The UK's earned settlement plan of 2 November 2026 doubles the default wait for ILR to 10 years, with 5 years for those earning £50,271. Mahmood told MPs it will be implemented during 2027. There is no general protection for existing work visa holders, and the Long Residence route will close.
The UK Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, set out “earned settlement” in Parliament on 2 November 2026. The default wait for work visa holders to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) rises from 5 years to 10. People earning £50,271 can still apply after 5 years, and those earning £125,141 after 3. The Home Office estimates that more than 500,000 people will wait longer than 5 years.
The plan is not yet in force. The Home Office documents give no timetable; according to a transcript of Parliament’s live subtitles, Mahmood told the Commons the changes will begin to be laid from the December Immigration Rules and will be implemented over the course of 2027. The document offers no general protection for people already here: existing work visa holders may be moved onto the new pathways, and the 10-year Long Residence route that students could build towards will close.
Four pathways: your income sets the wait
The government response (CP 1707) sorts applicants by contribution. RMB figures below use about ¥8.91 to the pound, a cross rate from ECB reference rates of 30 October 2026.
| Wait | Who | Main condition |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | Exceptional earners, Highest Talent Group | £125,141 a year (about ¥1.116 million) for 3 years, or 3 of the last 4 |
| 5 years | Higher earners, some public service workers, people with a British connection such as partners of British citizens | £50,271 a year (about ¥448,000) in 3 of the last 5 years, or 5 years in an eligible health or education role |
| 10 years | The default | £12,571 a year (about ¥112,000) in 5 of the previous 7 years (elsewhere the document says at least 3 years; await the rules) |
| 20 years | People with immigration breaches or use of public funds | Applies when a shorter pathway is blocked |
Exemptions aside, everyone must meet the core conditions: B2 English, the Life in the UK test, no outstanding government debt and a record of sustained National Insurance contributions (3 years, according to the Home Secretary’s statement). Applicants on the 3-, 5- and 10-year pathways must not have accessed specified public funds in the previous five years. Any adult applicant with a UK criminal record will be refused, and the document’s definition includes suspended sentences and court fines. Overseas convictions also lead to refusal where the conduct would be an offence in the UK.
Which Chinese residents are affected
Work visa holders. The document gives the general Skilled Worker salary threshold as £41,700 (about ¥372,000), below the £50,271 needed for the 5-year pathway. On our reading, someone paid at the threshold would be on the 10-year pathway and could keep renewing a temporary visa. The Home Office says no one will be forced to leave. For the current work routes, see our UK work guide.
People already in the UK. The document says being in the UK gives no automatic right to settle under the rules that applied on arrival, and that applications are ordinarily decided under the rules in force on the decision date. Transitional protection is aimed mainly at care workers and some public service workers who came or switched before the May 2025 White Paper. Anyone who already holds settled status keeps it.
Students. Time on Student, Graduate and High Potential Individual visas will not count towards the qualifying residence period, and the Long Residence route will close. The document gives no closing date and no transition. On our reading, reaching 10 years through study will no longer work, and the clock starts once you are on a qualifying work or family route. Our UK visa guide compares the routes.
Family members. A partner who arrives with the main applicant can settle at the same time, while one who joins later must complete the same period. Couples can combine earnings to reach a £25,142 household threshold. Dependent children aged 25 or over will generally need to qualify on their own.
Those keeping existing paths. Family members of British citizens and Hong Kong BN(O) holders keep their current paths, although BN(O) holders must still meet the new criminality and B2 English requirements. Chinese nationals received 21,300 settlement grants in the year to June 2026, up from 5,570 the year before. The statistics say the rise reflects a large BN(O) cohort completing the qualifying period, so the figure should not be read as the number of mainland workers settling.
What you can do now
- Work out your pathway from your gross earnings in recent years. The document does not say how earnings will be evidenced, or how time already spent counts if your pay rises mid-way through the 10-year pathway, so do not assume until the detail is published.
- Watch for the December statement of changes. Until then the current GOV.UK rules remain 5 years, with a fee of £3,226 per person (as of November 2026).
- Prepare for B2 English early, keep payslips and National Insurance records, and avoid any overstay.
- Settlement itself does not touch nationality; naturalising is what raises the question of losing Chinese nationality, covered in our dual nationality guide. For more on life there, see our UK guide.
Sources
- Home Secretary unveils new rules for migrants settling in the UK (GOV.UK, Home Office, 2 November 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: Government response to the consultation (CP 1707, November 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- Earned settlement: Home Secretary’s statement to Parliament (GOV.UK, 2 November 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026: Study (GOV.UK) (accessed November 2026)
- Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026: Settlement (GOV.UK) (accessed November 2026)
- Indefinite leave to remain: Skilled Worker visa, current rules (GOV.UK) (accessed November 2026)
- Euro reference rate: Chinese yuan (ECB) (accessed November 2026)
- Euro reference rate: Pound sterling (ECB) (accessed November 2026)
- Home Secretary confirms major changes to ILR rules (EIN, transcript of Parliament’s live subtitles, not an official source) (accessed November 2026)
