Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce her final decision on immigration rules for legal migrants next week.
Mahmood had initially proposed extending the qualifying period for permanent settlement from five years to ten, with some lower-paid migrants facing a 15-year wait. However, the BBC understands the proposals have been revised, particularly for those currently working in social care.
The Home Secretary was said to be concerned about the number of people who would become eligible for permanent residency following a period of very high net migration under the previous government. However, the plans faced significant opposition from within the Cabinet. Before returning to government, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner criticized the proposals as “un-British” because they sought to alter the terms for people who had come to the UK in good faith.
Under the original plans, many lower-paid social care workers faced a wait of up to 15 years rather than five. Sources now indicate that social care workers already in the UK are likely to be exempt from the extended qualifying period.
For most other workers, however, the requirement to live and work in the UK for ten years before becoming eligible for indefinite leave to remain is expected to stand. This period could be reduced for those who contribute to their local communities or earn higher incomes.
The government’s consultation on the proposed reforms attracted 200,000 responses. The Home Office has declined to comment on the final decisions until they are presented to Parliament in the coming week.
Reacting to reports of the climbdown, a Conservative Party spokesperson said in September: “Shabana Mahmood has caved in to pressure from Angela Rayner and her open borders MPs and will shred her own plans to reform indefinite leave to remain. This is a slap in the face to British taxpayers who will have to subsidise low-skilled, low-wage migrants.”
Indefinite leave to remain grants a person the right to live, work, and study in the UK permanently and to apply for benefits if eligible.