UK would make 10 years the settlement default, with no start date yet
Michael Mai
The Home Office response of 2 November would cut the 10-year default to 3 years for those earning at least £125,141 and to 5 from £50,271, but rules, guidance and an impact assessment are still to come.
The Home Office’s response on 2 November 2026 to its settlement consultation would move the starting point for UK settlement (indefinite leave to remain) from 5 to 10 years. Earning at least £125,141 in three of the four years before applying would cut that wait to 3 years, and £50,271 in three of five years to 5; both depend on meeting the mandatory requirements. The response gives no start date.
What the response sets
The response, CP 1707, keeps the 10-year starting point from the May 2025 Immigration White Paper. The earnings thresholds would stay linked to income tax thresholds.
| Wait | Who it is for | What the response requires |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | The highest earners | At least £125,141 in three of the four years before applying, or the “Highest Talent Group”, which footnote 16 marks for review pending a Migration Advisory Committee report |
| 5 years | Higher earners, public service, a British connection | At least £50,271 in three of five years, or an eligible public-sector health or education job for 5 years, or a recognised British connection (a British citizen’s partner, parent or child, or UK Ancestry) |
| 10 years | The default | At least £12,571 in five of the previous seven years |
| 20 years | Immigration breach or continued use of public funds | The 10-year earnings test plus all the mandatory requirements |
Table 1 says all the mandatory requirements apply to every pathway. The 3, 5 and 10-year paths also bar anyone who used specified public funds in the last five years or committed a qualifying immigration breach as an adult, such as overstaying.
What every applicant must meet
- No criminal record: any adult with a UK record, fines included, would be refused; overseas convictions would also lead to refusal where the conduct would be a UK offence.
- No outstanding Government debt: NHS debt, tax debt, National Insurance contributions and litigation debt owed to the Home Office.
- English at B2 (A level equivalent, the response says), against B1 (GCSE) generally today; C1 would not shorten the wait.
- A pass in the Life in the UK test, which the Government is reviewing; the test would keep its existing exemptions.
- Sustained contribution: earnings of at least £12,571 a year, assessed over an extended period: five of the previous seven years on the 10-year path.
Children and people aged 65 and over would be exempt from the income and English requirements, as would people unable to meet them because of a physical or mental condition. No exemption applies to criminality.
Which routes would count
Time would build towards settlement only on the routes the response specifies, among them Skilled Worker, Global Talent and Innovator Founder. The Long Residence route would close, and time on Student, Graduate and High Potential Individual visas would not count.
For the 3 or 5-year path on a Global Talent or Innovator Founder basis, the most recent grant of permission would have to be in that route.
Partners and children
- A partner arriving with the main applicant would settle at the same time; one who joins later would complete the same qualifying period.
- Children under 18 would settle with their parents, exempt from the income, debt, English and test requirements. A dependant aged 18 to 24 would settle with the family on the adult requirements but without the individual earnings test; one aged 25 or over when the family becomes eligible would be expected to qualify independently or change route.
People already in the UK
Unless transitional provisions are made, the response says, applications are ordinarily decided under the Immigration Rules in force at the date of decision; the news story says the conditions apply regardless of when someone arrived. The transitional arrangements cover only defined cohorts in the UK before the May 2025 Immigration White Paper. The news story says settled status will never be removed from anyone who already holds it.
What it means for a Vietnamese investor or family
- Annex A’s illustrative volumes, for people forecast to settle between 2026 and 2030, put 27,000 Skilled Workers and 15,000 Global Talent and Innovator Founder holders on the 3-year path. The Home Secretary said those who arrive on the highest talent schemes would be able to apply after 3 years.
- Table 1’s “Highest Talent Group” appears once; the response defines a “high talent group” of five routes, including Global Talent and Innovator Founder, and in the passages read does not say whether the two are the same.
- A Vietnamese family that starts with a Student visa would begin the wait only on a work or family route.
- The response lists Tier 1 (Investor), a closed route, among routes it says are not affected by the reforms.
What this article has not established
No date of effect appears in the response, the news story, the statement or the outcome page, although the news story says “From today, it must be earned”.
A gov.uk search on 7 November found no statement of changes among Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration items since 30 October; the most recent found, HC 584 of 3 September, does not mention earned settlement. The Parliament website was not read.
The response says the Government would start from the existing public-funds definition and decide later which benefits count. It words the £12,571 minimum as “at least three years” in its contribution chapter, and as five of seven years in Table 1. No such Migration Advisory Committee report was found.
The statement’s published text carries a redaction marker, and the PDF read here has a later modification time than gov.uk’s listing.
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