PETITIONRejectedPetition · petition.parliament.uk
Do Not Punish Legal, Tax-Paying Migrants with a 10-Year ILR Rule
We want the Government to keep the ILR qualifying period at 5 years for migrants who arrived legally under routes that currently lead to settlement. Any change to a 10-year rule should apply only to new arrivals, not to people already living, working, and contributing in the UK.
Last fetched 03 May 2026 · petition.parliament.uk
Signatures
21
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 21/10,000
Debate threshold (100,000) · 21/100,000
Background
Migrants who came legally planned their lives around the 5-year ILR rule. Changing it to 10 years now would unfairly disrupt families, undermine trust in the immigration system, and harm sectors like the NHS, care, construction, and tech that rely on stable skilled workers. Those who follow the rules, pay taxes, and contribute should not have the settlement goalposts moved after they have already built their lives here.