The UK has retained a five-year settlement route for eligible overseas care workers. The decision rewards pandemic-era contributors while tightening requirements for other migrants.

The UK government has withdrawn a proposal to triple the time overseas care workers must wait for permanent settlement, a move expected to benefit several Indians who entered the country through the Health and Social Care visa route, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

After a year-long public consultation, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told Parliament that care workers who answered the country's call after the COVID-19 pandemic would remain eligible for settlement after five years under what she described as a “fair deal”.

Home Office statistics cited by PTI show that Indians accounted for the highest number of workers granted visa extensions under the Health and Social Care category, with 104,555 extensions issued in the year ending December 2025. Most of these workers will now be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain, or ILR, after the originally stipulated five-year period.

“People want to see an immigration system based on control, contribution, and which rewards those who play by the rules,” British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in a statement.

“These proposals are based on that principle and recognise the contribution made by overseas workers to our country. Following Brexit, the previous government lost control of immigration, with an unprecedented spike in numbers. This Home Secretary is gripping this problem, and she has my full support in doing so,” he said.

Burnham said it was “only fair” that migrants who made the most valuable contribution to the country were given an opportunity to settle earlier. “Those in other roles should expect to wait longer while people who abuse the system or arrive illegally will be refused or will also have to wait longer,” he added.

The Home Office confirmed that care workers who complied with their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 a year would be able to settle after five years. The measure recognises their contribution when Britain's care sector was under pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mahmood, whose parents migrated to the UK from Kashmir, referred to her family's experience while setting out the government's “earned settlement” plans. Under the proposals, high earners will have faster routes to permanent settlement.

She also said the care worker visa route had been “abused, with rogue and exploitative companies sponsoring workers for jobs that did not exist”.

Care workers who do not qualify for settlement after five years, estimated to be about a quarter of the total, will be offered another five-year visa to give them a second opportunity to contribute. They will be able to apply for settlement after completing that period, according to the Home Office. A similar approach will apply to public service workers in healthcare and education who arrived during the same period.

“Settled status is one of the most valuable rights this country can offer. Until now it has been given almost automatically,” Mahmood told MPs, according to PTI.

“From today, it must be earned. Those who contribute most will settle fastest. Those who don't play by the rules will be refused or wait much longer. This policy creates a migration system that is fair: fair to those who come here and play their part, and fair to British citizens already here, who must not be asked to bear a greater burden,” she said.

Under reforms tabled in the House of Commons, the time a person must wait for ILR, the first step towards British citizenship, will depend on their contribution and character. People earning more than £50,271 a year and some public service workers, including doctors, nurses and teachers, will be able to settle after five years. The default period for others will be 10 years, while those who breach immigration rules will have to wait at least 20 years.

Anyone applying for ILR, regardless of when they arrived in the UK, will have to meet four mandatory conditions. Applicants must have a spotless criminal record, replacing the current threshold of a 12-month suspended sentence; speak English to a high standard; owe no money to the UK taxpayer; and have a record of sustained National Insurance contributions.

Settlement rules will continue to apply at the time an application is made. Official estimates suggest about 500,000 people will have to wait longer than five years under the new rules. The Home Office said no one would be forced to leave and all affected people would have a fair opportunity to apply for new visas allowing them to settle after 10 years.

Refugees who enter through approved “safe and legal” routes will be able to settle after five years. Others who arrive illegally will face a 20-year wait, which can be reduced to 10 years if they work or study. Those who arrive by small boat or through another clandestine route will face an additional 10-year waiting period and could have to wait up to 30 years for settlement.

The revised policy retains a five-year settlement route for eligible overseas care workers and certain other contributors, while extending the waiting period for applicants who do not meet the qualifying conditions or who breach immigration rules.