Earned settlement: what UK immigration firms should do now

What did the government announce about earned settlement?

On 2 November 2026 the Home Secretary set out the government's earned settlement model in Parliament. According to the GOV.UK announcement, settlement will no longer follow almost automatically after five years. Instead, the time someone must wait will depend on their contribution and character.

The announcement sets out these qualifying periods:

• 3 years for the highest earners.
• 5 years for those earning above £50,271 and some public service workers, such as doctors, nurses and teachers.
• 10 years as the default.
• At least 20 years for people who have breached immigration rules.

Care workers who met their visa conditions and earned at least £25,000 a year can settle after five years. Separate periods apply to refugees, depending on how they arrived. The government says the reforms are largely in line with its November 2025 consultation, and it estimates that more than 500,000 people will now wait longer than five years.

Which conditions apply to everyone?

On top of the qualifying period, the announcement lists four conditions that apply regardless of when someone arrived:

1. A clean criminal record, stricter than the current threshold, which the announcement describes as a 12-month suspended sentence.
2. A high standard of English, which the government likens to A-Level English as a foreign language.
3. No debt owed to the taxpayer.
4. A record of sustained National Insurance contributions.

For practices, the third and fourth conditions are the ones that will generate the most evidence work. Clients will need to show their contribution history, and some may discover gaps they didn't know about, such as periods of self-employment where contributions weren't paid.

The announcement doesn't list every type of debt or explain exactly how contributions will be measured. Those details will matter enormously for individual clients, so treat early guidance as provisional.

Who is protected from the changes?

Not everyone is affected, and clients who are protected need to hear that quickly. According to the announcement:

• Settled status already granted will not be removed. Clients who already hold indefinite leave to remain keep it.
• Some routes are unchanged: family members of British citizens, Hong Kong British National (Overseas) holders and members of the armed forces keep their current routes.
• Transitional arrangements are described for some existing migrants. The announcement says that around a quarter of people will not qualify for five-year settlement and will be offered a new five-year visa, after which they can apply. A similar approach applies to some healthcare and education workers.

Otherwise, the government says settlement rules apply at the point of application. That's the line that will worry most clients: the rules in force when they apply, not when they arrived, are the ones that count.

The announcement gives no effective date. Until the detailed Immigration Rules are laid, firms should be careful not to tell any client exactly which period will apply to them.

How should an immigration firm triage its existing clients?

Most practices will have a list of clients on routes leading to settlement. The first job is to sort that list, so the team knows who to contact first and what to say. A simple triage table helps.

Within each group, sort by how close the client is to their expected settlement date. Someone due to apply in the next six months needs a conversation this month. Someone with four years to go can receive a general update now and a personal review later.

The table is a planning aid based on the announcement, not legal advice. Each client's position needs to be assessed by a qualified adviser once the detailed rules are available.

What does triage look like in a real caseload?

Here's an illustrative example with made-up figures. A small immigration practice has 180 active clients on routes to settlement. After sorting:

• 25 are partners of British citizens, whose routes the announcement says are unchanged.
• 40 earn above £50,271 or work as doctors, nurses or teachers.
• 15 are care workers, of whom 9 have earned £25,000 or more.
• 90 are on other work routes and look likely to fall under the default period, subject to transitional rules.
• 10 have some past compliance issue that needs a closer look.

Of the 180, 35 are within six months of their planned settlement application. Those 35 get a call from their caseworker within two weeks. The 10 with compliance issues get a fee-earner review, whatever their date. Everyone else receives a written update now, explaining what has been announced, what hasn't been decided, and what evidence to start gathering.

At 30 minutes per priority call and 15 minutes per written update, that's roughly (45 × 30) + (135 × 15) = 1,350 + 2,025 = 3,375 minutes, or about 56 hours of work. Planning it as a project, rather than reacting to each enquiry as it arrives, keeps that time under control.

What evidence should clients start collecting now?

Even without the detailed rules, the four universal conditions point to evidence clients can start gathering today. Starting early matters, because some records take time to obtain and errors take longer to fix.

• National Insurance record. Clients can view their record online through the government's Check your National Insurance record service. Ask them to download it and flag any gaps.
• Earnings evidence. P60s for each tax year, recent payslips and, for the self-employed, tax returns and HMRC calculations.
• English language evidence. Existing certificates or qualifications. Clients unlikely to meet a higher standard may want to plan for study or testing.
• Debts. Any outstanding amounts owed to public bodies, so they can be discussed and, where possible, settled before an application.
• Criminal record. Clients should disclose anything to their adviser now, including matters they think are minor.

A secure way to receive these documents matters. Clients will be sending payslips, tax records and identity documents, which shouldn't sit in a general email inbox.

How should a practice handle the rush of enquiries?

News coverage, including critical letters in The Guardian, means anxious clients and prospective clients will be contacting firms by phone, email and messaging apps. A practice that answers each one from scratch will lose days.

Prepare three things this week:

1. A standard update that explains the announcement in plain English, lists who is protected, and says clearly that detailed rules and dates are not yet published.
2. A short questionnaire for new enquiries, asking for their visa route, arrival date, salary band, occupation and any past immigration issues. It lets the team triage before the first call.
3. A booking route for paid consultations, so people with complex histories can get proper advice rather than a free phone chat.

Remember that immigration advice in the UK must be given by someone qualified and regulated to give it. General updates are fine; individual advice should come from a regulated adviser who has reviewed the client's history.

What mistakes should immigration firms avoid right now?

Big announcements tempt firms into moving too fast. A few mistakes are worth guarding against in the weeks before the detailed rules appear.

• Predicting outcomes. Telling a client "you'll be fine on the five-year route" before the rules are published creates a promise you may not be able to keep. Describe what was announced and what is still unknown.
• Rushing applications. Some clients will want to apply immediately. Whether that helps depends on their eligibility under the current rules and on any transitional arrangements, so it needs proper advice rather than a reflex.
• Ignoring protected clients. Clients whose routes are unchanged, or who already hold ILR, still read the headlines. A two-line reassurance stops unnecessary calls.
• Losing the paper trail. Record what each client was told and when. If the rules shift between announcement and publication, you'll want to show that your advice reflected what was known at the time.
• Underpricing the work. Reviewing contribution histories and debt positions takes time. Decide now which reviews are covered by existing fees and which need a separate quote.

How Zaquil handles earned settlement casework

Zaquil gives an immigration or law practice a way to turn a sudden policy change into an organised piece of work. Here's how the workflow above looks in practice.

One inbox for every enquiry. Calls, emails, live chat, SMS and WhatsApp messages from worried clients land in one shared inbox, attached to the right client record. AI reply drafts from the firm's own knowledge base, such as your standard settlement update, help staff answer consistently and quickly.

Questionnaires and secure uploads. New enquirers fill in a triage questionnaire through a branded secure client portal. Existing clients upload P60s, payslips, NI records and certificates there too, so evidence sits on the matter rather than in someone's inbox.

Matters with checklists and deadlines. Each client becomes a job built from a template, with an evidence checklist, an owner and a deadline on a kanban board. The partner sees at a glance which priority clients haven't been called.

Automated follow-ups. Automations chase missing documents after a set number of days and create a task when a client's planned application date approaches.

Engagement and payment. Clients accept quotes for advice, e-sign engagement letters with a signed PDF certificate, and pay invoices online.

See how it fits a legal practice on our software for law firms page, or check Zaquil pricing: plans from $19 a month with a 14-day free trial and no credit card to start.