Mahmood gives no cost figure for revised UK settlement plans

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has kept a 10-year default wait for settlement in the UK but preserved a five-year route for some care workers, after pressure from cabinet colleagues and health unions, The Guardian reports.

Under the government’s policy, announced to Parliament on 2 November, care workers who arrived before the May 2025 Immigration White Paper and met their visa conditions—including earning at least £25,000 a year in social care—can apply for settlement after five years. Some who do not qualify will be offered another five-year care visa, which would allow them to seek a new employer before applying later.

The Guardian estimates the exception could cover 280,000 care workers and dependants. That figure is an estimate, while the wider policy would extend settlement waits for many migrants: most people earning under £50,000 would face a 10-year route, according to Mahmood’s statement.

The change has prompted sharply different descriptions in Tuesday’s newspapers. The Daily Mirror framed it as a “duty of care”; the i Paper called it a “U-turn”, while the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph described a climbdown. The Guardian reported that shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the exception could cost up to £10bn. That is Philp’s claim, not an established cost.

Mahmood said the policy ties settlement to a person’s contribution and responsibilities. She also said some care workers who breached their visa conditions would get a second chance, with the government offering help to find work with a legitimate provider. The transitional arrangements apply only to people who joined the relevant routes before May 2025.

The settlement announcement is also drawing criticism over its effect on people already in the UK. The Law Society said retrospective changes could undermine legal certainty, while Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed said she would press for people already in the country to be protected. The government says settlement rules are determined when an application is decided, rather than when a person arrives.

Update

Asked about the cost of the revised plans on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday, Mahmood said detailed costs would be published when the Home Office puts the changes before Parliament.

She said the reforms as a whole would save “billions” in benefit payments. Among those affected, she said, would be care workers no longer working in the sector who would not be able to settle after five years.

Settlement, also known as indefinite leave to remain, gives a person the right to live and work in the UK permanently and to claim benefits if eligible. The government plans to increase the standard wait from five to ten years, including for many people already in the country.