Will Andy Burnham have new UK immigration, settlement or right to work policies?

30 July 2026

In Managing Partner Vanessa Ganguin‘s latest article for Solicitors Journal, she analyses what we can glean from the new Prime Minister’s actions and pronouncements regarding any changes in direction for UK immigration policy.

“One of Andy Burnham’s first moves in his new job has been to cancel his predecessor’s Digital ID scheme,” writes Vanessa, “a scheme immigration practitioners found particularly pointless, having spent many months advising companies on how to incorporate the new digital eVisa into their right to work checks. Nonetheless, we will still have our hands full advising employers, as the expansion of right to work checks to include checks on self-employed workers and contractors who are not your employees is still due to commence in October.”

Keeping Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary is a strong signal of commitment to the major reforms she has set in motion for asylum and settlement. The Immigration and Asylum Bill passed Second Reading on 13 July by 264 votes to 90, with Burnham himself voting in favour. It establishes a new appeals authority to replace the immigration tribunal, dramatically narrows Article 8 family and private life protections, cements the shift to temporary 30-month “core protection” for refugees as well as those who have received the status of humanitarian protection, and allows asylum support to be clawed back from refugees once they are in work. However, there could be amendments to this draconian legislation after the Committee stage of the controversial bill this autumn. Any practitioners who want to submit written views to the open call for evidence are invited to do so as soon as possible.

There may be bigger compromises over the Home Secretary’s proposals on earned settlement. A consultation closed with over 200,000 responses, and no rules have yet been laid. The PM has promised a “new pair of eyes” on the reforms, criticised proposals that leave migrants “in a sense of limbo” and is reportedly considering shorter qualifying periods for some — with exemptions for health and social care workers and others who are already on routes to settlement under discussion. The official line, though, has not moved: settlement must be earned and the standard route doubles to ten years.

We would advise anybody eligible to apply for settlement under current rules to do so without delay.

Vanessa Ganguin is one of the most highly regarded experts in UK immigration law, with three decades of specialist experience.

She is recommended by Chambers & Partners UK, Chambers High Net Worth Guide, Legal 500 Hall of Fame and Lexology (formerly Who’s Who Legal) as a Thought Leader in commercial and personal immigration.

According to Chambers & Partners UK, “Vanessa Ganguin is especially knowledgeable in the handling of immigration matters for entertainment industry clients. Her work includes securing Creative Worker visas, as well as providing sponsor licence compliance advice.”

Vanessa often writes in a wide variety of publications on a range of UK immigration issues.