5 Dec 2025
Network outlines Government's proposals and reasons for responding to the consultation
We are Liverpool Access to Advice Network. We’re an organisation built by you our members on values of respect for all people and equity. We are today announcing that we will be responding to the Government’s Earned Settlement consultation. This consultation asks for responses to the 2025 UK Immigration White Paper, entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System.
The Government set out their proposals and the reasons behind these proposals in their document entitled A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: A Statement and Accompanying Consultation on Earned Settlement. The Government opened their consultation on Thursday 20th November, and it will close on Thursday 12th February.
Throughout this document the Government refers to ‘earned settlement.’ You may know this as Indefinite Leave to Remain.
The Government states that they have made these proposals because they believe that current levels of immigration are, in their words, ‘unsustainable’ and due to what they refer to as a ‘significant increase’ in the number of ‘lower-skilled’ workers migrating to the UK.
The Government do not explicitly define what is classed as a ‘lower-skilled worker’ but they do note that they have a list of ‘skilled’ forms of work. They also refer to the Tier 2 visa (the Skilled Worker visa replaced this in 2020) – eligibility for this visa largely required migrants to be entering graduate-level jobs, and so hold an undergraduate degree.
What are the proposals?
The baseline qualifying period for settlement for most migrants will increase from 5 years to 10 years.
The baseline qualifying period for people recognised as refugees will increase to 20 years. Refugees who are moved to the country under official resettlement programmes will have their qualifying period set at 10 years.
The new system will consider a migrant’s character, integration, contribution to the UK, and residence in the UK.
There will be new criteria by which migrants are allowed to settle. These include not having a criminal conviction and not having any existing NHS debt.
There will be a system by which migrants can reduce the length of their qualifying period. This includes lowering the qualifying period by 7 years if a migrant has earned a taxable income of £125,140 for 3 years prior to applying for settlement, and lowering the qualifying period by between 3 and 5 years if a migrant has undertaken work in the community such as volunteering.
There will be a system by which migrants increase the length of their qualifying period. This includes increasing the qualifying period by up to 20 years if they arrive in the UK illegally, and increasing the qualifying period by up to 10 years if they have been in receipt of benefits for more than 12 months during their route to settlement.
Increases to the qualifying period will take precedence over reductions. This means that if a migrant has been in receipt of benefits but has volunteered in the community, they are more likely to see their qualifying period increase.
Settlement will be subject to a no recourse to public funds condition. This means that even when a migrant has earned settled status, they will not be eligible to claim most benefits.
Dependents of migrants will be assessed for settlement under their own right.
The qualifying period for individuals working in jobs ranked below RQF Level 6 (undergraduate degree/degree apprenticeship/NVQ Level 6) will be extended to 15 years.
Future similar changes to the citizenship system will be introduced. These have not yet been outlined, but the Government say they will follow the system of qualifying periods being increased or decreased depending on an individual’s contribution.
You can read more about the Government’s proposals and their criteria for reducing and increasing qualifying periods in their document entitled A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: A Statement and Accompanying Consultation on Earned Settlement. You can read this document by clicking here.
Who will not be affected by the proposals?
Grants of settlement under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and the Windrush Scheme will not be affected by these proposals.
Parents, partners, and children of British Citizens will not be affected by the proposals.
Migrants under the British National Overseas (Hong Kong) route will not be affected by the proposals.
Will people already in the country be affected by the proposals?
Yes. Anyone currently in the UK who does not yet have settled status and is not outlined as being unaffected by the proposals will be subject to these changes.
The Government proposes that the majority of these changes, should they be enacted, will come into force in April 2026.
The Government are asking whether there should be some transitional arrangements for people who are near the end of their 5-year qualifying period. They have not said what these transitional arrangements might look like or who would be eligible.
The Government are also consulting on whether members of the Armed Forces and their family members should be subject to the proposals.
Other things to consider
The Government have not yet published an equality impact assessment or economic impact assessment related to these proposals. They say this will follow in due course. An equality impact assessment covers the likely impact of policies and proposals on different groups of people. They make sure that proposals do not discriminate against or disproportionately affects specific groups.
These proposals do not explicitly include victims of domestic violence and abuse, bereaved partners, adults with long-term care needs, or children who grew up in the UK with no recognised immigration status. The consultation does however ask whether they should be exempted from the proposals.
How will Liverpool Access to Advice Network respond?
We will be responding to the Government’s consultation. Over the coming weeks we will design how we engage our entire membership in our response. We also recognise that we need to do more than simply respond to the consultation. These proposals will affect hundreds of thousands of people. The Government say that 182,553 work visas alone were granted in the year ending June 2025.
These proposals have thrust the livelihoods of so many people into uncertainty. Not only will they be questioning whether they are allowed to remain in the country, but whether they will be able to afford to do so. Removing recourse to public funds for people who have settled in the UK will mean that events such as losing a job, experiencing ill health, and looking after children have the potential to turn into crises. This is, much like the disability cuts bill, yet another political decision which threatens to forge a two-tier society.
For advice providers and organisations who provide care and support, these proposals are equally unsettling. We simply do not have the capacity to meet the influx of concerns that these proposals will create. These proposals leave many unanswered questions. Who will help migrants assess whether they can reduce or need to increase their qualifying period? Who will support people with no recourse to public funds? What impact will these proposals have on child poverty, and poverty more broadly?
Liverpool Access to Advice Network will begin its response in the New Year. We know that our work is most powerful when we come together as a network. We want to see less division in our country, and to see more celebration of the things that make us unique. We’ll see this change if we work together as one.