Earned settlement: what the Home Office proposed, and what still applies
The government consulted on raising the usual wait for settlement from 5 to 10 years, then adjusting it up or down. Nothing in that model is law yet: the rules in force on 13 October 2026 still give 5 years on the main routes.
Your ILR date under the rules in force today
Earliest date to apply for ILR
15 September 2027
No 12-month window holds more than 180 days: your 5-year period is unbroken.
| 5 years completed | 13 October 2027 |
| Apply from (28 days early) | 15 September 2027 |
| Worst 12-month window | 30 days |
| Allowance left today | 180 days |
| Days abroad on the trips listed | 30 days |
| Citizenship, at the earliest | 15 September 2028 |
On that date: 30 days abroad in 5 years (limit 450), 0 in the last 12 months (limit 90); set by 12 months after indefinite leave.
Whole days only: the day you leave and the day you come back are not counted. Citizenship assumes ILR granted on the first application date; enter the real date when you have it.
Calculated in your browser: nothing you type is sent anywhere. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the Home Office.
Published by Radif Partners · How we calculate · Home Office fees of 8 October 2026, rules checked 13 October 2026
"A Fairer Pathway to Settlement" is a Home Office statement and consultation (CP 1448) opened on 20 November 2025 and closed on 13 February 2026. It proposes that settlement should no longer follow automatically from a fixed period but be "earned" through character, integration, contribution and residence. The proposed baseline qualifying period for most migrants would be 10 years instead of 5, adjusted down for things like higher earnings, C1 English or public service work, and up for things like claiming public funds or overstaying. Mandatory conditions would include B2 English, the Life in the UK test, no debt to the NHS or the tax authorities and earnings above £12,570 for 3 to 5 years. Partners of British citizens and BN(O) holders would keep 5 years; Global Talent and Innovator Founder holders could keep 3. These are proposals. On 13 October 2026 no Statement of Changes up to HC 584 had laid them, and the calculator applies the rules in force.
The proposed model in four pillars
The consultation describes a "time adjustment" model: start from a baseline of 10 years and move it according to who you are and what you have done. It groups the conditions under four pillars. Character would be a gate, not a factor to trade: the paper says "you should not be able to settle with a criminal record" and announces a review of criminality thresholds. Integration means English and the Life in the UK test. Contribution means earnings, public service or volunteering. Residence still counts, but the paper says people would "not normally qualify on the basis of residence alone".
Table 1 of the paper lists the proposed minimum for any applicant: meet Part Suitability, have no litigation, NHS, tax or other government debt, show English at B2, pass the Life in the UK test, and have had annual earnings above £12,570 for a minimum of 3 to 5 years, the exact length being one of the consultation questions.
Proposed reductions and additions
| Proposed consideration | Proposed adjustment |
|---|---|
| English at C1 | minus 1 year |
| Taxable income of £125,140 for the 3 years before applying | minus 7 years |
| Taxable income of £50,270 for the 3 years before applying | minus 5 years |
| 5 years in a specified public service occupation (RQF 6 or above) | minus 5 years |
| Work in the community, such as volunteering | minus 3 to 5 years |
| Partner, parent or child of a British citizen; BN(O) route | minus 5 years (not consulted on) |
| 3 years as a Global Talent or Innovator Founder holder | minus 7 years |
| Public funds for less than 12 months on the route | plus 5 years |
| Public funds for more than 12 months | plus 10 years |
| Illegal entry, entry as a visitor, or overstaying 6 months or more | plus up to 20 years |
Only the largest reduction and the largest addition would apply, and an addition would take precedence over a reduction. The paper gives its own example: a person who received public funds for under 12 months but has C1 English would go up 5 years and down 1, for a total of 14. The income levels match the higher and additional rate income tax thresholds, and the paper says they would not track future tax changes. A separate question asks whether workers sponsored below RQF 6, such as care workers, should start from 15 years rather than 10.
Who would keep a shorter path, and what else would change
Partners, parents and children of British citizens and BN(O) holders would, under the proposal, still settle after 5 years subject to the mandatory requirements; Global Talent and Innovator Founder holders would generally keep 3. The paper states plainly that routes such as Skilled Worker "will cease" to lead to settlement after 5 years and default to 10 unless an earned reduction applies. It also proposes:
- no separate long residence route, its role absorbed by the adjustable baseline;
- adult dependants of workers assessed on their own attributes, so a partner's period could differ from the main applicant's;
- a question on whether settlement could carry a "no recourse to public funds" condition, moving access to benefits to citizenship;
- transitional arrangements for people already on a path, on which the consultation sought views without committing to any.
Citizenship reform would follow but needs primary legislation to amend the British Nationality Act 1981, the paper says.
What applies today
On 13 October 2026 the Immigration Rules still set the periods shown on the ILR page: 5 years for Skilled Worker, family and UK Ancestry, 10 for long residence. The Statements of Changes since the consultation, up to HC 584 in force on 8 October 2026, did not change those periods, and the consultation page lists no government response. One change from the same white paper is already law: HC 1691 raises the English level for settlement to B2 for applications from 26 March 2027.
The difference is large for someone starting now. A Skilled Worker who arrived on 2 September 2024 can apply under today's rules from 5 August 2029. If a 10-year baseline were adopted without transitional protection and no reduction applied, the same person would reach it on 2 September 2034. Whether that happens depends on rules not yet written, so plan on the current ones and keep evidence of earnings, tax and any volunteering in case reductions are introduced.
Sources: the consultation page and the accessible text of the paper.