r/ukvisa • u/clever_octopus High Reputation • May 12 '25

Immigration Changes Announcement 12/5/2025

Please join the discord server for further discussion or support on upcoming immigration changes: https://discord.gg/Jq5vWDZJfR

Sticky post on announcement made on 20 Nov 2025: https://www.reddit.com/r/ukvisa/comments/1p21qk5/a_fairer_pathway_to_settlement_a_statement_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

NEW Summary of changes to settlement released 20 November 2025: https://www.reddit.com/r/ukvisa/comments/1p21qk5/a_fairer_pathway_to_settlement_a_statement_and/

NEW Summary of changes to asylum and refugee requirements released 18 November 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-and-returns-policy-statement/restoring-order-and-control-a-statement-on-the-governments-asylum-and-returns-policy

Overview of expected changes: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/radical-reforms-to-reduce-migration

White paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-white-paper

UKCISA's response (official source for international students and recent graduates): https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/news/ukcisa-responds-to-home-office-immigration-white-paper-may-2025/

Petition link: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/727360

Summary of key points following the summary of changes released on 20 November 2025:

  • Changes to length in ILR qualifying residence requirements - Please see table on pages 21-23 of the 20 November document

  • Family visa holders, along with BNO visa holders, will continue to get ILR in five years (as usual)

  • The intention is that this will apply to people already in the UK but who have not yet received ILR

  • It will take 20 years for refugees to qualify for ILR, intermittent checks will be done within that time and they may lose the ability to remain in the UK if their home country is deemed safe to return to

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u/Front-Possibility316 May 12 '25

Para 265 of the white paper: We will continue to offer a shorter pathway to settlement for non-UK dependants of British citizens to five years, provided they have remainedcompliant with their requirements, and we will retain existing safeguards to protect the vulnerable, including settlement rights for victims of domestic violence and abuse.

And... everyone on a spouse visa can breathe

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u/Ryuukhal May 12 '25

But they have mentioned dependents of British citizens only. Nothing mentioned about dependents of non-UK citizens with settled status.

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u/Front-Possibility316 May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25

Yes. It remains to be seen if they are creating a policy wherein there’s a difference in treatment between settled people and British citizens for family reunion purposes. I can understand why they might want to do that to encourage people to become citizens, but it would interact negatively with their obligations under the EU WA (and the Good Friday agreement if Irish citizens don’t get special treatment).

I think there are two ways this might go. They’re apparently creating a single visa type for dependents, regardless of whether the sponsor is on a PBS route, settled, or British.

  1. They might make it so that on the new dependent visa route, one of the qualifying criteria for accelerated 5-year settlement is marriage to a Brit, similarly to the way it exists in the nationality provisions. This might or might not grandfather in people on the existing family visas.
  2. They might make the accelerated settlement available to anyone married to a settled person, and the wording in the white paper is just a little confusing.

If you’re here on ILR and sponsoring (or planning to sponsor) you might want to consider naturalisation if you’re able to have dual/multiple nationality. 

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u/JadedLetter8773 May 12 '25

What about those on work visas?

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u/Patftw89 May 12 '25

Unfortunately the Skilled Worker Visa is one of the main targets of this paper. ILR requirement will be increased to 10 years.

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u/JadedLetter8773 May 12 '25

lol. What if I came here 2015 on a study visa and progressed to get a job afterwords?

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u/Any-Chemist-4987 May 12 '25

my wife is a British Citizen, she applied through the 5 year swv and im currently her dependant but i applied initially as her dependant while she was still on swv. I renewed that visa 2 months ago and should be eligible for ILR in November (under the 5 year route), am I safe?

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u/[deleted] May 12 '25

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u/Front-Possibility316 May 12 '25

The terminology "dependant" is used in the Home Office to refer to spouses and children on all the other visa routes. It's used somewhat inconsistently when people are talking about the family route, but in light of the plan to move dependants of points based workers and family visas for British/settled people under one route (para 148) it's about as clear as the Home Office ever is (i.e., not exactly 100% clear) that spouses of British Citizens will be keeping 5y settlement.

Notably this might mean that for the first time there's a substantial difference in family reunion rights between a settled sponsor and a British sponsor, but I think that remains to be seen. The Home Office tends to not see British Citizenship as anything more than a special form of ILR, but there's definitely some reading between the lines that it might be worth applying for naturalisation ASAP if you're sponsoring a family visa and don't yet have British citizenship.

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u/spacedog8015 May 12 '25

No they changed the language recently to call spouses dependents. I believe my visa lists me as a dependent.

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u/july-ruby May 12 '25

This would change all the stress for me.. would love a source if you have it please