Deadline approaches to respond to UK’s settlement consultation

The UK government has outlined plans to overhaul the current predictable five-year route to settlement for most people on work and family visas.

You have until 12^th February to respond to the “earned settlement” consultation which everyone is invited to, both as an individual and as an organisation. For employers, workers, and their families, this isn’t a niche immigration issue. These are radical reforms. Proposals may directly impact recruitment, retention, employment costs, and the viability of building a career and a life in the UK. You will probably know someone whose path to secure settlement in Britain would be impacted. You may have immigrant employees you are sponsoring who may be affected, or this may impact your ability to attract the best international talent to join your growing firm. However, you don’t need to be personally affected to respond to the anonymised online consultation.

Also known as Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), settlement allows people who have qualified to live and work in the UK without sponsorship by an employer or dependence on a family member. After a year in the UK with ILR, people can then apply for British citizenship.

The changes to qualifying for settlement are set to be implemented from April 2026 onwards, subject to the current public consultation. Some of the reforms, such as those requiring parliamentary legislation, may take longer to arrange.

What are the main proposed changes to settlement in the UK?

The UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has proposed the following:

• The standard baseline period for settlement doubles from five years spent in the UK on a route that qualifies for settlement to 10 (as much as 15 years for those working on a skill level below RQF6 and 20 for refugees). This would double or triple sponsorship and immigration costs and responsibilities for those who can’t “earn” shorter paths
• Certain contributions allow some to “earn” a shorter path. It is proposed that higher rate taxpayers (earning £50,270 pa and over) and highly skilled public servants may “earn” five years off the standard ten. Community volunteering may earn people three to five years off their path to settlement. Those on Innovator Founder and Global Talent visas or earning over £125,140 may earn seven years off, so could settle after three years. There is a proposal that advanced C1 English language attainment could earn an extra year off a route to settlement
• Lower-skilled workers, those who break immigration rules or claim public funds (both easy to do if you don’t understand UK regulations) face many more years of repeat visa applications before they may settle. A period of overstaying on a visa, for instance, could add 20 years on top of a ten-year route to settlement (though this could be reduced by the contributions mentioned above)
• Paying three to five years’ national insurance (i.e. earning above £12,750), no outstanding government debt, a “clean criminal record”, B2 English language attainment (equivalent to a foreign language A-level) would all become requirements to settle
• Those on the EU Settled Status path, certain family members of British citizens and those on the Hong Kong BN(O) scheme should be exempt from these proposals

What changes are the UK government consulting on?

The online questionnaire is looking for public opinions on aspects including the following:

• Tripling the qualifying period to 15 years for immigrants in roles below degree-level skill (RQF6), including many crucial skillsets on the Temporary Shortage List like electricians, data analysts, industrial and product designers, welders, engineering technicians
• Fair transitional arrangements to “ease the impact” for those already in the UK on immigration paths they may hope to eventually settle on
• Whether ILR affords rights to public funds as it does now, or whether these only come with citizenship
• Those who break immigration rules or claim public funds (both easy to do if you don’t understand UK regulations) face an extra two decades of repeat visa applications on top. Others may be permanently disqualified due to a minor historic criminal sentence. Are these proposals the Home Office lump under “character” proportionate?
• Whether vulnerable groups including children, domestic violence survivors, adult dependent relatives, impaired applicants, armed forces and bereaved family members should have to face these new hurdles too
• Are there any groups that should be exempt from a requirement to have earned above £12,750 for at least three to five years? For example, people who have come to the UK as children of visa applicants, or perhaps their partner bringing children up
• How residence should count towards settlement – should time already spent in the UK on student, graduate, youth mobility and all other visas count or be stripped away? Is tripling or quadrupling the route to settlement for some reasonable? What about the costs for organisations who may have to sponsor workers coming to the UK for much longer

How to respond to the online consultation

You can respond to the public consultation on the proposals in a personal or organisational capacity before 12 February 2026 through this link. You can read more about the proposals and questions in the consultation in our guide here to help formulate your responses, both as an individual and as an organisation.

Responses are anonymised, but you may wish to describe your organisation, your sector and how important internationally recruited workforce are to it. Most questions are multiple choice, but you can also comment on proposals, the impact on people’s lives and your sector of the economy. These are major proposals which have consequences for many already on a route to settle in the UK as well as those considering such a move and weighing up a career in the UK versus countries with simpler paths to settlement than those the UK may be facing.

How would proposals affect UK startups?

For startups, particularly those in the fast-moving tech sector, these proposals represent a significant shift in the talent contract that allows the UK to compete with hubs like Berlin, Paris, or Silicon Valley.

The tech industry thrives on agility and the ability to attract elite global engineers, data scientists, and founders. Those coming to the UK as Innovator Founders or on Global Talent visas are likely to have a three-year route to settlement. But what if a minor criminal offence by them or a family dependant makes another tech hub abroad offers more certainty? What if a partner is bringing up their children and not working – would they be able to settle?

See Also

From FTSE stability to nature’s investment frontier

By doubling the standard baseline for settlement to 10 years – and potentially 15 for crucial mid-tier roles like data analysts or tech technicians – the UK risks appearing less attractive than European neighbours who offer a shorter and more straightforward route to permanent residency. For a startup, a key selling point for international hires is Britain’s regulatory stability. Now even those already working in the UK on a path to settlement feel the rug being pulled out from under their feet.

Beyond recruitment, the financial and operational burden on early-stage companies could be immense. Startups often operate on lean runway and must justify every pound of spend. Moving from a five-year sponsorship cycle to a 10- or 15-year commitment means doubling or tripling cumulative costs. The “earned settlement” model proposed relies on high cash salaries (such as the £50,270 and £125,140 thresholds) to fast-track permanent status. This directly penalizes early-stage startups that often compensate employees with lower cash salaries bolstered by equity or stock options. If the Home Office focuses solely on taxable income, the very pioneers building the UK’s next unicorns could find themselves stuck in a cycle of temporary visas far longer than big corporations, for whom all this will be more manageable.

Startups in tech, energy, engineering, advanced manufacturing, energy, creative industries, aerospace, defence, finance, and science are all key to Britain’s Modern Industrial Strategy. Given the government’s strategic aims for these sectors, it should take seriously legitimate concerns they express in this consultation.