On 15 September 2026, the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood MP, appeared before the Home Affairs Committee to give oral evidence on the work of the Home Office. A significant portion of the session was devoted to migration, including several exchanges directly addressing the Government's earned settlement proposals. In this alert, we summarise the key points confirmed by the Home Secretary, including that the post-consultation earned settlement policy is due to be published before the end of this year.
Background
In May 2025, the Government published its immigration White Paper, including an intention to introduce a new contribution-based 'earned settlement' model. Under this policy, a default ten-year baseline qualifying period for settlement was proposed (a significant increase on the current five-year baseline), with the possibility of this being either reduced or increased according to a range of positive and negative factors.
In November 2025, the Home Office launched a formal consultation on its earned settlement model, setting out further details of the system. Controversial proposals included applying a 15-year baseline for medium-skilled workers and applying the model without transitional arrangements. The consultation closed in February 2026 and attracted over 200,000 responses.
In March 2026, the Home Affairs Committee published a report on the proposals following a public inquiry. It urged the Government to get the changes right rather than implement them quickly. A separate inquiry and report by the Justice and Home Affairs Committee on settlement, citizenship and integration opposed extending the baseline qualifying period for settlement to ten years and called for any changes not to be retrospectively applied.
The Government is still in the process of settling its final policy position and has not yet responded to the consultation or inquiries.
On 15 September 2026, the Home Secretary appeared before the Home Affairs Committee to give oral evidence on the work of the Home Office. A significant portion of the session was devoted to migration, including several exchanges addressing the earned settlement proposals. These provide a useful insight into the likely future development of the policy, as well as how and when it will be delivered.
What did the Home Secretary confirm in the oral evidence session?
Some key points made in the oral evidence session are summarised below.
Earned settlement is intended to be a new model, not a tweak to the existing system
The Home Secretary described earned settlement as "a new model of settlement, which is about settlement being something that is earned through contribution and a new set of tests that lead to settlement." She characterised the current system as "effectively an automatic process based on how long you have been here" and said that it was right to reassess the basis on which settlement is granted.
A further earned settlement policy statement will be announced "later this year"
The Home Secretary committed to setting out the new settlement policy, including transitional arrangements, later in 2026. She said this would be done "in good time" before the February 2027 date when the first 2022 arrivals would qualify under the current rules. However, she declined to give a more specific date, noting that the consultation had generated far more responses than anticipated, that the modelling had taken longer than expected, and that there had been a change of Prime Minister in the interim. She said she did not wish to "overspeak for the Government grid."
Transitional protections are still under active consideration
The Home Secretary confirmed that the new model is intended for "a broader range than simply new arrivals."
However, transitional protections were specifically consulted on and a range of options remain on the table. These range from "passporting certain cohorts through—so no change, and they still qualify at five years" at one end, to "different options for what you might do with other cohorts over a longer period" at the other. This suggests a differentiated approach is possible.
No guaranteed notice period before the earned settlement policy takes effect
When pressed on how much notice affected individuals would receive before the earned settlement policy takes effect, the Home Secretary did not commit to any minimum notice period. She pointed to the established practice of Immigration Rule changes being made twice yearly and said changes would be publicised "in the normal way" (i.e. through a Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules). She described the affected population as "a highly knowledgeable cohort" who "tend to know their rules very well."
Contribution will be measured broadly
In an exchange on integration, the Home Secretary linked earned settlement to the broader principles of "fairness and contribution." She said that contribution could be measured "on income or other ways you can support yourself", suggesting the policy may not be restricted to a single income threshold and could recognise other forms of contribution. Both the Home Affairs Committee and Justice and Home Affairs Committee have asked the Government to assess fiscal contribution at household level, so this will be something the Government will have been considering.
There will be a new family migration policy in early 2027
The Home Secretary confirmed that substantial work is underway to rationalise the various family migration routes so that more of the same rules apply to everyone, irrespective of the immigration status of the sponsor (e.g. British citizen, work visa holder or refugee).
This work will take into account the findings of the Migration Advisory Committee in its review of the minimum income requirement applicable to family routes.
The earned settlement policy is part of a broader set of policies intended to promote integration and public confidence
The Home Secretary presented earned settlement not just as an immigration control measure but as serving an integration and public confidence function. She described integration as "a two-way street" and said that public confidence in a well-managed system was a precondition for communities welcoming newcomers. She noted that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was separately developing a broader integration strategy for migrants under the Government's Protecting what Matters social cohesion strategy.
The Home Secretary rejected suggestions that policy uncertainty is itself harming integration
When a Committee member put it to the Home Secretary that the uncertainty surrounding earned settlement was preventing migrants near the five-year mark from putting down roots, she disagreed. She defended the Government's right to review migration policy and said the Government was trying to strike "the right balance between our responsibilities to people who have come here to work, our recognition of the failures that we inherited as a Government, and also our need to do right by the people who are already here."
What are the next steps?
We are awaiting the Government's formal announcement on the revised earned settlement policy, which is expected before the end of 2026. We will publish a further update as soon as the details are known.
In the meantime, employers and individuals on a path to settlement should note that the English language requirement for settlement is due to increase from Level B1 to Level B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) for applications submitted from 26 March 2027. This will apply to main applicants, partner dependants and child dependants aged 18 or over on the date of the settlement application.
If you have questions about this change or the earned settlement policy more broadly, please get in touch with a member of our Immigration Team.
