UK ILR after 10 years: what Shabana Mahmood said and when to expect the new settlement rules

On 15 September the Home Secretary said the earned settlement policy will be set out later this year. What is already in force, whether the changes will be retrospective, and how Skilled Worker, Global Talent and Innovator Founder holders should prepare.

On 15 September 2026, UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that decisions on earned settlement will be taken very soon and the new settlement policy set out later this year. The core of the reform has not changed since November 2025: the standard qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) is set to rise from 5 to 10 years. As of 21 September no rules introducing the 10-year baseline have been laid, but there is no U-turn either. Here is what we know, whether the changes will be retrospective, and what Skilled Worker, Global Talent and Innovator Founder holders should do.

What Shabana Mahmood said on 15 September

The session covered the work of the Home Office, with earned settlement, family migration and work-based immigration on the agenda. The key points:

• Timing. The policy will be published later this year, taking consultation responses into account; no date was given. Responses exceeded expectations, which slowed the analysis.
• Retrospectivity. The rules that apply to you are those in force when you apply, not when you arrived.
• Transitional arrangements. Options range from passporting certain cohorts through under the current rules to different arrangements for others. She did not say who would be protected.
• Why the urgency. Without a change, a large cohort that arrived in 2022 would become eligible for ILR in February 2027.

For anyone counting the days to ILR, the takeaway is simple: the reform has not been dropped, and nobody has guaranteed transitional protection.

What earned settlement proposes

The plan was published on 20 November 2025 in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, with a consultation that closed on 12 February 2026. Settlement would have to be earned rather than near-automatic. The baseline is 10 years, and everyone would need to meet these mandatory requirements:

• no criminal convictions and meeting general suitability rules;
• B2 English and a pass in the Life in the UK test;
• earnings above £12,570 a year for at least 3 to 5 years (the consultation gives a range);
• no debts to the state, including tax, NHS charges and litigation debt.

From there, the period moves up or down:

C1 English would take a year off and volunteering 3 to 5 years, while family members of British citizens and BN(O) holders would stay on 5 years. Existing ILR will not be taken away, and the EU Settlement Scheme is out of scope. The Home Office forecast 1.6 million settlements between 2026 and 2030.

What is in force and what is still a proposal

Some changes are already in the rules; the central piece exists only in a consultation paper:

In short, Skilled Worker still leads to ILR after 5 years today, so the timing of your application matters more than ever.

Will the changes be retrospective?

The government intends them to be. In November 2025 the Home Office proposed applying the new rules to everyone who has not yet received ILR, and on 5 March 2026 Mahmood confirmed that approach in a public speech and pointed to autumn 2026. On 15 September she was more cautious about timing, but not about substance.

Both relevant parliamentary committees have pushed back. The Commons Home Affairs Committee, reporting on 13 March 2026, urged the government to prioritise getting the changes right over speed and not to apply the new model to people who arrived before 2021 and are already on a 10-year route. The Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee, reporting on 23 June 2026, called retrospective application manifestly unfair and open to legal challenge, and recommended keeping the five-year baseline. Neither report binds the government.

The change of Prime Minister did not shift direction: after Keir Starmer resigned in June, Andy Burnham's government kept Mahmood as Home Secretary. The honest conclusion: protection for some cohorts is possible, but plan as if the new rules will apply to you.

What to do on a Skilled Worker, Global Talent or Innovator Founder visa

• You qualify for ILR in the coming months. Apply straight away: you can submit up to 28 days before completing the qualifying period. Check absences (no more than 180 days in any 12 months), pass Life in the UK and gather salary evidence. Waiting for the final reform is the riskiest option.
• You are one or two years away. Build your file around the proposed criteria now: steady income, tax and National Insurance paid, no debts including NHS charges, no benefits. If you will apply after 26 March 2027, take a B2 test early.
• Skilled Worker earning under £50,270 or below RQF 6. The highest-risk group, facing 10 and 15 years respectively under the proposals. Discuss a pay rise or a higher-level role with your employer and, with a strong profile, consider the Global Talent visa, which is not tied to an employer.
• Global Talent. The proposals keep a three-year track, making it the best-protected route. Endorsement and the Exceptional Talent vs Exceptional Promise split are covered in our Global Talent 2026 guide.
• Innovator Founder. Also stays at three years under the proposals, but B2 from 26 March 2027 applies to founders too. See our Innovator Founder page.
• Only planning to move. New Skilled Worker applicants have needed B2 since 8 January 2026. Treat 10 years as the baseline and compare talent and startup visas and UK residence through business.

B2 English from 26 March 2027 is already in the rules

This part is locked in and does not depend on earned settlement. Statement of Changes HC 1691, laid on 5 March 2026, raises the English requirement for settlement from B1 to B2 on the CEFR scale from 26 March 2027. It covers Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator Founder, Scale-up, UK Ancestry, Long Residence, several family routes and others, including people already in the UK: the delay is there to give them time to prepare.

• Applications made before 26 March 2027 are assessed at B1, later ones at B2. Only speaking and listening are tested.
• If you already showed B2 in a previous application (for example, a Skilled Worker entry after 8 January 2026), you generally will not need a new test. Those who entered at B1 will.
• Exemptions cover nationals of majority English-speaking countries, people aged 65+ or under 18, and those with a qualifying health condition. An English-taught degree counts: UK degrees directly, overseas ones via Ecctis.

If you can apply for ILR under the current rules before 26 March 2027, the B2 question falls away. If not, start preparing now.

ILR, citizenship and a plan B

ILR is the mandatory step before a British passport: you can only apply for UK naturalisation once settled, so a longer road to ILR pushes citizenship back too. And the fast track for high earners means years of UK tax at the top rates, a cost worth modelling in advance; see our tax and residency section.

If a 10-year wait does not fit your plans, hold status elsewhere in parallel: residence permits in other countries, Portugal's investment residence, digital nomad visas, or a second passport outside Europe such as Paraguayan citizenship. The full list is in our second citizenship section.

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