UK earned settlement: the salary thresholds that will decide how long migrants wait for ILR
Most migrants will wait 10 years for settlement in the UK, but those earning over £50,271 or £125,141 could qualify sooner. Here is how the new rules work.
The essentials: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed on November 2, 2026 that most migrants will have to wait 10 years, instead of five, before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK. Under this “earned settlement” system, salary becomes a key lever: high earners, some public service workers and care workers already in the country can still settle sooner. The changes will start appearing in the Immigration Rules in December and roll out over 2027.
What has the government announced?
Mahmood set out the final policy in a statement to the House of Commons on November 2, alongside the government’s response to a consultation that received 204,667 replies, according to the Electronic Immigration Network (EIN). “Settlement should not be automatic; it should be earned,” she told MPs.
The standard qualifying period for settlement doubles from five to 10 years for most migrants. On top of that, applicants will have to meet a set of mandatory requirements. According to Personnel Today and Garth Coates Solicitors, these include English at B2 level, no criminal record, no debts to the state and at least three years of National Insurance contributions. Anyone who has claimed benefits will need five continuous years without public funds before applying, the Home Secretary said.
What are the salary thresholds?
The new system sorts applicants into pathways based mainly on earnings. The two higher thresholds follow income tax bands: £50,271 is the higher-rate threshold and £125,141 the additional-rate threshold, Personnel Today notes. The floor for everyone is £12,571 a year.
| Waiting time | Main conditions |
|---|---|
| 3 years | Earned £125,141 a year for 3 of the last 4 years, or qualifies through the “highest talent” group |
| 5 years | Earned £50,271 for 3 of the last 5 years, or 5 years in an eligible public service job (doctors, nurses, teachers, for example), or a British family connection |
| 10 years (default) | Earned at least £12,571 a year for 5 of the previous 7 years (£25,142 combined for a couple) and meets all mandatory requirements |
| 20 years | Immigration breaches or reliance on public funds prevent an earlier pathway |
Sources: government tables published by EIN, Personnel Today.
Refugees are treated separately. Those who arrive through safe and legal routes, such as the UK Resettlement Scheme, can settle after five years. Others face 10, 20 or even 30 years, depending on whether they work or study and how they entered the UK, according to the government table published by EIN.
What changes for care workers?
This was the most contested part of the plan. Last year’s consultation had floated a 15-year wait for lower-paid workers, including in social care. That idea has been dropped, Personnel Today and Garth Coates report.
Care workers who joined the health and care route, or switched into it, before the immigration White Paper of May 2025 keep their five-year path if they met their visa conditions. “Those who earned £25,000 a year working in the social care sector, which was the condition of their visa, will therefore be able to settle on their existing five-year path,” Mahmood said.
Around a quarter of the 250,000 people who came to or switched into the care route between 2022 and 2025 did not meet those conditions, according to the Commons statement. They will be offered a further five-year care visa that is not tied to their previous employer, after which they could settle at 10 years, Garth Coates explains. Similar transitional arrangements apply to some health and education support staff, such as auxiliary nurses, who arrived before May 2025.
Who else is affected, and when?
There are no general transitional arrangements for other migrants already in the UK, according to Personnel Today. A Skilled Worker earning below £50,271 who is not in an eligible public service role would therefore move to the 10-year track. Personnel Today adds that Skilled Workers hired before April 2024 can keep extending their visas on the old salary thresholds until 2035. Garth Coates says the position of partners and dependants has not yet been confirmed.
The timetable is gradual. “The changes that have been announced will begin to be laid from the December Immigration Rules. They will be implemented over the course of 2027,” Mahmood said. Until the new rules take effect, the current ones still apply, Personnel Today stresses. The government has promised impact assessments and detailed guidance as the changes are rolled out.
For employers, the reform has a cost: keeping a sponsored worker and family on visas for an extra five years could cost up to £32,170 plus legal fees for a family of four, Personnel Today estimates.
