Migrants to UK will not get benefits until becoming citizens under new plans | Immigration and asylum

People who migrate to the UK will be eligible for benefits and social housing only when they become British citizens and those who arrive by small boats could wait up to 30 years for long-term residency under new plans outlined by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

The plans could result in migrants only becoming eligible for benefits and social housing if they first become British citizens, rather than upon being granted settlement as is currently the case.

More than 600,000 overseas health workers and their families who arrived in the UK as part of the so-called “Boriswave” of arrivals could wait up to 25 years to apply to settle if they have claimed benefits, under the plans.

The measures have been outlined as part of a radical set of rewritten rules for those who seek to apply to settle in the UK and comes days after the release of proposed changes to the asylum system.

It also comes as Mahmood is touted as a possible future Labour leader by “Blue Labour” MPs and as Labour comes under pressure from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in the polls. But the proposals have prompted concern from NGOs who say they will leave people in limbo.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “These proposals would risk trapping people who have fled war and persecution in three decades of instability and stress at the very moment they need certainty to rebuild their lives.

“We see every day in our frontline services how stability, and being able to live safely with family, helps people recover from trauma and begin to rebuild. It’s what enables refugees to settle, learn English, find work and contribute fully to their new communities. But long waits for settlement and repeated reviews will only add very expensive bureaucracy and keep people in limbo.”

Addressing the Commons, Mahmood said the plans were in response to an unprecedented scale of arrivals in recent years.

“To settle in this country for ever is not a right, but a privilege. And it must be earned. I am replacing a broken immigration system with one that prioritises contribution, integration and respect for the British sense of fair play,” she said.

The plan for “earned” settlement and doubling the wait time before being eligible for long-term status was announced in the government’s immigration white paper in May. Arrivals will be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK after 10 years, instead of five years currently.

There will be ways for residents to qualify for settlement faster through a new contribution-based model, such as by volunteering in the local community, having a high level of English and not being on benefits.

The plans aim to curb applications from more than 1.6 million people who came to the UK under Boris Johnson’s government after a post-Brexit relaxation of rules from 2022 onwards.

Under the proposals, more than 600,000 people and family members who arrived on health and care worker visas will be eligible for settlement after 15 years. If anyone on such a visa or their dependents have claimed benefits for a year or more, this would increase to 25 years, under the proposals.

Visa overstayers and those who arrived in the UK on small boats and in the back of lorries would have to wait up to 30 years to settle, removing the prospect of long-term residence and security in the UK.

In contrast, doctors and nurses working in the NHS will be able to settle after five years. High earners and entrepreneurs will be able to stay after just three years, it is claimed.

Foreign arrivals reliant on benefits face a 20-year wait for settlement, which is quadruple the current period and the longest in Europe, it is claimed.

Downing Street has defended payments to migrants to agree to a voluntary departure from the UK as Mahmood indicated she was considering a big increase in the sums offered.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “We make no apology for saving taxpayers millions of pounds by removing individuals who have no legal right to remain in the UK or who are seeking to leave voluntarily.

“You’ll have seen already, the government has increased removals, almost 50,000 people removed, including around 5,200 foreign national offenders.

“For example, to use a specific case, the £500 spent to remove Hadush Kebatu that you’ll remember was, of course, uncomfortable, but it would have cost thousands to get him out on another flight.

“So, payments for voluntary returns play a vital role in this, helping to curtail lengthy legal challenges to removal that cost the taxpayer millions of pounds.”