On 2 November 2026 the Home Secretary made a statement to Parliament and the Home Office published its response to the Earned Settlement consultation. The headline change affects almost everyone currently working towards indefinite leave to remain: the standard qualifying period is set to rise from five years to ten.

Shorter routes will remain for some. Longer ones are being introduced for others. And one detail that has received very little attention is that the ten-year route carries its own earnings test — reaching ten years will not, by itself, qualify you.

One point needs stating clearly at the outset, because a great deal of what is circulating online gets it wrong.

None of this is law yet. The Immigration Rules have not been amended. If you qualify for settlement under the current five-year rules today, those are the rules that apply to your application today.

This article sets out what has been announced, what remains uncertain, and what is worth doing now. At Kenton Solicitors, our immigration team has advised applicants on settlement from our office in Harrow for over 20 years.

Call us on 020 8907 2444 or request a free consultation.

What Is the UK’s New Earned Settlement Model?

The government consulted on earned settlement between November 2025 and February 2026. The consultation and the government’s response are published on GOV.UK.

The principle is that settlement should reflect what someone has contributed to the UK rather than simply how long they have been here. Under the current system, most people on work and family routes qualify after five years of continuous residence, provided they meet the other requirements. Under the proposed system, your qualifying period will depend on your earnings, your occupation, your immigration history and your connection to the UK.

In practice this converts a single timeline into several, with people moving between them according to circumstances that can change during their time in the UK.

Two structural changes sit alongside it. The ten-year long residence route is to close. And time spent on certain routes, including as a visitor or a student, will not count towards the qualifying period.

Is the UK ILR Qualifying Period Increasing From 5 to 10 Years?

For most people, yes — that is the announced direction. Ten years becomes the standard starting point, replacing five.

The qualifying period is not fixed at ten for everyone. It is better understood as a baseline that moves depending on what you can demonstrate. Higher earnings move you to five years or three. Certain occupations and family connections hold you at five. An adverse immigration history or reliance on public funds can move you to twenty.

The routes most affected are the work routes, Skilled Worker chief among them, where five years has been the expectation for anyone sponsored in the UK.

Who Could Qualify for ILR After 3 Years?

The three-year route is for what the government describes as an exceptional economic contribution. You would need either:

• Earnings of £125,141 in three of the four years immediately before applying, or
• Qualification through the Highest Talent Group — understood to cover routes such as Global Talent, Innovator Founder and Sportsperson

The talent element is subject to review pending a report from the Migration Advisory Committee, so the final scope of this category is not yet settled.

Who Could Qualify for ILR After 5 Years?

The five-year route is for a strong contribution. You would need one of the following:

• Earnings of £50,271 in three of the five years immediately before applying
• Five years in an eligible public service occupation — doctors, nurses and teachers among those identified
• A British connection, such as being the partner, parent or child of a British citizen

Several groups also keep their current position rather than being moved: Hong Kong British National (Overseas) holders, the Afghan schemes, Windrush, armed forces personnel, bereaved partners, and children in local authority care.

It is worth noting that Adult Dependent Relatives have not been specifically addressed in what has been published so far.

The “Best Years” Approach

The earnings tests do not require you to hit the figure every single year. Each uses a best-years approach:

• Three-year route — £125,141 in three of the last four years
• Five-year route — £50,271 in three of the last five years
• Ten-year route — £12,571 in five of the last seven years

That flexibility matters for anyone with an uneven earnings history — a year of parental leave, a period of illness, or a job change at a lower salary need not be fatal.

Who May Need to Wait 10 Years for ILR?

Ten years is the standard route for everyone who does not fall into a shorter category. In practice that means most sponsored workers earning below £50,271 and without a qualifying occupation or British connection.

This is the part most reporting has glossed over: ten years is not automatic. The proposal attaches an earnings requirement of £12,571 a year in five of the seven years before applying. Couples may combine earnings against a household figure of £25,142.

Exemptions from the earnings requirement are proposed for children, people aged 65 and over, and people unable to meet it because of a physical or mental condition.

So someone on a modest income who has been here ten years will still need to show that earnings history. Anyone whose work has been interrupted — by caring responsibilities, illness, a period out of work, or time on a visa that did not permit employment — should look at this carefully.

A twenty-year route is proposed for people whose immigration non-compliance or use of public funds prevents them qualifying sooner. Separate and longer periods apply to refugees depending on how they arrived and which route they are on, with those arriving outside safe and legal routes facing twenty years, and a further ten where entry was illegal.

What New Requirements Could Migrants Need to Meet?

Whichever period applies, the same mandatory conditions are proposed across the board.

English language. B2 is intended to become the usual standard — higher than the level most settlement applicants need at present. This carries the one firm date in the whole package: it is to apply to specified settlement applications made on or after 26 March 2027.

Life in the UK test. Continuing, with exemptions proposed for age and disability.

Good character and criminal convictions. An adult applicant with a UK criminal record would be refused settlement. The precise threshold has not been finalised.

Outstanding government debt. A mandatory requirement to have none, including NHS and tax debt.

National Insurance contributions. At least three years.

Public funds. No specified public funds accessed in the previous five years. Where funds have been accessed, a twenty-year period may apply instead.

Employment and earnings. As set out above, every route now carries an earnings component. This is the most significant departure from the current system, where settlement depends on residence and the conditions of your visa rather than on what you earn.

Will the New ILR Rules Affect Existing Skilled Worker Visa Holders?

This is the question most people are asking, and the answer is not comfortable.

The government has rejected a blanket five-year protection for everyone already living in the UK. Its stated position is that the rules on settlement are determined when the settlement decision is made, not when someone arrived.

What is confirmed:

• If you already hold indefinite leave to remain, nothing changes for you.
• If you qualify under the current rules before the new ones take effect, the current rules apply to that application.
• Protection is targeted at specific groups rather than general.

The targeted protections confirmed so far are:

Care workers who entered or switched into the care route before the May 2025 Immigration White Paper and who met the salary condition of £25,000 a year in the sector keep a five-year pathway. Those who did not meet the conditions may apply for a further five-year Health and Care visa, not tied to their previous employer, and can settle at the end of it if they then qualify.

Healthcare and education workers below RQF Level 6 who arrived before the May 2025 White Paper also keep a five-year pathway. Notably, the fifteen-year route that was floated for lower-paid workers has been abandoned — an improvement on the original proposals that has gone largely unreported.

Care sponsor licence revocations. From 1 February 2027, workers affected by a sponsor losing its licence get up to 120 days to secure a genuine job offer and a further 60 days to resolve their position.

The pre-April 2024 Skilled Worker cohort. Salary transitional arrangements have been extended from 2030 to 2035. This is helpful, but it concerns salary thresholds for visa purposes — it does not preserve five-year settlement for that cohort.

Those earning under £50,000 who are caught by the change will be able to keep renewing their existing visas until they reach the longer qualifying period. Longer on a temporary visa means more applications, more fees and more immigration health surcharge, which is a real cost even where the eventual outcome is the same. Our guide to Skilled Worker visa costs sets out what each renewal involves.

What About Partners and Children?

The government has moved away from requiring every dependant to earn settlement entirely independently, which was a real concern when the consultation opened.

Partners generally settle at the same time as the main applicant. A partner who joined later must complete the applicable qualifying period themselves rather than sharing the main applicant’s.

Children under 18 settle with their parents and are exempt from the income, government debt, English language and Life in the UK requirements. Suitability and criminality provisions still apply.

Young adults aged 18 to 24 who retain dependant status can settle with their family without an individual earnings requirement, but must meet the other adult requirements.

Those aged 25 and over generally need to qualify independently or move onto a route in their own right.

Our guide to Skilled Worker dependants and the fees involved covers the current position for families on work routes.

What Happens If You Are Already 4 or 5 Years Into Your Visa?

This is the single most common question we are being asked, and it deserves an honest answer rather than a reassuring one.

The published material does not answer it. There is no confirmed rule stating what happens to someone who has accrued four years of residence when the new rules commence. The government has said there will be no blanket protection and that settlement rules apply as at the date of decision, but the treatment of accrued residence and of applications pending at commencement has not been clarified.

What can be said with confidence:

• If you reach five years and apply before the new rules commence, the current rules govern that application.
• If your qualifying date falls after commencement, you may find yourself on a longer route than the one you planned around.
• Anyone whose fifth year falls during 2027 is in the most exposed position, because commencement is expected to be spread across that year.

Anyone claiming to know for certain how a part-completed five years will be treated is going beyond what has been published. The position should become clear when the Immigration Rules are laid.

This is precisely why establishing your exact qualifying date matters now. A difference of a few weeks could determine which set of rules applies to you. Our guides on when to apply for ILR and how long ILR takes explain how the current qualifying period is calculated, including the effect of absences.

When Will the New ILR Rules Come Into Force?

No general commencement date has been given.

The Home Secretary indicated that changes will begin to be laid in the December Immigration Rules, with implementation spread across 2027. Impact assessments are to follow.

Only three specific dates have been confirmed:

• 1 February 2027 — the care sponsor licence revocation arrangements
• 26 March 2027 — B2 English for specified settlement applications
• 2035 — the extended salary transitional arrangements for the pre-April 2024 Skilled Worker cohort

Everything else awaits the Statement of Changes. Until the Rules are laid and come into force, the current requirements continue to apply. You can check the current position on the GOV.UK indefinite leave to remain pages and watch for Statements of Changes to the Immigration Rules.

How Can You Prepare for the New UK Settlement Rules?

• Establish your exact qualifying date. Not approximately — exactly. Absences, gaps in permission and time on other visas all affect it, and the difference between qualifying in 2027 and 2028 could be the difference between five years and ten.
• Apply as soon as you properly qualify. If you are eligible under the current rules, delay now carries a risk it did not carry before. Applying before you genuinely qualify, however, means a refusal and a wasted fee.
• Check your English certificate. If it is below B2 and your application may fall on or after 26 March 2027, consider sitting a higher test now.
• Clear any government debt. Outstanding NHS or tax debt is proposed to be a mandatory bar. It is easier to resolve now than under time pressure.
• Gather your earnings records. Every route carries an earnings component. P60s, payslips, tax returns and employment history going back several years are going to matter in a way they never have before.
• Care workers — check your entry date and salary. Whether you entered before 12 May 2025 and whether you met the £25,000 condition determines which protection applies.
• Keep your residence records clean. Continuous residence and absence limits still apply, and they will continue to matter whichever period you end up on.
• Take advice before changing jobs or routes. A move that reduces your salary, or a switch to a route that does not count towards settlement, could have consequences it would not have had a year ago.

Our ILR and settlement team can confirm your exact date and advise on whether applying now is the better course. For the wider picture, see our immigration services, and if an application has been refused our immigration appeals team can advise on the options and the time limits, which are short.

Employers sponsoring workers may also want to review their position — our sponsor licence team advises on compliance duties and the implications for retaining staff.

What Remains Uncertain

In a fast-moving area it is as important to be clear about what is not known as about what is:

• How accrued residence will be treated at commencement — the four-years-in scenario
• The treatment of applications already pending when the Rules change
• The final scope of the Highest Talent Group, pending the MAC report
• The precise criminality threshold
• The position of Adult Dependent Relatives
• The closure arrangements for the long residence route and whether existing applicants are protected
• Whether the 18 to 24 dependant category can settle independently in some circumstances

We will update this article when the Statement of Changes is published.

Frequently Asked Questions About UK ILR Changes 2026

This article was written on 9 November 2026 and reflects the government’s consultation response of 2 November 2026. The changes described are announced policy and proposals — the Immigration Rules have not yet been amended and the detail may change when the Statement of Changes is laid. Immigration rules and individual eligibility depend on your circumstances and on the rules in force at the date of your application. This article is general information and not legal advice. Please confirm the current position on GOV.UK and contact us for advice specific to your situation.