LONDON — Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce her final decision on immigration rules for legal migrants next week, the BBC reported on Saturday. She had proposed extending the wait for permanent settlement — indefinite leave to remain — from the current five years to 10, with some lower-paid migrants facing a 15-year wait. The BBC understands the proposals are now likely to be revised for most of those currently working in social care.

Source: BBC News via EuropeSays

In particular, many lower-paid social care workers were facing a wait of up to 15 years rather than five. But the BBC understands that social care workers already in the UK are now likely to be exempt from the longer wait. It has not been reported what period they would fall under instead — whether they keep the current five-year route or move to the standard 10 years — and that detail is expected only when the final rules are presented to Parliament. As originally proposed, most other workers will likely have to live and work in the UK for 10 years before they can apply for settlement, a period that can be reduced if they contribute to their local communities or have higher incomes.

Mahmood has faced opposition from within the government for proposing to impose new rules on migrant workers already in the UK. Before she rejoined the cabinet, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner described the proposals as "un-British" because they sought to change the rules for people who had come to the UK in good faith, the BBC reported. The Guardian has separately reported that Rayner and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh pressed for detailed impact assessments, including on rough sleeping and homelessness, and that Rayner, the Unison union and as many as 100 Labour MPs raised the impact on around 185,000 overseas care workers. The home secretary's concern, the BBC said, was the number of people who would become eligible for permanent residency after a period of very high net migration under the previous government.

What is settled, and what is not

The government's consultation on the proposed reforms drew 200,000 responses. The Home Office told the BBC it will not comment on Mahmood's final decisions until they are presented to Parliament in the coming week — so nothing has changed yet, and the current five-year qualifying period remains in force until a statement of changes takes effect. A Conservative spokesperson attacked the expected revision in September, saying Mahmood had "caved in to pressure from Angela Rayner and her open borders MPs" and calling it "a slap in the face to British taxpayers".

Indefinite leave to remain gives a person the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as they like, and to apply for benefits if they are eligible. For Punjabi and Indian families in Britain — including the large number working in social care — the decision expected next week will decide whether years already spent in the UK count under the old five-year promise or a much longer new clock. The statement of changes laid before Parliament is the document that will settle it.

What is solid

  • Mahmood is expected to announce her final decision next week and present it to Parliament; the Home Office declined to comment to the BBC before then, and the current five-year route remains in force until changes take effect.
  • The original proposal would double the standard wait from five years to 10, with many lower-paid care workers facing up to 15 years; the consultation drew 200,000 responses (BBC).
  • Opposition inside the government is documented: Rayner called applying new rules to people who arrived in good faith 'un-British' (BBC), and the Guardian reported cabinet pressure for impact assessments and concern over about 185,000 overseas care workers.

What is only claimed

  • The care-worker exemption itself is reported by the BBC as what it 'understands' is likely — it is not yet a confirmed government decision, and the BBC report does not say whether exempted care workers would stay on five years or move to 10. The final rules next week will confirm or change this.