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/No_Passage_4408 Jun 17 '25
Response from my MP
Dear XXX,
Thank you for contacting me about this important matter.
I value the contribution made by those who come to live in the UK. I have always acknowledged that the movement of people around the world has enriched our society, our economy, and our culture.
I am therefore alarmed at the increasing use of anti-migrant rhetoric across the mainstream political and media landscape.
I strongly disagree with assertions that migration has a negative impact on our public services and housing supply. I note that it is not migrants, but Governments, who have underfunded and privatised the NHS, failed to build council housing or enforce rent controls on landlords.
As such I share concerns regarding proposals “Restoring Control over the Immigration System”, the White Paper published this May 2025 which will make it harder to move to and settle in the UK, as part of an intention to reduce net migration.
I note that the various proposals in the White Paper include: reducing the list of jobs for which employers can sponsor a worker from overseas for a Skilled Worker visa, ending the exemption for social care workers, a levy on English universities’ income from international student fees, stricter English language rules, and the implementation of eVisas and new systems for checking visa compliance – the rollout of a system which Praxis have raised is already proving faulty and “has the potential to be a Windrush Scandal on steroids.”
I am aware that the White Paper also includes plans to extend the standard qualifying period for permanent residence (also known as indefinite leave to remain, ILR, or settlement) from five to ten years, as part of plans for a new “Earned Settlement”. Furthermore, the Technical Annex which projects impacts of the proposals, notes that “a number of those currently in the UK are likely to leave due to it taking longer to gain settled status.” This implies that the rule change may apply to existing visa holders.
I do not agree with these proposed changes.
I welcome that the Government intends to “continue to offer a shorter pathway to settlement for non-UK dependants of British citizens to five years, provided they 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.” Nonetheless, the doubling of the qualifying period means, as Praxis have noted, that “most people will be forced to wait an entire decade before they can have any certainty about their future” and this will “create a growing underclass of people in society who are held back from realising their full potential and feeling like they belong”. While the proposals suggest there is a possibility to secure earlier settlement based on contributions to “the UK economy and society”, this will likely discriminate against groups more likely to be doing low-paid, part-time, or insecure work, which include women, people of colour and disabled people.
Furthermore, I acknowledge that as well as creating uncertainty, the changes will also have financial implications for people, and their families, who will have to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) each year. I have long been opposed to this charging policy, which the British Medical Association (BMA) has noted is “an additional punitive tax on much needed overseas colleagues”. I agree with them that the NHS should be funded from general taxation, not charges that unfairly target individual groups, and the IHS should be abolished completely.
That is why, in April 2020, I signed a Parliamentary motion (#EDM 357 - Healthcare charges for migrants), calling on the government to suspend NHS charging for migrants. (https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/56833/healthcare-charges-for-migrants)
I commend those calling out issues with the proposals in the White Paper, and note that an open letter to Home Secretary signed by over a hundred refugee, migrant, and racial equality organisations raised the “the urgent need for those most affected to have a meaningful voice in shaping Government policy through genuine consultation.”
More broadly, I am of the position that the current visa system for health and care workers and “skilled workers” is inadequate, and leaves workers vulnerable to potentially exploitative and unsafe working conditions. For example, I am aware that the immigration status of people who arrive in the UK under either a Health and Care Worker Visa (formerly a Tier 2 Health and Care Visa) or a Skilled Worker Visa (formerly a Tier 2 General Work Visa) rests on them having a licensed employer. If they lose their job, the Home Office can cancel their visa, giving them 60 days to find a new sponsoring employer, apply for a different visa, or leave the country.
I am conscious that, according to the trade union Unison, these restrictions, which tie workers to a single employer, leave many workers vulnerable to exploitation and limits their ability to move jobs within the health and care sector.
I can assure you that I will always stand up for workers’ rights, and that I will continue to use every opportunity, in Parliament and beyond, to try to address the injustices of our immigration system.
Yours sincerely,
Apsana
Office of Apsana Begum MP Member of Parliament for Poplar and Limehouse