Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number and administrative cost of applications for leave to remain per annum that will result from the earned settlement proposals.

The public consultation on ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’ ran for 12 weeks and closed on 12 February 2026. We are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model.

Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly. As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both an economic impact assessment and equality impact assessment.

The Home Office publishes the fees charged and the estimated unit cost of processing immigration and nationality applications on Gov.UK. This can be reviewed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-fees-transparency-data.