Young people looking to obtain residency in the UK have attacked the Government’s “unfair” changes to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after the time those on low salaries must wait before being eligible for settled status was doubled.

Last Monday, Sarah Cohen, 25, was among the approximately 500,000 migrants who discovered the qualifying time before they are eligible for ILR has jumped from five to ten years, because they earn under £50,271.

Having been on a skilled worker visa since 2023, Sarah was only two years off settled status, which would give her the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as she likes. It would also allow her to access the welfare state, and to apply for citizenship but because her salary is below the threshold, under the new rules she’s now facing a seven year wait.

Cohen said the changes are “upsetting” because of inherent “contradictions”.

“On a skilled worker visa you have to prove that a British person could not do that job. A lot of people on the visa fill gaps that are on the job shortage list,” she told The i Paper.

Government changes announced last Monday mean the standard length of time needed to apply for ILR has now doubled from five to 10 years – and in some cases increased to 20 years. Higher earners or certain workers can have this reduced.

The standard qualifying period is reduced to five years, but only if you earn £50,271 or more for three of those five.

Sarah is one of the 2.2 million people who were on a path to permanent settlement in the UK. “Low paid migrants are doing critical jobs that this country needs, and yet we’re given no stability, no structure in which to plan a future,” she continued.

She first moved to the UK when she was 17, on a student visa. However, her four years on a student visa do not count towards ILR. As such, if she stays in her current job, she will have been in the UK for 16 years before she is eligible in 2033.

This time can be fast tracked, however. High earners on a salary of £125,000 or more only need to wait three years before applying, and for those making more than £50,271 the wait remains five years.

However, “it’s not like there’s loads of jobs paying a salary that high at the moment,” Sarah said.

The 25-year-old, who works in sales, explained that finding an employer that will sponsor a visa restricts her options even further. In securing a job, Sarah has previously paid £1,865 for her skilled worker visa, out of her own pocket. This cost is usually covered by employers.

Riley Connor, 23, originally from Oklahoma, was one of a record number of foreign university students who came to the UK during the so-called “Boris wave” – a surge in post-Brexit, non-EU migration under then prime minister Boris Johnson.

She has just graduated from university. Time spent in the UK on a study visa does not count towards ILR, so Riley had planned her future thinking she would need to be on a skilled worker visa for five years before she could apply for settled status.

Riley said the new rules are “anxiety inducing” and have put her “on edge” because “you don’t know if in a few years the Government are going place more restrictions on visas again”.

The 23-year-old graduate did a humanities degree, and knows she will not secure a job that pays her over £50,000 any time soon. She believes she is now looking at a ten-year wait before she will be eligible for ILR.

Riley’s student visa expires at the start of next year and despite being in the process of applying for her two-year graduate visa, she does not know how long she will be able to stay in the UK due to the cost of paying ten years of NHS surcharge and visa fees in order to maintain lawful immigration status.

As a student, Riley paid £776 per year in NHS surcharge fees. This has risen to £1,035 since graduating.

“It feels quite unfair,” the graduate told The i Paper. She said that defining a person’s contribution to society solely based off their earnings is a really “cruel and pathetic way to look at a person” who is just trying to live their life.

Mahmood first proposed changes to the visa system and ILR last year, but was forced to water down proposals to make care workers wait 15 years to qualify for permanent residency, following a backlash from high-profile MPs within the Labour Party such as Angela Rayner.

Mahmood has argued that settlement should be “earned”, rather than being granted automatically, with those who contribute more to the country able to settle fastest.

On Mahmood’s changes, Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite said: “There are still some inconsistencies yet be explained. For example, why it is deemed acceptable for an NHS doctor to wait five years, while a city ‘finance bro’ paying additional tax is able to go through the system in three.

“The question is, is it fair to bring workers to Britain and change the goalposts mid-stream. We need to be vigilant. Let us not forget the original plan was full steam ahead until there was a backlash.

“Unite will continue to fight for workers and hold Labour’s feet to the fire.”

“We need a fair and managed migration system. One which allows people to come here to work and contribute, and is also controlled – not chaotic,” said TUC chair, Paul Nowak.

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

There will be a shorter qualifying period offor certain groups, including:

• People who earned at least £50,271 for three of five years immediately before applying for settlement
• Care workers who earned at least £25,000 a year while meeting their visa conditions and who arrived in the UK before May 2025
• “Skilled” public service workers, such as doctors, nurses and teachers, and other health and education public service workers 
• People earning over £125,141 a year, as well as “highly skilled” migrants such as those on Global Talent or Innovator Founder visas, will qualify after three years
• Migrants who have claimed certain benefits or breached immigration rules will only be able to settle after at least 20 years.
• To qualify for settlement, migrants will also have to meet other conditions, which includes having no criminal record, speaking English to a high standard, owing no debt to the taxpayer, and having a “record of sustained National Insurance Contributions”.