MAHMOOD REVISES MIGRANT SETTLEMENT PLANS – Care workers earning £25,000 or more can qualify for settlement after five years
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has dropped plans to make some migrant care workers wait up to 15 years for permanent settlement, following criticism from senior Labour figures.
Under revised rules announced on Monday, foreign care workers already in the UK who meet their visa conditions and earn at least £25,000 a year can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years. Those below the threshold can apply for a new five-year visa before seeking settlement.
The changes also mean people earning more than £125,000 a year, and those on Global Talent or Innovator Founder visas, can qualify after three years. Doctors, nurses, teachers and workers earning above £50,271 will be eligible after five years.
However, small boat migrants will face a 20-year wait for settlement, rising to 30 years if they do not enter employment or education. The revised package follows opposition to Mahmood’s original proposals, which included applying the longer waiting periods retrospectively to some workers who arrived during the so-called ‘Boriswave’.
