Tens of thousands of Kenyans working in Britain face a longer and more uncertain road to permanent residency after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that the standard qualifying period for settlement will double from five years to 10, with the new rules applying retroactively to migrants already in the country.

Setting out the plan to MPs on Monday after a 12-week consultation that drew more than 200,000 responses, Mahmood said settlement "should not be automatic" and that "those who contribute most will settle fastest". Indefinite leave to remain allows migrants to live and work in the UK permanently, use the National Health Service and claim benefits, and is the usual step before citizenship.

The Home Office estimates about 500,000 people will now settle later than they otherwise would have, which the government says will save billions of pounds in welfare spending.

Who waits how long

Under the earned-settlement model, which takes effect next year, the wait depends largely on income:

  • Workers earning under £50,000 (about Sh8.5 million) a year, which includes most migrants given the UK median salary of about £39,000, will wait 10 years.
  • Those earning more than £50,271 keep the five-year route, as do doctors, nurses, teachers and other public service workers.
  • Those earning over £125,000 can settle after three years.
  • Refugees who arrive through government-approved "safe and legal routes" can settle after five years; others face 20 years, cut to 10 if they work or study. People who entered irregularly, for instance by small boat, could wait up to 30 years.

All applicants must have a clean criminal record, speak English "to a high standard", owe no money to the state and have at least three years of National Insurance contributions.

Care workers win a reprieve

The biggest change from last year's proposals concerns care workers, a sector that recruited heavily from Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and India after Brexit. The original white paper would have made lower-paid health and care visa holders wait 15 years. After public criticism from Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and unions, and under pressure from Labour backbenchers, Mahmood said care workers who arrived before May 2025, have kept to their visa conditions and earn at least £25,000 (about Sh4.3 million) a year can still apply after five years.

She said the route was for those who "worked hard and answered our call when we needed them". The Guardian reported that about 280,000 care workers and their dependants are affected by the exemption. Unison general secretary Andrea Egan welcomed the climbdown but said the conditions remained "onerous" and urged ministers to stop employers using the threat of deportation against workers.

Kenya signed a bilateral health workforce agreement with the UK in 2021 and thousands of Kenyan nurses and carers have moved there since, making Britain one of the largest sources of diaspora remittances to Kenya.

'Moving the goalposts'

The retroactive element drew the sharpest criticism. Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed called it unfair, Stella Creasy warned of thousands facing a decade of uncertainty, and veteran MP Diane Abbott cautioned that people who came legally could see their rights overturned in a repeat of the Windrush scandal. Amnesty International accused the government of "moving the goalposts" for people who followed the rules.

From the right, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp claimed the care worker carve-out could cost up to £10 billion and branded it a U-turn, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called it "the beginning of the capitulation". Prime Minister Andy Burnham backed his home secretary, saying she was "gripping this problem".

Photos: Reuters/Isabel Infantes via Al Jazeera (Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, July 2026); Diliff via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5, Palace of Westminster). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.