Mahmood sets out ten-year wait for migrants seeking settlement
The home secretary puts final rules before MPs today under which most legal migrants are expected to wait ten years, not five, for indefinite leave to remain, and some up to fifteen. Social care workers already in the UK are likely to be exempted after Cabinet objections. “To become a part of this country, permanently, is therefore not a right but a privilege,” Shabana Mahmood said.
The care-worker concession follows pressure from Angela Rayner, who called the original plan “un-British” for changing the rules for people who came in good faith. The wait can be shortened for migrants who earn more or show contribution to their communities under a points-based system. The consultation drew 200,000 responses. Critics, including MPs and health bodies, warn of staff shortages in health and social care and describe the plan as “an iteration of Windrush era policies”. Mahmood is expected to meet union general secretaries today. The Conservatives accused her in September of having “caved in”; the scale of today’s exemptions will decide whether that charge sticks.