Migrant workers already living in Britain would be protected from tougher rules for permanent residence under a new parliamentary proposal. It seeks to stop the government lengthening their wait for indefinite leave to remain, the permission that lets someone make the UK their permanent home.
Labour member of Parliament Neil Duncan-Jordan has put forward the change to the Immigration and Asylum Bill. It appears as a new proposal in Parliament's amendment paper dated November 13. It has not become law.
The proposal addresses a gap in the government's planned protections for people already working in the country. Daylight Post found that some of those protections preserve an earlier route to permanent residence, while another preserves the terms for extending a temporary visa. Being allowed to stay longer on a visa is different from being allowed to settle sooner.
Why the wait matters
A Skilled Worker visa allows someone to live in the UK to do an eligible job for an approved employer. That employer sponsors the worker, taking on duties to the immigration authorities. Permission lasts for a limited period, and the worker has to keep meeting the visa's conditions.
Indefinite leave to remain, also called settlement, removes the time limit on a person's stay and normally lets them work without being tied to a sponsoring employer. It is not British citizenship.
Under the current system, workers on many qualifying routes can apply for settlement after five years if they meet the other requirements. The government wants a ten-year starting point, with faster routes for some people based on earnings, occupation or family connections.
For people who do not qualify for a faster route, that can mean more years maintaining temporary permission before gaining the freedom associated with permanent status. The proposed changes would reach people who are already in the UK, not only future arrivals.
Some earlier workers would keep five years
The government announced its revised settlement plan on November 2. It says the system should recognize contribution and compliance, rather than time in the country alone. Following consultation, it reduced a previously proposed 15-year wait for many lower-skilled jobs to ten years and added targeted protections.
For example, care workers who entered or switched into the care route before the May 2025 immigration policy paper would retain a five-year qualifying period if they meet the salary requirement of £25,000 a year, sponsorship and employment conditions, and the strengthened minimum requirements. These include a higher English standard unless an exemption applies.
Some earlier health and education workers, such as qualifying nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants on national pay scales, would also keep a five-year route. This is a one-off protection for the earlier group. It is separate from the permanent five-year route planned for specified occupations such as registered nurses, doctors, teachers and social workers.
The government's protections are therefore meaningful, but they are not an exemption for everyone who already holds a work visa.
A visa extension protects something else
The plan also addresses an earlier group of Skilled Workers whose visa renewals were protected when salary requirements rose in 2024. It would allow the covered group to extend their visas on their existing terms until 2035.
The government's reason for extending that protection is revealing: some of these workers would now need ten years before settlement. The renewal concession helps them keep their temporary permission while building up those years. It does not itself preserve their earlier five-year timetable for permanent residence.
| Protection | What it preserves |
|---|---|
| Five-year route for specified earlier workers | The earlier qualifying period for permanent residence, subject to conditions |
| Renewal terms extended to 2035 for a covered earlier group | The ability to extend a temporary work visa on existing terms, not necessarily the earlier settlement timetable |
What the new proposal would change
Duncan-Jordan's proposal would protect people holding Skilled Worker permission, and their dependent family members, when the proposed clause takes effect. Its test is not the government's May 2025 cut-off for particular earlier workers.
It would require their entitlement to settlement to be assessed under the rules that applied when their Skilled Worker permission was first granted. It would also prevent adverse changes such as a longer qualifying period or harder income, language and residence requirements.
This would put a broader protection into law, rather than leave existing workers relying on the government's selected exceptions. It would preserve the applicable rules, not guarantee that every visa holder meets them.
The government plans to begin publishing further settlement rule changes in December, with implementation during 2027. The new parliamentary proposal still needs to become part of the bill and pass into law before workers can rely on it.