ILR New Rules 2026: Who Still Gets Indefinite Leave to Remain in 5 Years, and Who Waits 10?

The ILR new rules are now confirmed, and they are the biggest shake-up of indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in years. The Home Office published its final "Earned Settlement" plan on 2 November 2026. For most people the normal wait for settlement goes from 5 years to 10 years. High earners, key public service workers and people with a British partner keep shorter routes, while people who claim benefits or break immigration rules face longer ones (Home Office, Government Response, Nov 2026). None of this is in force yet: the first changes arrive in the December Immigration Rules, and the rest follow during 2027.

#What is indefinite leave to remain (ILR)?

ILR (indefinite leave to remain), often just called settlement, means you can live in the UK permanently: no visa renewals, no work restrictions, and access to public funds. It is normally the step you take before applying for British citizenship (gov.uk: Settle in the UK).

Under the current rules, people on routes such as the Skilled Worker visa can usually apply after 5 years, and anyone with 10 years of continuous lawful residence can apply through the Long Residence route (gov.uk: Long residence). Earned Settlement changes both.

#"ILR 10 years" means two different things

Search for "ILR 10 years" and you'll find two separate rules muddled together:

• The old 10-year Long Residence route (gov.uk's long residence page): settlement after 10 years of continuous lawful residence on any combination of visas, Student and Graduate years included. It still exists today, but it will close under Earned Settlement.
• The new 10-year standard qualifying period: the default wait on routes such as the Skilled Worker visa, raised from 5 years, where only time on a qualifying route counts.

In other words, a decade of study followed by work won't be enough by itself any more. Only the years you spend on a route that leads to settlement count.

#ILR new rules: the 3, 5, 10 and 20-year routes

(Home Office, Table 1)

Each threshold matches a UK income tax band (£12,571 is where basic-rate tax begins, £50,271 the higher rate, £125,141 the additional rate), so the figures will shift if the bands do.

#Key dates

#Who still gets ILR after 5 years

• Higher earners: £50,271 or more a year in 3 of the 5 years before you apply. Two weaker years are tolerated, for instance because of maternity leave or illness. These 3- and 5-year earnings routes cover the Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Scale-up, Innovator Founder and International Sportsperson routes.
• Health and education public service workers: eligible jobs paid on national pay scales, such as doctors, nurses and teachers. Annex C of the Home Office response has the full list.
• People with a British connection: eligible partners, parents and children of British citizens, plus UK Ancestry visa holders.
• Groups already promised a route: Hong Kong BN(O) visa holders stay on 5 years. HM Armed Forces, including Gurkha and Hong Kong military unit veterans discharged before 1 July 1997, keep what they have now: service personnel qualify after at least 4 years' service, and their partners and children after 5 years.

#Transitional protection for some people already in the UK

This protection covers only people who were already on the route before the Immigration White Paper of May 2025:

• Care workers who entered or switched into the care worker route before May 2025 keep 5 years, as long as they meet the £25,000 salary, sponsorship and work conditions. Anyone who falls short can apply for another five-year Health and Care visa and try again.
• Health and education workers below degree level (RQF 6) on national pay scales, such as nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants, keep a 5-year route.

(Home Office, Chapter 8)

#Who moves to 10 years

Nearly everyone else on a settlement route, including:

• Skilled Workers on less than £50,271 who aren't in an eligible public service job. The consultation floated 15 years for jobs below RQF 6, but that idea was dropped, so they get the same 10 years as everyone else.
• People on Family and Private Life routes, who can't use the 3- or 5-year routes.
• Care workers who started on the route after May 2025.
• Skilled Workers already on the route before April 2024 in jobs below RQF 6. They also move to 10 years, but can go on extending their visas on their current salary terms until 2035 (the earlier date was 2030), which gives them time to reach settlement.

The 10-year route asks for earnings of at least £12,571 in 5 of the 7 years before you apply. Couples can pool their income against a household threshold of £25,142, so a partner working part-time around childcare isn't penalised. Children, people aged 65 or over, and people unable to work because of a physical or mental condition don't have to meet the earnings rule.

#ILR requirements under the new rules

Every route comes with the same baseline. A higher salary can't make up for missing any of these (Home Office, Introduction and Chapter 1):

• English at B2 (upper intermediate), up from today's B1. Reaching C1 will not shorten your wait.
• A pass in the Life in the UK test, which is under review.
• No UK criminal record. Adults with any UK criminal record, court fines, conditional cautions and suspended sentences included, will be refused.
• No debts to the government, which covers NHS debt, unpaid tax and National Insurance, and Home Office legal costs.
• No specified public funds in the 5 years before you apply. Claiming them puts you on the 20-year route, unless you then go 5 straight years without claiming.
• No immigration breaches as an adult, such as overstaying or working against your visa conditions. These also put you on the 20-year route.

#Students and Graduate visa holders: time will not count

For international students, this is the change that matters most. Right now, years on a Student or Graduate visa can count towards the 10-year Long Residence route. Under Earned Settlement:

• the Long Residence route closes;
• time on Student, Graduate, Visit, Youth Mobility, Seasonal Worker, Global Business Mobility and other temporary routes won't count towards settlement;
• your settlement clock only starts once you move onto a route that counts, such as the Skilled Worker visa, a family route or a talent route.

(Home Office, Chapter 4)

Still studying? Read what's changing with the UK Graduate visa and the UK student visa rules.

#Partners and children

Families come out better in the final plan than in the consultation (Home Office, Chapter 5):

• A partner who comes with you can settle alongside you, if they meet the requirements.
• A partner who joins you later serves the same qualifying period. If they arrive 2 years after you on a 5-year route, they apply 2 years after you.
• Children under 18 can settle with their parents without meeting the income, English or Life in the UK rules.
• Young adults aged 18 to 24 who are still dependants can settle with the family without meeting the earnings rule.
• From age 25, a dependant who hasn't settled with the family has to qualify on their own or move to their own visa.

#Worked examples

How the confirmed rules would play out once they take effect (drawn from the Home Office response; individual cases can differ):

#Who is not affected

These groups keep their own arrangements (Home Office, Chapters 4 and 6):

• the EU Settlement Scheme;
• Hong Kong BN(O) (5 years) and the Afghan schemes;
• Windrush cases;
• bereaved partners and victims of domestic abuse, who can still apply immediately;
• children in care, and young people who grew up in the UK.

The reforms change how you qualify for settlement. Nothing in the Home Office response proposes removing ILR from people who already hold it.

#What you should do now

1. Find your route: look at your visa type, your earnings over the last few years, and whether your job appears on the public service list.
2. Already eligible under today's 5-year rules? Talk to a regulated immigration adviser about when to apply. gov.uk has a tool to find one.
3. Keep your paperwork: P60s, payslips and tax records for every year, because earnings will be checked across 5 to 7 years.
4. Start preparing for B2 English and the Life in the UK test now if you'll need them.
5. Pay off any NHS or tax debt, and keep to your visa conditions.
6. Watch the official source. The changes will be published on gov.uk as a "Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules". Be wary of agents or social media posts that sound certain before the rules are out.

#Frequently asked questions

Related: UK Graduate visa: 18 months or 2 years? · UK student visa from Nepal · UKVI credibility interview questions

Sources: gov.uk: Home Secretary unveils new rules for migrants settling in the UK, 2 Nov 2026 · Home Office: A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, Government Response (Nov 2026) · gov.uk: Earned settlement consultation · EIN: Home Secretary's statement, 2 Nov 2026 · Free Movement, 2 Nov 2026 · gov.uk: Long residence · gov.uk: Settle in the UK