8 key factors in Shabana Mahmood’s newest migration shake-up from NHS guidelines to small boats
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced a big shake-up of the legal migration system – with new rules around permanent settlement
Shabana Mahmood has set out the biggest change to migration rules in decades – saying people must “earn” their right to permanent settlement.
The Home Secretary announced a string of changes, expected to take effect early next year, that mean migrants face much longer waits in future. Under current rules a person needs to be in the UK for five years before they can get settled status.
This is going up to a standard 10 years – but Ms Mahmood says NHS workers, high earners and people who volunteer will be fast-tracked. On the flipside, migrants who claim benefits or who came to the country illegally will be penalised.
And for the first time there will be four new criteria which have to be met before someone can be granted settled status. Here we look at some of the key changes. It comes days after she unveiled a separate set of changes to the UK’s asylum rules which have sparked a fierce backlash.
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What is changing?
At the moment people have the right to permanent settlement in the UK after being here for five years.
The Government is proposing to at least double this – but there will be some exceptions. The standard wait will be 10 years under the plans.
But there will be a number of rewards and penalties, which we will run through below. Notably high earners and NHS staff will be fast-tracked, while volunteering will help get a faster settlement.
On the flip side, claiming benefits and coming to the UK illegally will mean extra years are added.
Fast-tracking NHS staff and high earners
Under the proposals, earlier settlements will be offered to people who make an “outsized contribution to our national life”.
These include those paying the higher rate of tax, who could qualify after five years – while those on the top rate are eligible after three.
On top of that, those on global talent visas – which are issued to leaders in academia or research, arts and culture and digital technology – would also qualify after three years.
The Government also plans to allow senior public servants, including doctors and nurses working in the NHS, to settle after five years.
Volunteering will also reduce the wait
There is also the chance for a faster settlement for “those who have volunteered extensively in their local communities”.
Offiicials are looking at how this will work and what kind of volunteer work will qualify. Papers released on Thursday say migrants can shave three to five years from their qualifying time by doing unpaid work in their communities.
New grounds for refusal
In order to be awarded indefinite leave to remain, people must meet four key criteria.
They must have no criminal record, speak English to A-level standards and have no debt, Ms Mahmood said. They will also have to have paid National Insurance for at least three years.
Ms Mahmood said: “To settle in this country forever is not a right, but a privilege. And it must be earned.
“Today that is not the case. Settlement or indefinite leave to remain comes almost automatically after five years residence in this country. At that point, a migrant gains access to many of the rights of a British citizen, including to benefits.”
Extra years for claiming benefits
Migrants who have claimed benefits in the UK will face a longer wait, the policy document says.
Those who have received public funds for less than 12 months will have to wait an extra five years – meaning they will have been in the UK at least 15 years. And if they’ve claimed benefits for more than a year, their wait will rise by a decade.
Up to 20 additional years for small boat arrivals
The plans state that anyone who arrives in the UK illegal – by small boat or other clandestine means – faces an additional 20 years.
This means that some could be waiting 30 years for permanent settlement. This penalty will also apply for those who overstay their permission or enter on a visa visit but are given right to remain.
Enver Solomon, Chief Executive of Refugee Council, said: “These proposals risk trapping people who have fled war and persecution in three decades of instability and stress at the very moment they need certainty to rebuild their lives.”
Will it affect those already settled here?
No. Ms Mahmood said it would be “un-British” to apply it retrospectively – as Reform has proposed.
She told the Commons: “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. We made a promise when we gave them settlement, and we do not break our promises.”
Shabana Mahmood’s plea to MPs
Ms Mahmood warned that failure to get migration under control risks empowering those who spread hatred and division.
She told the Commons on Thursday: “I love this country, which opened its arms to my parents around 50 years ago. But I am concerned by the division I see now, fueled by a pace and scale of change that is placing immense pressure on local communities.
“For those who believe that migration is part of modern Britain’s story and should always continue to be, we must prove that it can still work.”
