Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing transitional arrangements for current applicants when changing the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain.

The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.

The consultation seeks views on whether there should be transitional arrangements for those already on a pathway to settlement. Details of the earned settlement model, including any transitional arrangements for those already in the UK, will be finalised following that consultation.

The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course.