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The Home Office set out their new proposals on legal migration rules in November
George Lithgow Monday 09 February 2026 00:01 GMT- Bookmark
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open image in galleryHome Secretary Shabana Mahmood set out new proposals in November (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)
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More than 300,000 children living in the UK could be left "in limbo" if the Home Office proceeds with its shake-up of legal migration rules, a think tank has warned.
The Home Secretary outlined proposals in November to end automatic settlement status after five years.
This means 1.35 million legal migrants already in the country – nearly a quarter of them children, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) – would be forced to wait longer for settled status.
Under the proposed changes, migrants would apply for settled status after 10 years, though this could be fast-tracked or extended based on their "contributions" to the UK.
Public service workers, like doctors and nurses, or higher taxpayers, might qualify after five years.
However, lower-qualified workers on health and social care visas from the 2022 "Boris wave" could wait 15 years. Those on benefits might face a 20-year wait before applying for settlement.
open image in galleryThose on visas from the 2022 ‘Boris wave’ may have to wait 15 years to qualify for settled status (REUTERS)The IPPR warned the proposals would cause insecurity for families, with damaging consequences for integration, educational opportunities, and child poverty.
Retrospective application could also penalise those who arrived under different rules, the think tank added.
Marley Morris, IPPR associate director for migration trade and communities, said children of legal migrants face prolonged insecurity.
He stated: "Families who were welcomed to the UK under one set of rules should not have the goalposts moved part way through their journey. It’s simply unfair to apply these rules retrospectively.
“For the 300,000 children affected, this is not an abstract policy change. They face growing up with prolonged insecurity, with many facing new barriers to going to university once they turn 18.
“If the Government is serious about integration and tackling child poverty, it cannot design a system that keeps families and children, many of whom will eventually become our fellow citizens, in limbo for a decade or more."
Dora-Olivia Vicol, chief executive of the charity Work Rights Centre, described the change in wait time for settlement as "callous" and a "betrayal" of migrant communities.
She added: "It won’t make the system fairer or promote integration. It will just keep people on high-risk employer-tied visas for longer, and drive wedges between communities."
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