Stricter immigration rules proposed by the government could apply to migrants already living in the United Kingdom, requiring them to have lived in the country for 10 years to qualify for settlement.
The government’s recently published Immigration White Paper outlines major revisions to UK immigration policy, which include doubling the amount of time required to quality for settled status from five years to 10 years.
Currently, immigrants to the United Kingdom qualifying for settled status, or the “right to remain”, after five years of living in the country. Under the new rules, however, immigrants will need to have lived in the UK for 10 years to qualify for permanent settlement.
Following the initial announcement of the immigration rule changes, there was some uncertainty over whether the new requirements would apply to migrants already living in the UK.
Responding to questions in Parliament, Interior Minister Yvette Cooper said that the current five-year route would be retained for those on dependent or family visas, but that the government would consult on rules to apply the 10-year requirement to other migrants already living in the UK.
“We will set out further details of the earned settlement and citizenship reforms later this year, and we will consult on them,” Cooper said.
“There will be plenty of opportunity for people to comment on and consider the detail, but it is important that we extend the sense of contributions and the points-based system to those reforms as well. We have also said that we will maintain the current five-year route for those who have come on a dependant visa or a family visa, as part of maintaining families.”
Reuters reported that Cooper wanted the longer timeframe to apply to everyone else apart from those on dependant or family visas, which could leave more than 1 million migrants facing longer wait times for permanent settlement and citizenship.
It should be noted that while the timeframe for permanent settlement will be extended under the new immigration rules, the point-based system will also be expanded to apply to this process, with the white paper saying shorter qualification periods may be available to those who have contributed to the UK’s economy and society.
Other major reforms laid out in the Immigration White Paper include the raising of the Skilled Worker threshold to RQF 6 (Graduate level) and the abolition of the immigration salary list.
The government also plans to end the overseas recruitment of social care workers, closing all social care visas to new applications as a workforce strategy is developed and rolled out during a transition period.
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