Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce her final decision on changes to immigration rules on Monday. Mahmood proposed extending the wait for permanent settlement from the current five years to 10, with some lower-paid migrants facing a 15-year wait, in response to a period of high net migration. But she faced criticism for proposing to apply the changes to migrant workers already in the UK, with Housing Secretary Angela Rayner saying this would "change the goalposts".
The BBC understands the proposals are likely to be revised for most of those currently working in social care. The Conservatives said Mahmood had "capitulated control of immigration policy" to Rayner. Many lower-paid social care workers were facing a wait of up to 15 years rather than five.
The home secretary is expected to announce her final decision in a statement to MPs in the House of Commons. Indefinite leave to remain (ILR), also known as settlement, gives a person the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as they like and apply for benefits if they are eligible. They can also use it to apply for British citizenship.
Mahmood announced plans to delay settlements in response to concerns over the number of people approaching eligibility, in the wake of record post-Brexit net migration figures under the previous Conservative government. The Home Office has said its figures show net migration - the difference between those entering and leaving the country - added 2.6m people to the UK population between 2021 and 2024. The department forecast around 1.6m people could therefore settle between 2026 and 2030.
More than 200,000 responses were submitted to the consultation on Mahmood's proposals, which were launched under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Several Labour MPs raised concerns about the impact of the proposals on migrants already living here, describing the retrospective approach as "un-British". They also warned it could worsen the UK's skills shortage, particularly in the care sector.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last week that settlement is a "right to be earned, not just granted automatically". Rayner criticises visa rule proposals ahead of Labour conference Fahnbulleh says she backs home secretary on migration after comments to journalists Mahmood has argued reforms are required to avoid a "drain on our public finances". In her foreword to the consultation, Mahmood said the bar to entry to the UK was "lowered significantly" and this was "most evident in the health and care visa".
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