Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) will be tougher to acquire under new rules, the home secretary is to confirm – as Labour seek to counter Nigel Farage’s anti-migration policies.
Shabana Mahmood will reveal details of promised reforms to the system, including higher English language requirements, as well as paying into national insurance, a “spotless” criminal record and having a job.
However, unlike Reform’s policy, Labour do not plan to deport people who already have ILR who do not apply to be British citizens.
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Speaking on Sunday, Sir Keir Starmer branded Mr Farage’s proposals “racist”.
Ms Mahmood is set to speak at the Labour Party on conference on Monday where she will confirm her party’s plans.
Ahead of the speech, Labour said: “These measures draw a clear dividing line between the Labour government and Reform, whose recent announcement on indefinite leave to remain would force workers, who have been contributing to this country for decades, to leave their homes and families.”
Ms Mahmood is set to tell the Labour Party conference that her policies are needed for an “open, generous, tolerant” country – but members “won’t always like what I do”.
However, she is also set to say she will be a “tough Labour home secretary, fighting for a vision of this country that is distinctly our own”.
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Concerns over ILR – which gives people the right to settle, work and study in the UK and even claim benefits – have been mounting in the lead up to January 2026, when a large number of people are expected to become eligible for the status.
Those who have lived and worked in the UK for five years are eligible for ILR – and January next year will see the first of the so-called “Boriswave” reach this checkpoint.
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This is the increase in immigration that began under former prime minister Boris Johnson, when his post-Brexit immigration policies came into force.
Statistics from the past two periods on record – 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 – showed the highest level of legal immigration to the UK since current record keeping began in the 1940s, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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Some have warned that this cohort being eligible for ILR could put further strain on public service, housing and the welfare budget.
Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf, when his party’s policy was announced, said: “Between 2026 and 2030, thanks to the Boriswave, 800,000 new migrants are estimated to get ILR.
“About half of all of them will never work, ever.”
Reform claimed this would cost hundreds of billions of pounds – but the numbers were in fact from a withdrawn thinktank paper.
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Labour are already consulting on whether to change the five-year period before ILR claims can be submitted to 10 years – but it is not clear when this will come into force.
As well as a crackdown on migration, Ms Mahmood will also announce a “winter of action” aimed at tackling shoplifting over the Christmas period.
