and this is why it is called ‘Earned Settlement’.
Under the plans published for consultation, the standard qualifying period for settlement would double from five to 10 years, while some workers in occupations below graduate level, including care workers, could face a 15-year qualifying period, subject to proposed exemptions and reductions.
The crucial element is also what would be the start date for the changes to the Settlement law.