Tech workers earning under £50,000 face decade before UK settlement

UK tech workers earning below £50,270 would wait 10 years for indefinite leave under the government’s earned settlement plan, double the current 5-year route for skilled workers.

The plan is largely without precedent and would be far longer than in the vast majority of comparable countries, a briefing paper from the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association shows.

The proposals in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement split skilled workers into four tiers based on earnings and occupation type. Workers earning £125,140 or more, or those on the Global Talent route, qualify for settlement after three years.

Those in graduate-level roles (RQF6 or above) earning at least £50,270 still qualify after five years. Skilled workers in the same RQF6+ bracket but earning below £50,270 face a 10-year wait. Workers in occupations classed below RQF6 face 15 years.

For UK technology employers, the £50,270 line falls awkwardly across the workforce.

The threshold sits in line with the higher rate income tax band, meaning a substantial share of mid-career tech roles, particularly outside London and the South East, fall below it. Junior developers, QA engineers, IT support staff, and many data analysts typically earn below this level in their early careers.

How the UK compares to other countries

Five years has been the standard qualifying period for skilled workers in the United Kingdom since 2006, when the Labour Government raised the period from four years to bring practice closer to the European norm.

The five-year period stayed in place under the original points-based system in 2008, and again when the new skilled worker route launched on 1 December 2020 after Brexit.

A 10-year baseline would also place the United Kingdom behind comparable destinations for technology talent.

The EU’s recast Blue Card Directive grants permanent residence after 2 years for highly qualified workers, with a 5-year route under the Long Term Residents Directive for others.

Canada, Australia, and the United States grant permanent residence to many skilled workers at the point of arrival, with no qualifying period of residence. New Zealand applies a 2-year residence requirement for skilled work routes.

Additional minimum requirements

Tech workers who clear the salary cliff still face new baseline requirements.

English language ability rises from B1 to B2 on the Common European Framework, and a minimum earnings test of £12,570 applies for a period of years, with the duration still subject to consultation.

The ILPA flags that the minimum earnings rule has no clear precedent outside Denmark, where similar mandatory requirements introduced in 2017 have left lower-paid workers, partners, and refugees unable to meet permanent residence thresholds.

Tech workers already in the United Kingdom on a 5 year skilled worker route gain no protection against the changes.

The Government has stated the new framework applies to “everyone in the country today who has not already received indefinite leave to remain”.

ILPA describes this as a retrospective shift that breaks with consistent practice over the past 15 years, during which transitional arrangements have shielded existing visa holders from rule changes.

Previous tightening of the skilled worker salary floor in April 2024 and the RQF threshold in July 2025 each carried transitional protection for those already en route.

For employers, the practical effect lands on staff hired between 2020 and 2025 under the understanding of a 5-year settlement route.

If the plans take effect, those workers face up to 5 additional years of visa renewals, fees, and uncertainty before securing indefinite leave.

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