Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s Plan to Extend Settlement Wait for Migrant Care Workers

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to double the default qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five to ten years for migrant workers. The change would apply retrospectively, meaning many care workers already in the UK could see their path to settlement stretch to 15 years. The reform differentiates between “low-skilled” jobs, which would face longer waits, and higher-skill roles, which would see a shortened route.

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The proposal has sparked a rebellion within Labour. Communities Secretary Angela Rayner broke ranks ahead of the party’s conference in Liverpool, calling the retroactive application “changing the goalposts” and describing the plan as “un-British.” The backlash is seen as an attempt by Labour to counter the political threat from Reform UK by adopting a tougher migration stance.

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Immigration Minister Jo White defended the reforms, warning that up to 600,000 social-care workers could obtain ILR after five years and then leave the sector, worsening staffing shortages. She argued the policy aims to prevent a “spiral” where workers exit care once they secure permanent residence.

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Andrea Egan, general secretary of the Unison union, accused Mahmood of “dehumanising” migrants and said the proposals have “fuelled the far-right.” Egan highlighted that hundreds of thousands of care workers arrived on health-care visas since 2021, many expecting settlement after five years, and warned that extending the wait would exacerbate staff shortages in a sector with roughly 96,000 vacancies. She urged the Home Secretary to reverse the plan, emphasizing the value migrant workers bring to families and the NHS.

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• “What’s more terrifying, that or an Asian or a black nurse looking after you, in your hour of need?” — Andrea Egan, general secretary of the Unison union

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