Stricter English requirements planned for settlement in the UK
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced proposed reforms that will make indefinite leave to remain tougher to acquire.
Promising she will be a “tough Labour Home Secretary”, Mahmood spoke at the Labour party conference on September 29, where she revealed plans to tighten the UK’s immigration system and “set rules that ensure contributions to this country”.
Currently, indefinite leave to remain is usually granted after five years once the basic requirements are met. It allows holders to live, work, and study in the UK indefinitely, and to access benefits if they qualify.
However, in the government’s immigration white paper published in May 2025, it announced that this standard five year qualifying period would be changed to a baseline of 10 years. Mahmood said the government will be “consulting on this change soon”.
As part of this consultation, the Home Secretary is proposing a series of new tests for those seeking indefinite leave to remain. These include being in work, making national insurance contributions, not receiving benefits, learning English to a high standard, having no criminal record and volunteering in the community.
“Without [meeting] these conditions, I do not believe your ability to stay in this country should be automatic,” Mahmood told the Liverpool conference.
“Some will be able to earn an earlier settlement than 10 years based on their contribution, while others will be forced to wait longer if they are not contributing enough.
“In some cases, they will be barred from indefinite leave to remain entirely. The British people have always welcomed those who come here to work hard and to give back. Time spent in this country alone is not enough,” said Mahmood, who became Home Secretary on September 5 2025, in a cabinet reshuffle.
The British people have always welcomed those who come here to work hard and to give back. Time spent in this country alone is not enough
Shabana Mahmood, UK Home Secretary
No additional details have been provided regarding the requirements, such as what constitutes a “high standard” of English.
At the time of the release of the immigration white paper, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged that language requirements would be raised “across every immigration route” to make sure that those living and working in the UK have a good grasp of English.
Other proposals in the white paper include the shortening of the UK’s Graduate Route from two years to 18 months and stricter compliance metrics for universities, including the halving of visa refusal thresholds for providers.
The white paper also outlined the government’s plan to introduce a levy on international student fees. A recent report warned that if implemented, the levy could trigger a sharp drop in enrolments, reducing the UK’s economy by £2.2 billion over five years, and cutting 135,000 university places for domestic students.
Last week, the Reform party unveiled its proposals for indefinite leave to remain, including a plan to abolish it entirely and instead make obtaining British citizenship the only route to permanent residence in the UK.
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