UK Maintains Five-Year Residency Pathway for Care Workers

On November 2, 2026, UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a reversal of the proposal to extend the permanent residency qualifying period for migrant care workers from five to 15 years. The revised policy allows eligible foreign workers, including Nigerians, who arrived in the UK before May 2025, earn at least £25,000 annually, and meet their visa conditions to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) after five years.

This decision follows opposition from Labour lawmakers who warned that longer settlement periods could exacerbate workforce shortages in the social care sector. The new framework is part of broader Earned Settlement reforms, which will generally extend the qualifying period for most foreign workers to 10 years.

Approximately 250,000 care workers and their dependants entered or switched into the social care route between 2022 and 2025. The government estimates that around 517,000 migrants will face delayed settlement under the new proposals.