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The UK Government's earned settlement proposals will radically alter the timelines and conditions for becoming permanently resident in the UK. In this series, we explain the proposals in detail and help you anticipate how they may affect your business and your staff.
Earned settlement will be applied to main applicants and adult dependants across all settlement routes, so its impact will be felt both by people who arsponsored and those who aren't. The new system will be more complex and require much more forward-planning than is required under the current arrangements.
We expect the earned settlement model to start to come into force from April 2026, but further clarifications on timelines are awaited from the Government. Those who anticipate becoming eligible for settlement before April 2026 should plan to apply at the earliest opportunity.
Whether you are a business or an individual, you should understand what's being proposed and map out a contingency plan as early as possible. This can then be finalised once the earned settlement policy is published.
For businesses, the changes will require sustained, long term engagement with affected staff members. This is likely to require a review and alignment of your immigration and employment law policies. If you sponsor workers, the period of sponsorship may be shorter (for some high earners) or longer than it is currently. You will need to consider budgeting for longer sponsorship in some cases.
Once earned settlement has been introduced, the Government will turn its attention to building an aligned earned citizenship model. This is intended to be more restrictive than the current arrangements, so those who wish to apply for citizenship should take steps to do this as soon as possible.
We have explored some of the major topics relating to earned settlement in this series:
The new UK earned settlement proposals:
consultation now open
The earned settlement proposals: minimum mandatory
requirements
The earned settlement proposals: qualifying
period
The earned settlement proposals: transitional
arrangements
The earned settlement proposals: implications for
Skilled Workers and their dependants
The earned settlement proposals: implications for
British National (Overseas) route participants
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
