Britain's new 10-year route to settlement leaves EU Settlement Scheme holders alone
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed 'earned settlement' on 2 November: 10 years by default, 5 for earners above £50,271 and for doctors, nurses and teachers, 3 above £125,141. The government's own response lists the EU Settlement Scheme among routes the reform does not touch.
The wait for permanent residence in the UK is doubling. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood took the final version of earned settlement to the Commons on Monday, and the Home Office announcement sets the new default at 10 years before anyone can apply for indefinite leave to remain. Until now it was five.
If you are one of the Portuguese who moved to Britain before Brexit, the headline is simple. You are not in scope.
Why settled status is untouched
The government’s response to the consultation lists the EU Settlement Scheme among routes that “already operate under separate arrangements” and “are not affected” by the reforms. The Home Office also says settled status will never be taken away from anyone who already holds it.
Everyone who arrived after the transition period ended, on a work, study or family visa, is a different story. Their clock resets to the new rules.
The new tiers
Settlement stops being one-size-fits-all:
- 3 years for people earning at least £125,141;
- 5 years above £50,271, and for doctors, nurses and teachers;
- 10 years as the default, with a minimum income of £12,571;
- 20 years or more for anyone who has broken immigration rules.
Those thresholds are lifted straight from the income tax bands. On top sit four conditions nobody can skip: a clean criminal record, English at A-Level foreign-language standard, no debt to the taxpayer, and a record of National Insurance contributions.
Nurses and care workers
This is where the change reaches most of the newer Portuguese arrivals, many of them working in the NHS. Nursing sits in the five-year tier. Care workers who met their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 a year keep five years too. For roughly a quarter who did not, the government is offering a fresh five-year visa, after which they can apply to settle.
That protection only covers people who joined those routes before the immigration White Paper of May 2025. The Home Office’s own estimate is that more than 500,000 people will now wait longer than five years.
When it starts
There is no date yet. Further technical guidance is promised before implementation, and that is where people a few months short of their five years will find out where they stand.
For anyone weighing up a UK degree, it lands on top of the Graduate visa dropping to 18 months in 2027, with two years kept only for some universities. The road to staying in Britain for good just got longer for almost everyone without pre-Brexit status.
Image: Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street (OGL v3.0)
