The Aporia
The Aporia
Lithgow, G. (2026, November 2). Mahmood waters down plans to make foreign carers wait 15 years for settlement. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/shabana-mahmood-angela-rayner-cabinet-labour-b1303283.html
Lithgow, George. “Mahmood waters down plans to make foreign carers wait 15 years for settlement.” Evening Standard, 2 Nov. 2026, https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/shabana-mahmood-angela-rayner-cabinet-labour-b1303283.html.
Lithgow, George. “Mahmood waters down plans to make foreign carers wait 15 years for settlement.” Evening Standard, November 2, 2026. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/shabana-mahmood-angela-rayner-cabinet-labour-b1303283.html.
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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced new rules on November 2, 2026, requiring most legal migrants in the UK to wait 10 years for settlement rights, with some potentially waiting up to 15 years, a move intended to address voter concerns about immigration levels. However, the government also eased restrictions for care workers who arrived before May 2025, allowing them and their dependents to apply for permanent residency after only five years instead of 15. This concession applies to approximately 280,000 people, addressing a political row over proposed tougher rules that would have extended wait times significantly.
The changes were part of the government's response to increased immigration following Britain’s departure from the European Union and concerns about the impact on essential services like healthcare. Despite these adjustments, Labour MPs raised further objections regarding wait times for Channel boat arrivals, suggesting limits as long as 30 years in some cases. Mahmood defended her plan by arguing it would save billions of pounds for taxpayers but acknowledged that the savings would be lower than the initially estimated £10 billion. She has yet to disclose the exact financial impact of scrapping stricter rules on foreign care workers, leading to questions about the cost-effectiveness and fairness of these reforms.
