UK Government Announces Proposed Contribution Pathway for Indefinite Leave to Remain
The UK government recently announced its intention to radically change the eligibility criteria for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) by increasing the time that many ILR applicants must have continuously lived in the UK (the residence requirement) before they are eligible to apply to settle. The government proposes that the exact residence requirement will depend on an assessment of an applicant's visa and their contribution to the UK. The Home Secretary’s contribution proposals will be subject to a consultation process.
The government plans will not affect you if you already have Indefinite Leave to Remain. However, depending on any transitional arrangements and changes to the proposals, they may affect your settlement plans if you intend to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after 2026.
In this blog, our UK Immigration Solicitors outline the government's suggested criteria for contribution-based Indefinite Leave to Remain. If you are concerned about how the government's plans may affect your plans to settle in the UK, our expert ILR Lawyers can provide specialist immigration legal advice tailored to your circumstances.
Contact OTS Solicitors Today for Expert Immigration Legal Advice.
The government announces a new pathway to settlement
On 20 November 2025, the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, delivered a lengthy statement outlining her planned significant reforms to the eligibility criteria for Indefinite Leave to Remain for those who entered the UK on visas.
The plans are radical and subject to consultation. They may be changed as part of the parliamentary process. They could be challenged in court, as many applicants and their families will feel aggrieved that they based their plans to live and work in the UK on the current UK rules, which allow most relevant visa holders to apply to settle in the UK after five years. The government response may echo the comments by the Home Secretary in her 20 November 2025 statement that ‘to settle in this country forever is not a right, but a privilege. And it must be earned.’
The government's rationale for ILR reform
In the Home Secretary’s view, ’the pace and scale of migration in this country has been destabilising’. She used the following statistics in justification:
- 400,000 people have claimed asylum in the UK since 2021.
- The UK net migration figure since 2021 is around 2.6 million people.
- Around one in every 30 people in the UK entered the UK after 2021.
- Over 600,000 people, included in the net migration figures from 2021, are Health and Care Worker Visa holders and their family members in the UK on Dependant Visas.
- Unless the ILR residence requirement and eligibility criteria are changed, it is estimated that 1.6 million people will be eligible to apply for ILR between 2026 and 2030, with the peak forecast in 2028 of 450,000. That is quadruple the current average number of settlement applications.
ILR changes
Details of the plans to change the ILR eligibility criteria can be found in our article:
Preparing to Apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain Under the Contribution-Based UK Settlement Rules.
To recap, the government intends to change the ILR eligibility criteria by:
- Increasing the residence requirement for most applicants from five to ten years. However, some applicants will need to have lived in the UK for more than ten years before meeting the residence requirement.
- ILR applicants will need to have a clean criminal record.
- ILR applicants will need to speak English to A-Level standard.
- Applicants will need to have made ongoing National Insurance contributions.
- Applicants will not be able to have outstanding debt or loans.
The 20 November 2025 statement clarified how the proposed contributions scheme would affect the residence requirement for individual ILR applicants.
How contributions will affect eligibility to settle in the UK
The government proposes that an assessment of an applicant's contributions will impact whether the applicant qualifies for settlement after:
- Ten years (the new standard residence requirement).
- Three to five years (accelerated).
- Over ten years (extended).
The ILR contribution criteria
Subject to the consultation process, the government proposes that if an applicant meets specific ILR contribution criteria, it may impact the length of their residence requirement as follows:
- Accelerated settlement (earlier than the ten-year standard residence requirement)
- Those paying the higher tax rate may qualify for ILR with a five-year residence requirement. Those paying high-rate tax could qualify after meeting a three-year residence requirement.
- Those on the Global Talent Visa who meet the accelerated criteria would continue to need to meet a three-year residence requirement.
- Public service workers, such as doctors, teachers, and nurses, would need to meet a five-year residence requirement.
- Those who meet the volunteer contribution requirement would need to meet a residence requirement of between five and seven years.
- Those who speak English to a degree-level standard could qualify for ILR after a nine-year residence requirement.
- Extended settlement (over the ten-year standard residence requirement)
- Lower-qualified workers (such as carers and senior carers) on Health and Care Worker Visas and their dependents on Dependant Visas would need to meet a 15-year residence requirement.
- Applicants who had received benefits for less than 12 months would need to meet a 15-year residence requirement.
- Applicants who had received benefits for over 12 months would need to meet a 20-year residence requirement.
- Those who entered the UK on a non-legal route may need to meet a 30-year residence requirement before becoming eligible to apply to settle. However, refugees on core protection would qualify for settlement after 20 years, those on a “work and study” visa could earn settlement earlier, and those arriving by a legal route would earn settlement after ten years.
Those not affected by the revised standard residence requirement of ten years include:
- The partners of British citizens who will continue to need to meet a five-year residence requirement.
- British Nationals Overseas from Hong Kong on the Hong Kong Visa who will continue to need to meet a five-year residence requirement.
- Those eligible for settlement under the Windrush and EU Settlement schemes.
Government proposals on revised settlement entitlements with new ILR criteria
At present, anyone who secures Indefinite Leave to Remain has the same rights. For example, the same rights to access state benefits and state support as a British citizen. The government proposes that some benefits may not be available to those with Indefinite Leave to Remain. There would therefore be a significant difference between Indefinite Leave to Remain status and naturalised British citizenship.
These ILR entitlement changes would not be retrospective under a Labour government. Therefore, anyone who qualifies for ILR before the rule changes would not lose their ILR rights or access to benefits. The government may also agree to transitional provisions to enable people to adjust to the sweeping planned changes. However, there is no certainty over whether transitional provisions will apply and how they will work.
Steps to take if you plan to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain
UK Immigration Solicitors emphasise that the government proposals will be open to consultation. Their final plans may be radically different and include transitional provisions. However, it is sensible for anyone intending to apply to settle in the UK to consider our ten-point ILR action plan.
Our Immigration Lawyers in London can help answer all your questions about future changes to ILR eligibility criteria and how you can best prepare for them. We can also advise, depending on your situation, on whether you should consider applying for British citizenship if you hold ILR status.
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