Ross Kennedy publishes new article on how UK settlement reforms affect employers

4 November 2026

Ross Kennedy’s new article for Personnel Today examines new challenges for employers inherent in Shabana Mahmood’s “earned settlement” reforms, new hurdles to settlement and which of the Home Secretary’s changes to routes to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) have been scrapped.

The new hurdles to settlement include:

Mandatory requirements

>No criminal record at all
>No outstanding government debt (NHS, tax, National Insurance, Home Office litigation debt)
>English at level B2
>The Life in the UK test (being re-examined)
>Sustained earnings of at least £12,571 for three years (£25,142 for a couple)

Qualifying time depends on salary and roles

>Three years if you earn £125,141+ for highest-talent visas
>Five years if you earn £50,271+;specified healthcare and education public sector professionals; family of British citizens, UK Ancestry route, protection under “safe and legal routes”
>20 years if an adult commits an immigration breach; refugees not on a “safe and legal” resettlement route, though refugees can transition to 10yrs via work, training or study, but face an extra 10yrs on top if they came “illegally”
>Ten years for everyone else

Who is protected from these reforms?

>Carers and lower skilled education and health workers (such as teaching assistants and auxiliary nurses) who were on their visas before 12 May 2025
>EUSS, domestic violence victims, armed forces, Hong Kong BN(O), legacy humanitarian routes

New challenges for employers

>Additional immigration costs if sponsoring workers beyond 5yrs
>Salary increases could shorten routes to settlement and actually cost less
>Criminal records – even suspended sentences or conditional cautions – mean some current employees and future hires will depend on sponsorship, with no option to settle
>More flexibility hiring carers let down by previous sponsors who lose their licence

“Salary is now a settlement lever,” writes Ross in his explainer in Personnel Today. “An employee on £48,000 and one on £52,000 are on routes five years apart. Expect £50,271 to surface in pay reviews. Employers who want to shorten their own exposure have a tool they did not have before: a pay rise that crosses the threshold halves the remaining commitment and could save employers further sponsorship costs…

“Criminal records create dilemmas for employers sponsoring or considering sponsoring someone who may have a minor conviction or caution that will mean continual sponsorship and visa applications with no prospect of settlement. Aside from the cruelty of this situation, while the Home Office can take spent convictions into account because the UK Borders Act 2007 disapplies the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act for immigration decisions, employers cannot. Asking migrant staff about spent convictions when you do not ask British staff could be direct nationality discrimination. And “we don’t do visas” isn’t a safe answer either.”

Do feel free to contact us if you are concerned about how these changes will affect you or your organisation, or if you want to discuss an immigration application.