Changing UK settlement rule to 10 years is unfair | Letter

One reader says the plan to make it harder to settle in Britain should apply to future entrants to the country, not those already holding skilled worker visas

In the ongoing debate on UK immigration, a crucial aspect that deserves more attention is the government’s intention of doubling the time for holders of skilled worker visas to become eligible for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), from five to 10 years, plus new hurdles at the 10-year mark and later for citizenship.

Holding a skilled worker visa already requires continuous employment, without even a day’s gap and without a social safety net, but with higher taxation. This can be challenging for five years, and will be unrealistic for 10 years. Think of people like my wife and I, who moved to the UK in mid-2021 on skilled worker visas. We will be eligible to apply for ILR in six months, but, if the new 10-year route kicked in, that would increase it to five and a half years. For people like us who call the UK home, the threat of many more years of fragile visa status would change everything, and is terrifying.