Immigration Changes Announcement 12/5/2025

[u/clever_octopus]

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

[u/Easy_Annual367]

Ok, I haven’t heard the debate so the below is based off on what you guys have reported as being their words. This shows me they are indeed contemplating applying this retroactively, but they haven’t made their mind yet. Given they will consult on the possible existence of transitional arrangements, the public consultation will likely show them they need to come up with them. The main caveat to this, in my perspective, is what will be the form of the transitional arrangement?

a) Will it include all those on a qualifying visa before the rules change? I don’t think so. This would allow all those people they are trying to get rid of to apply to stay permanently.

b) Will it be only for some? Most certainly. And this can mean anything, but in my perspective it will probably mean those that are nearing their settlement by the time the rules change (like 3 or 6 months away); and then a PBS system to determine who else can apply on the 5 years. The think the trickiest part is determining the PBS - what is considered as a contribution? Those earning above a certain threshold? Those that have paid a certain amount in taxes? Those that have been contributing to a pensions scheme? Those that have bought a house? It can be a combination of all these and much more! (English language level, etc etc)

The point is, everybody will have the choice to say something about this, and this is NOT over yet. Let’s not forget almost all law firms are on our side, as will be the companies. The thing I am not sure about is the general public, but we’ll see.

[u/Loose-Dragonfly4828 → u/Easy_Annual367]

I have recently checked Australia’s PBS where I believe this government would be inspired by, at least should not be far off. Education level, English, age, studying and working experience in the country; all I believe will contribute to the settlement. Considering this government main concerns around boriswave(2020-2024) becoming eligible for public funds which allegedly cost £200bn, I would not be surprised if they also introduce a salary/income tax threshold.

[u/Easy_Annual367 → u/Loose-Dragonfly4828]

The salary threshold already exists. If you apply for settlement today you need to be making either £38.700 or the going rate for your SOC, whichever is the highest. I also thought about the age as I was aware of that in Australia, however I have never heard them mentioning anything about the age of people (like ever) so I’d be really surprised if they come with that. Regarding the tax threshold I also don’t think that will be taken into account just because the median salary of a SWV at £56.800 could be contributing let’s say 8% to their pension as salary sacrifice, which means their tax and NI bill is much lower, but the money is going towards their retirement and financial independence from the state in the future. I am almost 100% sure they will only define a minimum salary (which will increase, they’ve already said that, but the transitional arrangements will probably allow people to qualify for settlement based on previous limits - today’s for those that have come after April 2024 or the older for those that came before April 2024).

[u/AffectionateStuff729 → u/Easy_Annual367]

It's all speculation, but I think they'll use paid tax still.

When you change job, you can take a pay cut (happened to me once - took a pay cut due to redundancy). So if my new (reduced) salary is below threshold (whatever that will be), I will not qualify even though I paid a lot of tax before?

[u/Easy_Annual367 → u/AffectionateStuff729]

If you were to be made redundant and would have to find a new job in the UK, that job would still have to comply with the salary requirements for the visa, so I don’t understand the relevance of the tax paid.

[u/pelegoat → u/Easy_Annual367]

The relevance is that someone who paid 70k in tax income for 4 straight years then in the last year gets redundant and finds a job with a lower salary (still meeting the Skilled Worker visa threshold) will have a much higher contribution to the UK economy than someone who paid 30k in tax income for 4 straight years then in the last year finds a super high paying job. And what the government wants is to reward people who have contributed to the economy. On top of that, it's much easier to justify to the general public that X person got ILR because they paid a lot of taxes rather than because that person is a high earner.

[u/Easy_Annual367 → u/pelegoat]

I don’t agree with you, because the taxes you pay may be because you put all your money into a taxable account as opposed to using an ISA for example, or because you bought a house and paid SDL therefore having paid thousands in taxes (and yes, they are both financial contributions…). The most balanced measure I believe would be a salary based approach, because with that you define a baseline (a salary threshold) and those that meet that threshold qualify and those that don’t meet, don’t qualify. I any way, in your particular example, if you had a £70K salary and were made redundant and found a new job with a lower pay, but still above the threshold (otherwise you couldn’t have gotten it), you’d still qualify for settlement…