New UK immigration rules – Refugees to wait 20 years for citizenship
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has officially announced new immigration rules that will impose much tougher restrictions on asylum seekers and rescind many of their benefits.
In the Restoring Order and Control policy paper published on Monday 17 November, Mahmood proposed a raft of new measures from the Labour government to tackle the issue of asylum seekers arriving in the United Kingdom.
Under the new rules, refugees will receive 30 months of leave to remain instead of the current five years, and this will only be renewed if they are still considered in need of protection.
If their refugee status is not renewed, they will be returned to their home countries.
Currently refugees in the UK have permanent refugee status and can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years of being in the UK, proving the opportunity to gain British citizenship.
The new rules proposed by Mahmood will see refugees who arrive in the UK forced to wait 20 years to apply for indefinite leave to remain, and their refugee status will be under review throughout this period. This change is expected to apply only to new arrivals in the UK.
Alongside the reviewal of refugee status and longer wait times for settled status, Mahmood also announced that the UK will take a different interpretation of the ECHR’s right to family and private life, extending this only to immediate family connections when applied to asylum seekers.
Under the newly defined ‘core protection’ offered to refugees, there will be no automatic right to family reunion. Those who successfully move off core protection and enter a Work and Study visa route could become eligible to sponsor family members to come to the UK.
The new rules will also revoke the UK’s duty to provide housing and weekly allowances to asylum seekers who are facing destitution. Those refugees who have a right to work and can support themselves will not receive any support, and those who break the law can also have their support removed.
New legal routes for asylum seekers
In addition to all the measure above, the government’s new policy plans to introduce new legal routes for asylum seekers to enter the UK.
Drawing inspiration from the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, people and organisations will be able to sponsor individual refugees, within caps set by the government.
A capped route will also be introduced to allow refugee students to study in the UK, as well as a separate capped route that will allow skilled refugees to come to the UK for work.
The government said that for these new legal routes, it is considering a 10-year route to settlement, subject to consultation.
“Our failure to change with this changing world has drawn ever more migrants to our shores,” Mahmood said.
“In 2024, asylum claims in the UK rose by 18 percent, to a record high. Across Europe, meanwhile, claims fell by 13 percent. We have become the destination of choice in Europe, clearly visible to every people smuggler and would-be illegal migrant across the world.”
“This statement sets out an entirely new asylum model for this country. Just like in Denmark, refugee status becomes temporary – lasting only until a refugee can safely return home.”
“Asylum seekers and refugees will not be offered the generous terms they currently receive. We will no longer have a duty to support those who have the ability to support themselves, nor those who break our laws or rules,” she said.
The government added that broader settlement requirements will be considered in an upcoming consultation on earned settlement, which will apply to both legal and illegal migrants.
