Home Secretary reaffirms earned settlement ILR reforms will be retrospective, says changes coming this autumn - Electronic Immigration Network

Shabana Mahmood says new rules will affect those who arrived between 2022 and 2024 after telling The Times they will take effect this autumn

The Home Secretary reaffirmed last week that the Government intends to introduce retrospective changes to the rules on indefinite leave to remain (ILR), as part of wider reforms to what ministers describe as an "earned settlement" system.

Speaking in a major speech on immigration at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) on the same day that new changes to the Immigration Rules were laid before Parliament, Shabana Mahmood said settlement in the UK should be "earned and not automatic".

The Home Secretary said it was "entirely consistent with Labour values" to address the impending settlement of large numbers of "low-skilled workers and their dependants" who arrived between 2022 and 2024. She indicated that any rule changes would apply to those already in the UK who have not yet secured settled status.

In last week's statement of changes to the Immigration Rules, an increase in the English language requirement for settlement was introduced, which will come into force in spring 2027. The Times reported on Sunday, 1 March, that Mahmood said the broader earned settlement changes would be introduced in the autumn.

The Times article stated: "In an interview with The Times, Mahmood made clear that she would press ahead with the plans on indefinite leave to remain and confirmed that the changes would apply retrospectively to those already in the UK. She will change the law in the autumn and said the changes were vital because of the 'historically large numbers' that arrived since 2021."

The changes would see the standard qualifying period for settlement increase from five years to ten, alongside new conditions such as a clean criminal record, no debt to the taxpayer, and a history of work and tax contributions.

As the Home Secretary noted in her speech at the IPPR, the Government is currently reviewing the responses to its consultation on the earned settlement proposals. The Home Office said last week that it had received more than 200,000 responses to the consultation, which closed in February.

The reforms have already prompted concern among Labour backbenchers. According to Bloomberg, more than 100 Labour MPs wrote privately to the Home Secretary last week to express concern about the Government's immigration policies. The letter criticises both the retrospective application of the earned settlement changes and the measures introduced last week affecting refugees, including a longer route to ILR and regular reviews of refugee status.

According to the Guardian, the letter was organised by former barrister Tony Vaughan MP. Vaughan was quoted as saying: "We can change our immigration system for the better without forgetting who we are as a Labour party. You don't win back public confidence in the asylum system by threatening to forcibly remove refugees who have lived here lawfully for 15 or 20 years. That just breeds insecurity and fractured communities."

The section on the earned settlement from the Home Secretary's speech at the IPPR is excerpted and reproduced below: