The Home Affairs Committee have launched an inquiry into the Government’s proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain, affording stakeholders the chance to give their views.
The background
The UK Government’s proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) have generated significant concern and confusion since their announcement in 2025’s Immigration White Paper. We discussed these proposals in depth at our White Paper webinar – which you can watch a recording of here – and more recently wrote about the House of Commons’ debate on the topic – click here to read that.
In short, the Government is proposing to extend the qualifying period for ILR (currently 5 years for most routes) to 10 years, doubling the length of time that it takes to “settle” in the UK. What has generated the most anxiety is the Government’s apparent intention to retroactively apply the new 10-year qualifying period to those who are already on a route to settlement in the UK.
Who is affected?
While it is these individuals currently on the path to settlement, or who will be applying for their first eligible visa shortly, who are most obviously affected by these proposals, there are likely to be significant consequences for businesses also.
Businesses that currently sponsor Skilled Workers would need to sponsor them for a total of 10 years before they qualify for ILR, doubling the period for which the business must pay the Immigration Skills Charge (along with any other visa fees that they have agreed to pay on the employee’s behalf, such as the Immigration Health Surcharge).
Coupled with the Immigration Skills Charge increases coming into force on 16 December 2025 – more on this here – this means that the minimum cost to a medium-sized business of sponsoring a Skilled Worker from entry to settlement is expected to increase from £5,525 to £14,250.There are also the non-financial costs associated with sponsoring an employee for a decade – such as ensuring compliance with the Home Office’s strict record-keeping and reporting requirements for sponsors.
Even for those businesses who have no plans to sponsor workers, the extension of the ILR qualifying period will tie Skilled Workers to sponsor employers for longer – the delay in obtaining settlement will keep these workers out of the general labour market for longer, affecting non-sponsor employers in particular.
What can be done?
The Home Affairs Committee, a cross-party group of MPs responsible for scrutinising the Home Office, have launched an inquiry into the Government’s proposed ILR changes, with the purpose of evaluating the potential impact of these changes. As part of this inquiry, the Committee have put out a Call for Evidence, giving businesses and employers the opportunity to make written submissions on how these changes are likely to affect them. Organisations have until 2 December 2025 to submit their evidence.
If you want to have your say on the proposed changes to ILR, please click here to access the Call for Evidence form.
If you have any questions on the proposed changes to ILR or would like any support with preparing your written submissions to the Call for Evidence, please get in touch at [email protected]
