UK Earned Settlement: How HR Can Plan for a 10-Year Path to ILR

The UK plans to move the standard wait for permanent residence (ILR) from five to ten years for most sponsored workers. Start with each employee's five-year date and salary history, then plan the conversations that follow.

For most sponsored workers in the UK, the five-year mark has been the date to plan around. After five years on a route like the Skilled Worker visa, an employee could usually apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), the UK's permanent residence status and broadly the equivalent of a US green card. Once they have it, they no longer need an employer to sponsor them.

On 2 November 2026 the UK Government published its response to the Earned Settlement consultation. Settlement usually means ILR, so you will see both terms. Under the new framework, the standard wait for ILR is set to move from five years to ten, with shorter paths for higher earners and a twenty-year path for some people with immigration breaches or public funds claims. If you have sponsored staff in the UK, expect questions soon. Most of the answers start with records you already hold: start dates and salary history.

How long an employee waits for ILR will depend mostly on what they earn

Under Earned Settlement, the wait depends on earnings, contribution to the UK, immigration history, and compliance. The Government's response sets out four tiers.

The Government dropped an earlier proposal for a fifteen-year path for jobs below degree level, so those workers generally fall into the ten-year path. Temporary drops in pay during maternity leave, parental leave, caring responsibilities, and certain periods of ill health should not automatically count against an employee.

Start with a list of every sponsored worker, their five-year date, and seven years of salary

1. List every sponsored worker with their visa route (Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Health and Care, and so on) and the date their five-year clock started.
2. Work out each person's five-year date under the current rules. Anyone who reaches it in the next few months goes to the top.
3. Add annual earnings for the last seven years. Mark who earned at least £50,271 in three of the last five, and who earned at least £125,141 in three of the last four.
4. Flag anyone with past Student, Graduate, or Global Business Mobility time in the UK. Some employees planned to reach ILR through the ten-year Long Residence route, which is set to close.
5. Ask employees to tell you about family members who joined later than they did, or children who may be 18 or older by the family's likely ILR date.
6. Name one person in HR or mobility to own the list, and bring it to your immigration counsel before discussing individual timelines.

The Home Office decides ILR applications, and the employee is the applicant. The employer's part is mostly evidence: payslips, P60s, and confirmation of employment, plus keeping the sponsorship compliant. Now that earnings decide which tier someone falls into, a mistake in pay records could cost an employee years, so check those records before anyone applies.

Four groups need a conversation with counsel before anyone else

Every applicant will face stricter baseline requirements, whichever tier they are in

• English at B2. B2 is upper intermediate on the Common European Framework of Reference, one level above the current B1. B2 is already in the Immigration Rules for ILR applications made on or after 26 March 2027 on a number of routes, including Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator Founder, and International Sportsperson. Under current rules, nationals of majority English-speaking countries, including the US, are exempt. The Government's response does not say whether that continues under Earned Settlement.
• Life in the UK test. The existing test on British history, customs, and institutions stays mandatory, with current exemptions.
• Criminal records. The Government's response says any adult applicant with a UK criminal record will be refused. Its definition includes police cautions, court fines, discharges, and community sentences, as well as prison sentences. The final rules will set the detail.
• No outstanding Government debt, including NHS charges, unpaid tax, unpaid National Insurance, and litigation costs owed to the Home Office.

Certain immigration breaches or public funds claims could stretch the wait to twenty years

Adults who overstay a visa, breach their visa conditions, or use deception in an application may be put on a twenty-year path. Public funds work the same way. "Public funds" is a defined list of state benefits and housing help, and Skilled Workers generally cannot claim most of them already. Under the new framework, applicants will generally need to show they have not claimed specified public funds in the five years before applying.

For employers, this mostly reinforces sponsor duties you already have. Keep each employee's job in line with their Certificate of Sponsorship, the record your company assigns to support the visa. Report changes in role, salary, or work location as the sponsor guidance requires. Make sure employees know who to check with before taking on side work.

Most families can still settle together, with an age-25 cutoff for adult children

• Children under 18 will generally settle with their parents and are expected to be exempt from the income, debt, English, and Life in the UK test requirements.
• Young adults aged 18 to 24 may settle with the family if they keep child-dependant status, but will likely need to meet the adult requirements, including B2 English and the Life in the UK test.
• Anyone 25 or older when the family becomes eligible will generally need to qualify on their own or move to their own visa route.
• Couples may combine income to meet a £25,142 household threshold in place of the £12,571 individual baseline.

A partner or child who joined later than the main visa holder may become eligible at a different time.

A longer path means more renewals to budget for, and no five-year promises in offers

An employee who moves from a five-year path to a ten-year one may need at least one more visa extension. Each extension can mean a new Certificate of Sponsorship, the Immigration Skills Charge, visa application fees, and the Immigration Health Surcharge for the employee and each family member. Check current amounts on GOV.UK and decide now what the company will cover. Employees often see ILR as the point where they can change jobs freely, so a longer wait may affect who stays. Offer letters, relocation guides, and recruiter scripts that mention a five-year path to ILR should be updated now.

Several details are still open, so hold off on promising timelines to employees

• Start date. When the new rules take effect, and whether applications filed before that date will be decided under the current rules.
• How earnings are counted. Whether bonuses, equity, and pension salary sacrifice count, which pay figure is used, over which period, and what evidence will be required.
• Highest Talent Group. Who qualifies for the three-year path outside the earnings test. The Migration Advisory Committee, the independent body that advises the Government on migration, is still reviewing it.
• Public funds. Which benefits count, which exemptions apply, and what safeguards exist for vulnerable people.
• Immigration breaches. The exact list of breaches that lead to a twenty-year path.
• Long Residence. The date the route closes and whether anyone gets transitional protection.
• Protected groups. The precise occupations and evidence that qualify care, health, and education workers for the protected five-year route.
• English exemptions. Whether nationals of majority English-speaking countries, including the US, stay exempt from the English requirement.

This article explains a policy announcement for planning purposes and is current as of 10 November 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create a client relationship with In-House Legal or WayLit. WayLit does not provide legal advice. ILR eligibility depends on each person's history, and the final Immigration Rules may differ from the announced policy.