UK charity launches campaign against longer wait for settlement rights

London, Dec 17 (PTI) One of the UK’s leading workers’ rights charities on Wednesday launched a campaign calling on migrants, including Indians, to oppose "harmful” Home Office plans to double the qualifying period for settlement rights in the country to 10 years.

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood unveiled plans for an "earned settlement model" last month, which doubles the baseline five-year qualifying period for migrants to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).

The Work Rights Centre said the changes will penalise people who were previously legally permitted to claim state-funded benefits, care workers, refugees and low-to-middle earners by forcing them to wait even longer.

“Whatever your immigration status, these changes are set to have an impact on your community," said Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, CEO of the Work Rights Centre.

“Set to apply retroactively, they undermine confidence in our immigration system and in Britain’s reputation as a fair and just country. If the changes go ahead, they will increase exploitation across society – from construction sites to convenience stores – by tying migrant workers to high-risk, employer-sponsored visas for even longer," she said.

Vicol warns that the changes will also “stoke division” by widening the gap between the rights of British workers and those of workers born overseas. She called upon everyone to respond to the government’s consultation over the issue, which runs until February 2026 to determine the cut-off point for these changes. The new rules are expected to then be enforced from April next year.

“We urge everyone to add their voice to the government’s consultation before the deadline. And we urge the government to do the right thing and reverse these harmful changes,” added Vicol.

The charity is building case studies to highlight the mental health impact of the retroactive aspect of the stricter ILR norms, announced by Mahmood as part of a far-reaching crackdown to bring down net migration figures.

“People speak about 'British values'. I believed in those values. I trusted that if I worked hard and followed the rules, I would be treated fairly. But today, people like me are becoming scapegoats of politics," Sri, a 26-year-old Belfast-based AI Platform Engineer who migrated from India in 2022, told the charity.

“My mental health has collapsed. I feel depressed, anxious, and lost about my future. I invested my youth, my savings, my energy, my career, and my dreams into this country. Now I am told it may no longer count,” he said.

Staicey, a 29-year-old health care support worker who also migrated in 2022 and works in Cardiff, Wales, spoke of the “severe and damaging effects” the changes will have on thousands of families like hers.

“After years of service, it is heartbreaking to feel as though our lives, contributions, and families are being treated as an afterthought. We are not asking for special treatment — only for the government to honour the rules that were in place when we arrived and when we made major life decisions in good faith,” she said.

The charity points out that for legal migrants, ILR means the difference between having the unrestricted right to live and work in the UK and getting by on short-term visas that cost thousands of pounds to renew.

“For thousands of migrant workers, it means the difference between being able to change jobs, and being tied to an employer, at high risk of exploitation. Until they get ILR, most migrants cannot access public funds, putting them at high risk of poverty if things go wrong.

"There is no financial safety net if they get sick, lose their job, or need to care for a loved one," the charity notes.

At present, most people must wait five years to gain their UK settlement rights. The new "earned settlement model" announced by the Kashmiri-origin home secretary doubles that to 10 years and introduces a set of criteria that could reduce or increase the waiting period on a case-by-case basis. “To settle in this country forever is not a right, but a privilege, and it must be earned," Mahmood told MPs last month.

But the charity notes that the new norms will mean high earners and some public sector workers can be fast-tracked to ILR. However, low-middle earners, refugees and anyone who has legally claimed taxpayer funds due to sickness, job loss or disability would face a much longer wait.

“Migrant care workers have been singled out for an even longer wait of 15 years, ignoring their contribution to those in need following the COVID-19 pandemic," the Work Rights Centre notes.

The changes are targeted at the estimated 1.6 million people qualifying for ILR between 2026 and 2030, with a peak of 450,000 expected to be hit in 2028. The Labour Party government claims the reforms are necessary because over 2 million migrants arrived in the UK from 2021, under the post-Brexit Conservative Party “Boriswave” – named after the then prime minister Boris Johnson.

The UK Home Office has dubbed the changes as the “biggest overhaul” of the country’s legal migration system towards an “earned settlement” model that rewards those making greater contributions to British society. PTI AK AMS