Name: UK home secretary announces some migrants will face 20 year wait for settled status | BBC News
Uploaded: 2025-11-20T17:13:32.000Z
Duration: 6 min 4 s
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Here the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood has unveiled a shake up to rules for legal migration just days after announcing reforms to the asylum system.

Under the new plans, migrants could only be eligible for benefits and social housing once they become British citizens.

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Those in the country illegally could have to wait up to 30 years to become long term residents.

Shabana Mahmood has been speaking in the House of Commons in the past hour about the new rules and she accused the last government of of losing control of immigration.

This consultation addresses the question of the so called Boris wave, specifically the cohort of lower qualified workers who entered the country along with their dependents through the health and care visa, some of whom are never expected to be net economic contributors.

It is right that we apply more stringent controls for this group and for that reason we propose they should wait 15 years before they can earn settlement.

Crucially, for these and every other group mentioned here, we propose these changes apply to everyone in the country today who has not yet received indefinite leave to remain.

Though we are seeking views on whether there should be some transitional arrangements available.

May I make one thing absolutely clear, though?

We will not change the rules for those with settled status today.

These are people who have been in our country for years, even decades.

They have families here, wives, husbands, children.

They've worked in our hospitals, taught in our schools and have been contributing to our society for years.

Fairness is the most fundamental of British values.

Let's speak to our political correspondent Harry Farley now for more on this story.

Harry, what are the big headlines from this latest announcement from the Home Secretary for you?

Yeah, a really significant set of proposals from the Home Office and the Home Secretary, as you say, just finishing up in the House of Commons in the last couple of minutes or so.

Firstly, at the moment, if you come to the uk, you have a five year wait for what's called settled status or indefinite leave to remain where you can have permanent settled status.

Here the Home Secretary is proposing that is increased from 5 years to 10 years for most people.

But for a big wave of people who came after Brexit on what's called health and social care visas, generally people who were low paid came to work in the health and social care settings, they will have to wait 15 years.

So if you're someone on that visa who arrived in 2022, for example, expecting to get permanent settled status in 2027, you will now have to wait until 2030, 37.

And as Shabana Mahmoud laid out in that clip, you just heard this will apply to everyone who is in the UK already.

It is not just for those arriving from now onwards, it will apply to all those who have not yet got settled status.

So everyone who's arrived in the last five years.

You can reduce your 10 year wait if, for example, you pay one of the higher rates of tax or if you contribute to society in other ways, for example, through volunteering.

But you can also increase your weight if, for example, you are on benefits at any time during your time in the UK.

For example, if you're on benefits for less than 12 months, you will have an extra 5 years to wait.

If you're on benefits for more than 12 months, you will have an extra 10 years.

So some migrants who have arrived in the UK who are on benefits could wait up to 20 years before they have the option of applying for settled status.

And even then the Home Secretary has set out stricter criteria in order to get that settled status.

So, for example, you must be paying tax, you must have a clean criminal record and so on.

So a whole host of stricter criteria announced by the Home Secretary, both delaying the time, extending the wait, as it were, for people in order to apply for permanent settled status and then toughing the criteria in order to get it, along with the reforms to the asylum system announced earlier this week.

Harry, what difference does the government think that these changes will make to immigration to the number of people wanting to actually come to, to the uk?

So this is primarily targeted at people who are in the UK illegally, and

then the changes earlier in the week to the asylum system and particularly those who have arrived in the UK illegally.

I suppose politically the significance of this is, is that Labour are conscious of those voters who perhaps voted for them in 2024, the last election, who are now looking at, particularly reform uk, who are concerned about immigration, are looking at, at the alternatives proposed by Nigel Farage and, and

Shabbat Mood, Keir Starmer at the Labour Party, trying to show that they can do something about reducing the overall net migration.

So the overall input of influx of people coming into the country, but

also trying to be seen to have control over the immigration system.

And I suppose that's the politically toxic allegation that and the politically toxic imagery that comes from particularly those small boats arriving across the channel is a lack of control.

And that's what so many voters feel uncomfortable about.

And that is what Shibana Mahmoud is trying to address, as you say, with the announcements early this week on asylum and now with these changes today to achieving permanent settled status for those already here in the uk.

Harry, thank you very much for taking us through the detail of that.

Harry Farley, our political correspondent.

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UK home secretary announces some migrants will face 20 year wait for settled status | BBC News

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