The UK government is proposing to tighten eligibility for indefinite residence by requiring migrants to hold a job, forego benefits, volunteer locally, maintain a clean criminal record and demonstrate strong English skills.
The United Kingdom is set to introduce stricter requirements for migrants seeking to settle permanently, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood will announce Monday. Migrants would be required to make social security contributions, claim no benefits, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community to qualify for indefinite leave to remain.
Currently, migrants with family ties or those who have lived in the UK for five to ten years may apply for permanent residence, with rights to work, study, benefits and British citizenship. Under the new plan, that will change: eligibility will be conditional.
The proposal comes ahead of consultations later this year and follows calls by the Opposition Reform Party to abolish “indefinite leave to remain” and require visa reapplication every five years. Labour responded: “These measures draw a clear dividing line between the Labour government and Reform, whose recent announcement… would force workers, who have been contributing to this country for decades, to leave their homes and families.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday labelled the Reform plan “racist,” warning it would “tear the country apart.” In her first address as interior minister, Mahmood said immigrants should learn English to a high standard and vowed to be a “tough” minister.
Immigration remains a politically sensitive issue in the UK, and Mahmood cautioned that failure to control it would risk alienating working-class voters to the “false promises” of the Reform leader Nigel Farage.