Leadership

Earned Settlement Confirmed: What the New 3, 5 and 10-Year ILR Rules Mean for Employers of Overseas Staff

The Home Secretary confirmed on 2 November 2026 that settlement in the UK will take 10 years by default, cut to 5 years for people earning over £50,271 and 3 years for the highest earners. Changes start from the December Immigration Rules and roll out during 2027.

By Entrepreneur Group · Published 3 November 2026

Overseas workers will have to wait longer for permanent settlement in the UK unless they are high earners. The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, confirmed on 2 November 2026 that the default wait for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) will be 10 years, reduced to 5 years for those earning over £50,271 and 3 years for the highest earners, according to the Home Office announcement. The changes will begin to be laid from the December Immigration Rules and be implemented over 2027.

The government says the reforms are largely in line with its November 2025 earned settlement consultation, which received more than 200,000 responses.

The new qualifying periods

The Home Office says settlement will be "earned" rather than granted almost automatically after five years. Based on the Home Secretary's statement and the Electronic Immigration Network's summary of the government's consultation response, the main routes are:

• 3 years: the highest earners, which the statement describes as highest rate taxpayers "earning over £125,000", and people who arrived on the government's highest talent schemes.
• 5 years: people earning over £50,271, and some public service workers such as doctors, nurses and teachers.
• 10 years: the new default for everyone else.
• 20 years or more: people who have breached immigration rules.

Everyone applying must also meet four conditions, whenever they arrived: a clean criminal record, English to a high standard (equivalent to A-Level English as a foreign language), no debt owed to the taxpayer, and a record of sustained National Insurance contributions. The Home Secretary's statement refers to three years of National Insurance contributions.

The government estimates that more than 500,000 people will now wait longer than 5 years to settle.

Protections and the care sector

The Home Office says nobody who already has settled status will lose it. Some groups keep their current pathways, including family members of British citizens, Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) and members of the armed forces.

Care workers who met their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 a year will still be able to settle after 5 years. Those who did not, around a quarter of the total, can apply for a new 5-year care visa that is not tied to their previous employer. The Home Secretary's statement says these transitional arrangements apply only to people who joined the relevant routes before the Immigration White Paper of May 2025.

The government also said around 1,800 employers it describes as exploitative have been stripped of their licence to sponsor foreign workers.

What is not yet known

The announcement leaves several practical questions open. The statement does not give a date for each change, saying only that rules will start to be laid from December and that "a full impact assessment will be completed and published as we implement the reforms." Neither the announcement nor the statement sets out specific changes for the Skilled Worker, Innovator Founder or Global Talent routes, and the 3-year route for top talent is subject to review by the Migration Advisory Committee. Detailed guidance is due as the changes are rolled out.

What it means for founders

This section is editorial guidance, not legal advice. If you employ sponsored staff, the main change is that pay now affects how long they must wait to settle. An employee on £45,000 may face a 10-year route, while one earning above £50,271 may qualify after 5. That may come up in pay reviews, retention conversations and job offers to overseas candidates. Founders who are themselves on a visa will want to check how their own income and route are treated once the December rules and guidance are published. For individual cases, speak to a regulated immigration adviser.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to get ILR in the UK under earned settlement?

The default will be 10 years. People earning over £50,271 and some public service workers can settle after 5 years, and the highest earners and those on the top talent schemes after 3 years, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements.

When do the earned settlement rules start?

The Home Secretary said changes will begin to be laid from the December 2026 Immigration Rules and be implemented over the course of 2027.

Will people who already have ILR be affected?

No. The Home Office says settled status will not be removed from anyone who already holds it.

Sources

1. GOV.UK (Home Office): Home Secretary unveils new rules for migrants settling in the UK (2 November 2026) (reviewed 3 November 2026)
2. GOV.UK (Home Office): Earned settlement, Home Secretary's statement (2 November 2026) (reviewed 3 November 2026)
3. Electronic Immigration Network: Home Secretary confirms major changes to indefinite leave to remain rules under earned settlement reforms (2 November 2026) (reviewed 3 November 2026)