Trade unions are urging the UK government to reconsider proposed immigration rule changes that would significantly increase the time many foreign workers must spend in the country before qualifying for permanent residency.
Under the proposals, most migrants would need to spend 10 years in the UK before becoming eligible for indefinite leave to remain, compared with the current five-year route. Workers who entered the country on health and social care visas could face a 15-year wait.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) passed a motion calling on the government to withdraw changes that would affect workers who are already living and working in the UK.
The government has said it received about 200,000 responses during its consultation on the proposed reforms and is considering the views submitted before making a final decision.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has previously defended the proposals, arguing that the scale of migration to the UK requires the government to change the country’s immigration system.
Indefinite leave to remain, commonly referred to as settlement, allows eligible migrants to live, work and study in the UK without a time limit. People with settlement can also apply for benefits when they meet the relevant eligibility requirements.
The proposed changes would not affect migrants who have already obtained settlement. However, they would apply to some people already living in the UK, including workers who had been expecting to qualify for permanent residency under the existing five-year route.
The possibility of applying the new rules to migrants already in the country has attracted criticism from some Labour politicians.
Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner previously warned that changing the requirements for people who had already begun their immigration journey could undermine confidence in the system. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham also said at the time that the government should listen to concerns raised about the proposals.
Unison, the UK’s largest trade union, has strongly opposed the planned changes.
Andrea Egan, the union’s general secretary, questioned why a Labour government had introduced measures affecting overseas workers who had been recruited to support the UK’s health and social care services.
She argued that many international workers had moved to Britain after being told they could qualify for permanent residency after five years and said changing the rules during that period would be unfair to those workers.
The Society of Radiographers also supported the TUC motion, highlighting the contribution of international staff to the UK’s National Health Service.
The organisation said international recruitment had helped address staffing shortages among radiographers and other healthcare workers. It also pointed to a fall of more than 1,500 international radiographers, equivalent to about 12 per cent, between January and March this year, which it linked to uncertainty over the proposed settlement changes.
The motion passed unanimously at the TUC conference and called for the existing five-year settlement route to be maintained for workers already in the UK.
The debate comes as the UK government reviews its wider immigration system and considers changes to the requirements migrants must meet before obtaining permanent residence.
For overseas workers who moved to the UK under the existing rules, the outcome of the government’s consultation could determine whether they continue under the settlement pathway they expected when they arrived or face significantly longer waits.