UK Earned Settlement: The New 10-Year ILR Rules Explained

November 3, 2026•20 min read

The UK is doubling the standard wait for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from 5 to 10 years. Under the "earned settlement" model the Home Office confirmed on 2 November 2026, people earning over £50,271, doctors, nurses, teachers and partners of British citizens can still settle after 5 years and top earners after 3, while anyone who claimed benefits or broke immigration rules faces 20. The rules apply to people already in the UK, and transitional protection covers mainly care workers who arrived before May 2025.

Wondering whether the UK is still the right move, or where you could settle faster? The Relocation Wizard matches you with countries on cost, climate, safety and lifestyle in a few minutes.

Key Takeaways

10 years is the new default for Skilled Worker, family and most other routes, including everyone earning under £50,271. The 15-year wait proposed for lower-skilled workers was dropped.
5 years if you earned at least £50,271 in 3 of the last 5 years, work in a listed health or education role (such as doctor, nurse or teacher), or are the partner, parent or child of a British citizen.
3 years if you earned at least £125,141 in 3 of the last 4 years, or belong to the "highest talent" group (still under review).
20 years if you used specified public funds in the 5 years before applying, or broke immigration rules as an adult. Illegal entry adds another 10.
Everyone needs a clean UK criminal record, no debts to the state, B2 English and a minimum earnings record.
Not in force yet. No new Immigration Rules have been laid. The Home Secretary told MPs the changes start with the December 2026 rules and roll out over 2027. B2 English for ILR is already law from 26 March 2027.
Already settled? ILR holders keep it, and the EU Settlement Scheme is not affected. Hong Kong BN(O) holders keep their 5-year path.

Where Things Stand (as of 3 November 2026)

What was published on 2 November is a policy decision, not new rules. The Home Office released its response to the earned settlement consultation ("A Fairer Pathway to Settlement", CP 1707), a press release and the Home Secretary's statement to the Commons. The consultation drew 204,667 responses, and the government estimates that over 500,000 people will now wait longer than 5 years to settle.

Element	Status
10-year baseline, 5 and 3-year paths, 20-year penalties	Decided, not yet in the Immigration Rules
Start date	None published. The Home Secretary said changes begin with the December 2026 Immigration Rules and are implemented "over the course of 2027" (as reported by EIN; the GOV.UK text gives no dates)
B2 English for ILR	Already law: HC 1691, for applications from 26 March 2027
Benefits that trigger 20 years, "highest talent" list	Still to come (the second after a Migration Advisory Committee report)

The last Statement of Changes was HC 584 on 3 September 2026, so nothing below is enforceable until new rules are laid, and details can still shift.

How Long You Will Wait Under Earned Settlement

This table summarises the government response (chapters 2 to 5 and its Table 1).

Wait	Who it applies to
3 years	Earned £125,141 or more in 3 of the last 4 years (the additional-rate tax threshold). Also the "highest talent" group, such as Global Talent and Innovator Founder, if your latest permission is on that route (under MAC review)
5 years	Earned £50,271 or more in 3 of the last 5 years (the higher-rate threshold). Health and education roles on national pay scales, such as doctors, nurses and teachers (full list in Annex C). Partners, parents and children of British citizens. UK Ancestry
10 years	Everyone else on a qualifying route: Skilled Workers and Health and Care Workers under £50,271, roles below degree level (RQF 6), partners of non-British sponsors, Family and Private Life routes
20 years	Used specified public funds in the 5 years before applying. Immigration breaches as an adult (overstaying, breaching visa conditions, deception, frustrating immigration controls), whatever you earn
Plus 10 years	Illegal entry, on any route (except people covered by Article 31 of the Refugee Convention)
Own timelines	Hong Kong BN(O) (5 years), Armed Forces (4 years), Windrush, bereaved partners and domestic abuse victims (immediate). These groups still face the new criminality and B2 English rules

The EU Settlement Scheme sits outside the reform. The earnings thresholds are tied to the income tax bands, so they move when the bands move. Refugees have separate tiers (5, 10 or 20 years) not covered here. Dropped from the November 2025 proposals: the 15-year wait below degree level and reductions for volunteering and C1 English.

Requirements Everyone Must Meet

On top of the qualifying period, every adult applicant must meet these conditions, according to the response:

No UK criminal record. The response says any adult with a UK criminal record will be refused, and that this includes outcomes such as fines, cautions and community sentences.
No debts to the state: NHS charges, unpaid tax or National Insurance, and litigation costs owed to the Home Office.
English at B2 (upper intermediate), up from B1 today. Under-18s, people aged 65 and over and people with a relevant physical or mental condition are exempt.
The Life in the UK test stays (it is being reviewed). It costs £50.
A minimum earnings record of at least £12,571 a year, just above the tax-free personal allowance. The response applies this to 5 of the 7 years before you apply on the 10-year path in one place and to 3 years in another, so wait for the rules. Couples can pool income against a household figure of £25,142.

Which Visas Count, and Which Do Not

Only "core" routes build towards settlement: Skilled Worker (including Health and Care), Global Talent, Innovator Founder, Scale-up, UK Ancestry, Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson, the family partner and parent routes, and some protection routes.

These do not count: Student, Graduate, High Potential Individual, Visit, Youth Mobility, Global Business Mobility, Temporary Worker, Seasonal Worker, Overseas Domestic Worker and the Ukraine schemes. The response also says the 10-year Long Residence route will close, with no date yet.

This hits international students hardest. Today, lawful years on a Student visa can count towards the 10-year long residence route. Under earned settlement, the clock starts only when you move onto a qualifying route such as Skilled Worker. The Graduate visa itself shrinks from 2 years to 18 months for applications from 1 January 2027 (PhD graduates keep 3 years).

Family and Private Life permission leads only to the 10 or 20-year paths, never 5 or 3. Time on protection or Article 8 routes cannot be combined with time on work or family routes.

If You Are Already in the UK

The new rules apply to people already here. The press release says anyone seeking settlement must meet the new conditions "regardless of when they arrived in the country", and the Home Secretary said the rules "are determined when a settlement decision is made. Not at the point when someone arrives." The press release refers to "the point of application" instead, so watch which date the final rules use.

Transitional protection is narrow. It covers only people who joined their route before the Immigration White Paper of May 2025:

Care workers who met their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 a year keep the 5-year path. Those who did not (around a quarter of the 250,000 people who came on the care route from 2022 to 2025, per the Home Secretary) can get a new 5-year Health and Care visa that is not tied to their old employer, rather than settlement.
Health and education roles below degree level on national pay scales, such as nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants, also keep 5 years.
From 1 February 2027, care workers whose sponsor loses its licence get 120 days to find a new job plus 60 days to sort out their visa.

Skilled Workers first sponsored before 4 April 2024 can keep extending on the older salary rules until 2035. That keeps the visa renewable; it does not by itself keep the 5-year settlement path.

If you already hold ILR, you keep it: "Settled status will never be removed from anyone who already holds it", says the press release.

Partners and Children

A partner who arrived with the main applicant settles at the same time.
A partner who joins later has to complete the full qualifying period on their own record.
Children under 18 settle with their parents and are exempt from the income, debt, English and Life in the UK requirements.
Dependent children aged 18 to 24 can settle with the family but must meet the adult requirements, except earnings.
From age 25, they must qualify on their own.

Worked Examples

These follow the published framework; the final rules decide the details.

Software engineer on a Skilled Worker visa since March 2023, earning £62,000. Above £50,271 in at least 3 of the last 5 years, so a 5-year wait: eligible from March 2028, with B2 English because that is after 26 March 2027.
Senior care worker who arrived in January 2023 on £25,500 with a compliant sponsor. Protected: settlement after 5 years, from January 2028.
Marketing manager on a Skilled Worker visa since 2024, earning £42,000. Under £50,271, so 10 years (2034). If their pay passes £50,271 in 3 of the 5 years, they could still settle at the 5-year mark in 2029.
Master's graduate: 1 year as a student, 2 on the Graduate visa, then Skilled Worker from 2026. The study and Graduate years do not count, and long residence will no longer be a fallback. The clock starts in 2026.

A longer path also costs more. Each extra year on a temporary visa means another £1,035 of immigration health surcharge per adult (Health and Care Worker visa holders are exempt), so 5 extra years add £5,175 per adult before visa extension fees.

What to Do Now

Work out your date under the current rules. If you reach 5 years before the new rules start, apply as soon as you are eligible. ILR costs £3,226 per person (fees table); priority (£500) and super priority (£1,000) services speed up the decision.
Collect earnings evidence for every year: P60s, payslips and HMRC records, including from past employers. The 5 and 3-year paths look back over 5 (or 4) years.
Clear any NHS charges, tax or National Insurance arrears now, since debt is a refusal ground.
Plan for B2 English if you will apply on or after 26 March 2027, and check which tests and qualifications the Home Office accepts at that level.
Protect your record: do not claim public funds, keep your sponsor's licence status in view, and stay under 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months (the current limit for Skilled Worker and similar routes).
Read the December Statement of Changes when it is laid, especially any cut-off dates and the list of benefits that trigger the 20-year path.

What About British Citizenship?

Nothing changed on 2 November. Today you can naturalise after 5 years of residence once you have held ILR for 12 months, with the Life in the UK test and B1 English. Spouses of British citizens can apply as soon as they have ILR, after 3 years of residence. The fee is £1,709 plus £130 for the ceremony. The 2025 consultation said citizenship reforms would build on the settlement changes and would need primary legislation. For anyone on the 10-year path, a British passport is now at least 11 years away.

If 10 Years Is Too Long: How Other Countries Compare

For mid-salary skilled workers, the UK's new baseline is one of the slowest routes to permanent status among the main English-speaking and Western European destinations. Facts as of November 2026; net salary and rent are average monthly figures in USD from the site's data.

Country	Fastest common route to permanent status	Citizenship	Avg net salary	Avg rent
United Kingdom	10 years (5 above £50,271, 3 above £125,141)	ILR plus 12 months	$3,086	$2,764
Canada	Permanent residence on arrival through Express Entry	1,095 days in 5 years	$2,792	$1,994
Australia	Direct PR (subclass 189) or employer nomination after 2 years on a 482 visa	4 years, the last 12 months as PR	$3,639	$2,143
New Zealand	Green List: residence straight away (Tier 1) or after 2 years (Tier 2)	1,350 days in 5 years as a resident	$2,929	$1,459
Germany	Settlement permit after 21 to 27 months (Blue Card) or 3 years (skilled worker)	5 years	$2,981	$1,296
Ireland	Stamp 4 after 21 months on a Critical Skills permit (renewable, not PR); long-term residency after 5 years	5 years (8 proposed)	$3,064	$2,114
Netherlands	Permanent residence after 5 years plus a civic integration exam	5 years (10 proposed)	$3,459	$2,153

Canada and Australia grant permanent status on arrival but select hard: Express Entry runs on points, and from 3 November 2026 a job offer in a high-wage occupation earns 50 to 100 points without an LMIA. Germany's settlement permit needs basic (A1) German at 27 months or B1 at 21. The UK still suits high earners and NHS or school staff, who keep a 5-year path; see our guides for nurses and finance professionals. Put any two countries side by side with Country Compare.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does earned settlement apply if I arrived before the change?

Yes, in most cases. The government says your arrival date does not lock in the old rules; the rules at the time of your application or decision apply. Transitional protection covers only care workers and some below-degree health and education roles who joined before May 2025.

When do the new ILR rules start?

No commencement date has been published. The Home Secretary said the first changes will be laid in the December 2026 Immigration Rules and the reforms implemented over 2027. The B2 English requirement already applies to ILR applications from 26 March 2027.

Can I still get ILR after 5 years on a Skilled Worker visa?

Yes, if you earned at least £50,271 in 3 of the 5 years before applying, work in a listed health or education role, or qualify before the new rules start. Otherwise the Skilled Worker route moves to 10 years, and you can keep renewing your visa until then.

Does time on a Student or Graduate visa count towards settlement?

No. Neither counts under earned settlement, and the Long Residence route, which counts student years today, will close. Your clock starts when you switch to a qualifying route such as Skilled Worker.

Plan Your Next Step

If the UK still fits, map your earnings against the £50,271 line and check your date under today's rules before the December Statement of Changes lands. If a 10-year wait changes your plans, the Relocation Wizard shows which countries match your priorities, and the moving checklist keeps the move itself on track.

Sources

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