UK ILR Reform: How Long You'll Now Have to Wait for Settlement

Following the ILR reform proposed by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, the wait for indefinite leave to remain in the UK will depend on the applicant’s category and range from 3 to 20 years — and in some cases up to 30 years — instead of the current five.

In short

• The standard ILR wait rises from 5 to 10 years — the baseline for most applicants.
• Earning £125,141/year or more, or holding a Global Talent/Innovator Founder visa, cuts the route to ILR to 3 years.
• Care workers who arrived before May 2025 and earn £25,000+ retain the right to ILR after 5 years.
• Illegal entry, such as by boat across the Channel, adds 10 years to the wait — up to a maximum of 30 years.
• Losing your job because a sponsor’s licence was revoked gives you 181 days to find a new employer, or the visa is cancelled.

What Shabana Mahmood proposed, and why the plan was softened

The reform of the rules for obtaining indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK was presented by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. The original plan called for extending the standard ILR wait from 5 to 10 years, with some applicant categories facing — according to unconfirmed reports — waits of up to 15 years. A separate 15-year wait for settlement was also considered specifically for foreign care workers.

After objections from some Labour MPs, the original terms were softened. The Home Secretary presents the final version as a compromise, particularly for care workers, for whom the strict timelines triggered the strongest pushback within the party.

Four core requirements of the new ILR reform

The reform introduces four mandatory conditions for obtaining ILR.

1. Standard waiting period rises from 5 to 10 years — this is the baseline from which reduced periods for specific applicant categories are then calculated.
2. English language level must meet A-level standard — higher than the requirement currently in place for this status.
3. No criminal record: the applicant must have a clean criminal history.
4. Settled financial obligations to the state — no outstanding public debt.

The ten-year baseline itself is not a fixed period for everyone. The actual length of the wait will depend on the applicant’s income level, qualifications and type of work performed: these factors determine which timeline — reduced or standard — applies to a particular case.

ILR timelines by applicant category: from 3 to 10 years

The ILR wait depends on the applicant’s earnings, qualifications and type of work.

Applicant category	Time before applying for ILR	Income requirement
Income of £125,141/year or more	3 years	from £125,141/year
Global Talent and Innovator Founder	3 years	—
Income of £50,271/year or more (preliminary — falls under the higher rate of income tax)	5 years (preliminary)	from £50,271/year
Doctors, nurses, teachers and other skilled public sector workers	5 years	—
All other immigrants	10 years (preliminary)	minimum £12,577/year for 5 of the 7 years before applying

The shortest route to ILR is three years, and it’s available not only to high earners but also to those who arrived under Global Talent or Innovator Founder: for these categories no income threshold applies, as the entry programme itself is what counts.

The five-year period covers two different groups: those earning above £50,271 a year who pay the higher rate of income tax, and skilled public sector workers — doctors, nurses, teachers — regardless of their earnings.

All other applicants remain on the standard 10-year track. For them, a separate requirement applies: an income of at least £12,577 a year must be demonstrated for 5 of the 7 years preceding the application.

Who faces a 20–30 year wait

For those who have breached immigration rules or receive certain welfare benefits, the ILR wait can stretch to 20 years. This is the strictest threshold among all the categories covered by the reform.

A separate timeline applies to those who entered the UK illegally — for example, on small boats across the Channel. For this category, another 10 years is added to the base period. Combined with other aggravating factors, this produces the maximum — up to 30 years of waiting for indefinite leave to remain.

Combined with other aggravating factors, this produces the maximum — up to 30 years of waiting for indefinite leave to remain.

Care workers: special conditions after the protests

Separate rules apply to care workers, secured after protests from some Labour MPs. Those who arrived in the UK before May 2025 and earn at least £25,000 a year retain the right to apply for ILR after 5 years — without being shifted onto the general 10-year track.

Those who arrived in the UK before May 2025 and earn at least £25,000 a year retain the right to apply for ILR after 5 years — without being shifted onto the general 10-year track.

Conditions for those who arrived during the pandemic are framed slightly differently: the right to ILR after 5 years is preserved if visa conditions are met and income is at least £25,000 over the 12 months preceding the application.

Those who fail to meet the required income or breach visa conditions get a second chance: such workers will be able to apply for another five-year visa and try again to meet the ILR requirements, without losing their status immediately.

What happens if you lose your job because a sponsor’s licence is revoked

The reform separately addresses the situation of workers who lose their job because their employer’s sponsor licence has been revoked. The decision to tighten the rules specifically for this group followed numerous abuses in the hiring of foreign workers in the care sector.

According to preliminary reports, from 1 February next year a three-stage scheme is due to take effect for these workers:

1. 120 days are given to find a new employer holding a sponsor licence.
2. If no new employer is found, a further 60 days are added to resolve visa status and employment matters.
3. If, after 181 days, no job has been found and status has not been resolved, the visa is cancelled and the person must leave the UK.

If, after 181 days, no job has been found and status has not been resolved, the visa is cancelled and the person must leave the UK.

This scheme applies only to those who lost their job not through their own fault but because of their employer’s problems — which is why the reform places them in a separate category with its own day-count, unrelated to the ILR waiting periods.

Who the reform hits hardest: what it means for applicants

Overall, the reform represents a substantial tightening of UK immigration policy. Hundreds of thousands of applicants will have to wait for indefinite leave to remain far longer than before — timelines for some categories have grown several times over compared with the previous five years. The reform benefits high earners and certain skilled public sector workers, who retain a shortened route to ILR. Everyone else will have to work against the new, stricter baseline and prove income, qualifications or type of employment to qualify for a reduced timeline rather than the standard 10 years.

Frequently asked questions

Has the reform already come into force, or is it still just a proposal?

This is a proposed reform, presented by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood after the original plan was softened in response to objections from some Labour MPs. Certain parameters — such as the timeline for “all other immigrants” and the rule for workers earning £50,271 or more — are flagged in this material as preliminary, meaning they may still be adjusted.

Does the 120-day scheme for finding a new employer apply only to care workers, or to everyone who loses their job due to a revoked sponsor licence?

The material links the tightening of this scheme specifically to abuses in the hiring of foreign workers in the care sector, but frames the rule itself as general — applying to anyone who loses their job because their employer’s sponsor licence is revoked, with no restriction by industry.