Foreign social and home care workers, who arrived in the U.K. before May 2025, will be able to normally settle (become permanent residents) in five years, rather than in 15 years, as was first proposed in the British government’s ‘earned settlement’ scheme announced in November 2025.
Those earning more than £50,271 per annum, doctors, nurses and teachers will be able to settle in five years, while those earning more than £1,25,140 per annum could settle in three years, as was proposed in the November 2025 draft rules.
The news of softer final rules for care workers is likely to impact thousands of Indians who came in on the Health and Care Worker visa scheme, which began in October 2020 and ran until July 2025. The scheme is associated with reports of Indian care workers – including many from Kerala – being subject to abuse, including unpaid wages, illegal recruitment fees, threats and other forms of exploitation at the hands of employers.
Under the scheme, finalised on Monday (November 2, 2026), social care workers earning at least £25,000 per year, who arrived in the U.K. before May 2025, would be eligible for ‘indefinite leave to remain’ (ILR) after five years. Those who have fallen afoul of the initial visa conditions would be given “a second chance”, U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said, with a fresh five-year qualifying period.
“The government has already stripped around 1,800 exploitative employers of their licenses,” Ms. Mahmood said on Monday (November 2, 2026), adding that the government would help workers find positions with legitimate care providers.
The softening of the conditions for residency in the final version of the earned settlement rules, announced by Ms. Mahmood, was a response to pressure from the left flank of the Labour Party and health unions, as well as a response to a public consultation on the draft policy, conducted earlier this year. The U.K. government said that over 2,02,000 responses were received, most (73%) of whom were visa holders.
The government had originally announced the draft earned settlement scheme under pressure from the parties on the right, especially Reform U.K., which, at the time, was surging in popularity. The basis of the overhaul was to increase the default qualifying period for settlement from five to ten years, with various factors either adding to or lowering the default qualifying duration of time.
The government, headed at the time by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, had argued the immigration overhaul was necessary to counter the surge in migration (sometimes called the ‘Boriswave’) in the social care and student categories that happened after Covid, during the administration of Boris Johnson, a Conservative.
Net migration hit a record of 9,44,000 in the year ending March 2023. However, following a tightening in policy started by the Rishi Sunak government and continued by Mr. Starmer’s Labour government, the net figure as of December 2025 dropped to 1,71,000.
“10 billion pounds. That is the cost of today’s U-turn,” shadow (i.e., opposition) Home Secretary Chris Philp said in the House of Commons on Monday (November 2, 2026), using Ms. Mahmood’s own cost estimate against her. He alleged that Ms. Mahmood was not in control of the government’s immigration policy and that Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, who is a prominent figure on Labour’s left, was in charge.
Other low-income workers could now obtain ILR in 10 years rather than the 15 years proposed under the draft scheme announced last year. Those with ILR have the right to live and work in the U.K. permanently and to potentially apply for benefits (public assistance).
The qualifying period for refugees and those arriving in the U.K. via illegal routes, would range from five to 30 years depending on whether they were studying, working, and how they arrived in the county.
Published – November 02, 2026 11:36 pm IST
