On the 2nd of November 2026, the Government confirmed significant reforms to the UK’s settlement regime following its consultation, ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’. Under the earned settlement model, the period an individual must spend in the UK before becoming eligible for settlement will be determined by these four principles: character, contribution, integration, and residence.
Minimum requirements for settlement
As outlined in the Immigration White Paper published in May 2025, the standard qualifying period for settlement will increase from five to ten years. Shorter or longer pathways will apply depending on an applicant’s circumstances and their ability to satisfy the four principles set out above. However, every applicant will first need to meet the following requirements, which cannot be offset by higher earnings, public service, or other positive contributions:
- demonstrate good character and suitability;
- have no outstanding debt owed to the Government;
- demonstrate English language proficiency at B2 level (despite the suggested approach put forward for consultation, having C1 English will not provide a further reduction in the qualifying period for applicants);
- have passed the Life in the UK Test; and
- demonstrate a sustained contribution to the UK.
Character
What do the current rules say?
Under the current settlement rules, an applicant’s criminality, outstanding debts to the Government and previous immigration breaches may all affect their eligibility for settlement. Certain criminal convictions result in mandatory refusal, including custodial or suspended sentences of twelve months or more, while other convictions and disposals may be considered on a discretionary basis.
Government debt may also result in refusal where the relevant requirements and thresholds are met, taking into account the applicant’s individual circumstances. Similarly, a previous immigration breach does not necessarily prevent an individual from obtaining settlement or permanently extend their route to settlement, provided they subsequently complete the required period of lawful residence and satisfy the applicable requirements.
What will change under earned settlement?
The earned settlement system will introduce significantly stricter requirements in relation to criminality, Government debt, and immigration breaches. Any adult applicant with a criminal record in the UK will be refused settlement, while overseas convictions will also result in refusal where the conduct would constitute a criminal offence in the UK. Applicants will also be required to have no outstanding Government debt, including NHS debt, unpaid tax or National Insurance contributions, and litigation debt owed to the Home Office.
In addition, specified immigration breaches committed by adults will place an applicant on a twenty-year pathway to settlement, regardless of higher earnings or other positive contributions. These breaches will be set out in the Immigration Rules and will include overstaying, breaching a condition of immigration permission, and using deception in an application.
Contribution
What do the current rules say?
Under the current rules, earnings requirements vary depending on the settlement route, with no single minimum earnings threshold applying to all applicants.
What will change under earned settlement?
Earned settlement will introduce a minimum economic contribution requirement, with applicants required to earn at least £12,571 a year for the relevant qualifying period. Higher earnings may enable applicants to qualify for settlement sooner. The table below sets out the earnings thresholds for each settlement pathway and the period over which the relevant threshold must be met.
| Pathway to settlement | Annual earnings threshold | Required earnings history |
| 3 years | £125,141 (additional rate threshold) | Threshold met in three of the four years immediately before the settlement application. One year may fall below the threshold. |
| 5 years | £50,271 (higher rate threshold) | Threshold met in three of the five years immediately before the settlement application. Two years may fall below the threshold. |
| 10 years | £12,571 (basic rate threshold) | Threshold met in five of the seven years immediately before the settlement application. Two years may fall below the threshold. |
The earnings thresholds will remain linked to the relevant income tax thresholds and may therefore change if those thresholds are amended in future.
Under earned settlement, workers in specified public-sector health and education occupations, including doctors, nurses and teachers, will be eligible to qualify for settlement after five years, provided they meet the other minimum requirements. The occupations eligible for this five-year pathway will be those specified in the Immigration Rules.
Further to this, applicants seeking to qualify through the three, five or ten-year pathways will be expected not to have accessed public funds during the five years immediately before their settlement application. Applicants who continue to access those funds will instead be subject to a twenty-year qualifying period, provided they satisfy the other minimum settlement requirements. It is worth noting, however, that many immigration routes already restrict access to public funds through a “no recourse to public funds” condition, meaning that this requirement may have limited practical impact for applicants who are already subject to such a condition.
Although volunteering was considered during the consultation as a potential form of contribution that could reduce an applicant’s qualifying period for settlement, the Government has decided not to include it in the earned settlement model. Volunteering will therefore not provide a basis for shortening an applicant’s route to settlement.
Residence
Under earned settlement, residence will be linked more closely to the purpose of an individual’s immigration route. Time on a qualifying pathway to settlement will count; time on temporary routes will not. Under earned settlement, the Long Residence route will close. This means that time spent on temporary routes will no longer build towards settlement simply because an individual subsequently reaches ten years of lawful residence. Only time spent on specified routes intended to support long-term residence will count towards settlement. The routes that will therefore count towards settlement are:
- Core Permission (which in practice includes Skilled Worker, UK Ancestry, Global Talent, Scale Up, Tier 2 Religion, Innovator Founder, International Sportsperson and various family routes);
- High Talent Group (which includes Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Scale Up, Innovator Founder and International Sportsperson routes);
- Family and Private Life;
- Core Protection Work and Study;
- Core Protection; and
- Safe and Legal routes.
What does this mean for businesses?
The introduction of earned settlement is likely to increase both the cost and complexity of sponsoring workers in the UK. The standard qualifying period for settlement will increase from five to ten years, meaning that some sponsored workers who would previously have obtained settlement after five years may need to remain in the immigration system for considerably longer. This could result in additional visa applications and associated costs for both employers and individuals, particularly where an employer chooses to meet or contribute towards an employee’s immigration costs.
Employers that rely heavily on overseas recruitment may therefore need to consider the potential effect of the reforms on recruitment, retention and longer-term sponsorship costs. The Government has confirmed that a full impact assessment and further technical guidance will be published before implementation (and is expected in December 2026), so the precise operational and financial impact is not yet known.
How can we help?
For further information, or should you wish to discuss the contents of this article, please contact a member of the Business Immigration team.
Alex Christen
Partner
Business Immigration, Employment, Employment Investigations, Equality & Diversity, International
Alex is a Partner in our Employment and Immigration team. Alex leads the business immigration team, successfully supporting companies and individuals with immigration issues, including understandin... Read More
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