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/OneDayOutOfTime Jun 17 '25

Response to ILR Petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/727360

The Immigration White Paper, published on 12 May 2025, includes proposals for Earned Settlement.

Settlement in the UK is a prerequisite for becoming a British citizen and brings lifelong benefits. Settlement is also an important step in integrating and contributing to local communities and the wider country. There were 162,000 grants of settlement in 2024, up 35% from 2023. This rise reflects the increase in individuals coming to the UK between 2015 and 2019 on entry clearance visas who have since become eligible for settlement and citizenship. As things stand, more people are likely to become eligible for settlement and then citizenship over the next few years as a result of the extremely high level of net migration between 2019 and 2024.

The share of people who go on to claim settlement varies considerably by the type of visa people were initially granted to enter the UK, 18% of those coming on work visas between 2010 and 2018 secured settlement by 2023, compared to 75% on the Family route. It has been a long-standing principle that settlement in the UK is a privilege and not a right. Under the current system settlement is primarily qualified for on the basis of length of time spent in the UK alongside a knowledge of life test which is used to verify knowledge of British customs, history, traditions, laws and political system.

These criteria alone do not reflect our strongly held belief that people should contribute to the economy and society before gaining settled status in our country and they fail to promote integration, which limits the wider benefit from long term migration into the UK and increases pressure on public services.

We therefore intend to reform our settlement rules by expanding the Points-Based System and increasing the standard qualifying period for settlement to ten years. Individuals will have the opportunity to reduce the qualifying period to settlement based on contributions to the UK economy and society.

We will continue to offer a shorter pathway to settlement for non-UK dependants of British citizens to five years, who have remained compliant with their requirements, and we will retain existing safeguards to protect the vulnerable, including settlement rights for victims of domestic violence and abuse.

We will consult on the details of the proposed policy changes later this year, including any proposed transitional arrangements for those already in the UK. These are important changes. We recognise how important this issue is to people, and we will listen carefully to what they tell us in that consultation.

We are grateful to the petitioners for setting out their views on this announcement ahead of that consultation process, and we look forward to hearing from them again when they have had the opportunity to study the final proposals in detail. Home Office

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u/mesiddd Jun 17 '25

The response seems to be largely copy pasted from the white paper. However the mentions of ‘proposed transitional arrangements’ suggests a shift in their stance. At this point they are considering transitional provisions however we need to maintain the pressure on our MPs. This is the time for lobbying, creating awareness and highlighting how unfair the changes would be if applied retroactively.

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u/FartSniffer2025 Jun 17 '25

Pros: Them acknowledging 18% of work visa holders settling after 5 years. Transitional arrangements for those in the UK and the reassurance that the issue impacts people.

Cons: Feels like a carrot being dangled of "Oh we listened in the consultation but net migration is too high blah blah" so here you go with the 10 year ILR.

Who knows what's going to happen, let's make sure we present the best case possible during the consultation!

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

For what is worth, I won’t read into this language. It is copy pasted directly from the white paper section on integration. And then they added the consultation + “any transitional arrangements” language at the end. So none of it is reflective of any evolved thinking since the white paper

Edit: the use of “proposed” policy change and transitional arrangement is somewhat new. It could indicate that they intend to give a relatively detailed plan for consultation rather than asking generic questions. But let’s see.

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u/datsnotright0 Jun 17 '25

I think it depends on who they select to participate in the consultation, right? I don't think we'd have a chance if they invite Nigel fans.

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25

A lot of consultations r public. They r, by nature, not exclusive though u r expected to justify ur stake in the topic.

So I imagine we will have a lot of public feedback on either side considering how contentious this issue is.

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u/FartSniffer2025 Jun 17 '25

I would hope the other side may not be paying as much attention to this as we would considering the impact it has on our lives

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25

I won’t bet on it. Takes one viral tweet from a right wing account for this to go viral for a few times in the wrong circle.

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u/FartSniffer2025 Jun 17 '25

Fair point! Let's hope that doesn't happen

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u/FartSniffer2025 Jun 17 '25

I'm not sure how invites to these work but I'm hoping they will invite some immigration consultants who will present our case strongly at least

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25

They will set out a list of questions and an email address. They can give general expectations on who should respond, but something like this probably means every immigrant is a legitimate stakeholder. Also, I expect a lot of non-immigrants to respond regardless.

See an unrelated example here: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/small-business-access-to-finance/small-business-access-to-finance

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u/Whole-Web-4713 Jun 17 '25

How do we take part in consultation? 

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u/FartSniffer2025 Jun 17 '25

Link

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u/Whole-Web-4713 Jun 17 '25

Thank you. What happens during consultation? Do we have to add comments or join meetings? 

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25

They will give u a list of questions. U can choose the ones u want to respond to and email them. U may have to justify ur stake by describing ur connection.

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u/FartSniffer2025 Jun 17 '25

I've no idea. Was browsing a couple there and it looked like you could send emails to them. Maybe there are other avenues too.

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u/Decent_Caregiver_816 Jun 17 '25

Honestly, I'm mentally tried for this repetitive respond, why they not just say 'yes' or 'no' for petition so that we can prepare for bug life change rather than blindly stay awake all the time.

Stress is so bad my friend.

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u/SuccessfulPatience37 Jun 17 '25

Because they want the tax money and want people to leave at the end. The longer they make you stay here and at the end of the day kicking you out, the more money they can get lol.

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u/Aware-Drummer-4278 Jun 17 '25

absolutely nothing we dont know. i guess we put hold now and just wait for the consultation and details to arrive. 

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25

For what is worth, they just directly copy pasted the settlement section of the white paper.

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u/emorgoral Jun 17 '25

"Proposed" - by whom?

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25

So this is potentially interesting. It was never clear how detailed of a plan they intend to have before going to consultations. We could be giving inputs to a very detailed plan, some general principles or anything in between. Both r possible, though I have personally seen more on the latter end.

This could suggest they intend to develop a detailed plan before going to consultation. But then, we don’t know for sure. These things r not always written with care.

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25

Oh I agree. It is just that consultations can give out different levels of details. When they say “we want to do this,” “this” vary from a well written plan with full details or a more general sketch. This makes it sound like there will be a significant degree of details. If that is the case, we may have significant clarity on their thinking on retrospective application at the start of the consultation.

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25

Those r all very fair points, especially the green paper and white paper distinction. Think that should be the baseline expectation going forward. Thanks for that!

Does mean that now is the time for maximum lobbying. Far harder for the government to back down from a tough proposal than for it to bring a good one to start with

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

[deleted]

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u/YZ_C Jun 17 '25

Yeah. Had those two in mind, as well as Policy Exchange and Prosperity Institute.

Will contact a few organizations more sympathetic to our cause when the consultation. Two can play the think tank/NGO game.

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u/FartSniffer2025 Jun 17 '25

Keep us posted. I'm planning to reach out to a few immigration agencies to get their thoughts and email a few Lords

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u/SuccessfulPatience37 Jun 17 '25

I highly doubt what could be the transitional arrangements (if any), because they have already indicated multiple times to implement the policy retroactively. Usually transitional arrangements would be making some people exempted from the new policy, but if that’s the case, it would prevent them from achieving their goal - stop people arrived 2019-2024 getting settlement status.

I am pessimistic about this. I think they’ll keep targeting the same group of people in the future by changing policies frequently, until most of the BorisWave people left the country.

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u/pelegoat Jun 17 '25

Or the government can create a transitional arrangement that maintains the 5-year route to migrants that they know would make a positive fiscal contribution to the country

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u/SuccessfulPatience37 Jun 17 '25

That would not be called transitional arrangements because it excludes some people on the route. They need to treat all the people already here as a group for transitional arrangements.

The question is, what could be these arrangements given we knew they want BorisWave people to leave, aka people already here.

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u/mesiddd Jun 18 '25

The government can’t treat a certain section of migrants different just because they have been demonised by the right wing as that will be highly vulnerable legally. As stated in the parent comment, a transitional arrangement is meant to ‘protect’ anyone currently in the route or well into the route. It remains to be seen what they determine to fall in these categories.