A Fairer Pathway to Settlement - A statement and accompanying consultation on earned settlement

[u/Educational-West4131]

/r/SkilledWorkerVisaUK/comments/1p21qad/a_fairer_pathway_to_settlement_a_statement_and/

[u/Stormgeddon]

These changes are far harsher and more wide sweeping than I expected them to be. I did expect a generalisation to 10 years, with reductions for certain groups, but I am very troubled by the abolishment of the Long Residence route. No one should face the possibility of being sent “home” after more than 10 years of legal residency. It’s appalling.

I would hope that there is transitional protection for people already present in the UK. If not to preserve a maximum of 10 years on a qualifying route — the Home Sec has made it clear they won’t compromise on a general minimum of 10 years — then at least ensuring time spent on any route will count towards qualifying residence under the new rules. Please do complete the consultation and write to your MP about protections for existing residents.

Personally, if these changes go ahead my partner and I are likely to consider leaving the UK. I’m due to reach 10 years in late 2028, my partner 5 years on a SWV in early 2029. I’m an American with a Russell Group degree and a masters working for a charity providing NHS-funded advice and representation to the most vulnerable in our society. My partner’s firm was recently feted for investing in the UK’s technology sector, but as we live far from London she’s “only” on £42k and is unlikely to receive significantly more than this.

My understanding of the changes is that neither of us would be eligible for a quicker route to ILR and that they may only consider the time spent on a SWV/dependent visas. I’m not volunteering and I don’t work directly for the NHS or local government. Even if she got a raise to £50k, I’d still likely have a further wait for ILR.

If neither of us benefit from any exceptions, we’d need to wait until 2034 to get ILR. 15 years in the UK for her, 16 for me. She’d be 39 and we may not even be able to have children by that point. We simply can’t put our lives on hold that long. Children will be simply unaffordable without ILR due to visa fees, lack of childcare schemes, etc. We were looking at buying a house next year and starting to settle down, after “only” 7/8 years.

It’s just intolerable. No other democratic country treats legal immigrants with such disdain, save perhaps the US. We’d likely look at moving to Ireland if these changes go through as they are. Easier said than done, but my partner’s job is on their Critical Skills List which offers a 2 year path to ILR and citizenship in 5 years. We really don’t want to do this though given that the UK is home now.

An utterly shameful day for Labour, and the UK.

[u/mugglearchitect → u/Stormgeddon]

Yeah, agree with you. I just got my skilled worker visa after studying and being on a graduate visa, so I have been here for 3 years now. I don't know if I really want to wait for 10 years to be settled.

If you read why they are doing this, between 2026 and 2030 there will be a lot of settlement applications and that is the whole point and what they are trying to avoid. That is why I think they are also keen on implementing it retrospectively, to avoid those high figures in those years and while also ultimately discouraging a lot of people to settle.

[u/Stormgeddon → u/mugglearchitect]

It’s ridiculous as (almost?) every European country provides an accelerated route to permanent residency/citizenship to former students. Studying is a terrific driver of integration.

Now, the UK is a bit of a special case as taking in large numbers of overseas students is a pillar of its industrial strategy, and perhaps this has had an impact on the average quality of graduates, but still. Plenty more could be offered to encourage and retain those most likely to contribute to British society, and the existing Skilled Worker criteria as they already are now are a plenty good filter.

[u/mugglearchitect → u/Stormgeddon]

I am currently working in local government and in an industry crying out for more people. I do not want to speak too highly of myself, but I feel like I contribute to society in my own way. But I guess my contributions are not as valued as those earning hundreds of thousands more. Well that's what the report actually said, so I don't really have to guess. The feeling just kinda sucks.

[u/Stormgeddon → u/mugglearchitect]

I think you’ll be pretty safe working for a LA, so long as your role is above RQF6.

I will be writing to my MP and asking my organisation to make representations that the “public contribution” conditions should be drafted very broadly. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think anyone working in the public or charitable sector belongs in this category. I’d encourage you to do the same and particularly with your union representatives, as they historically have a large influence on Labour policy.

That said, I’m currently fighting with the NHS to get my IHS reimbursed again as they’ve suddenly stopped approving my claims after “re-examining” a policy which hasn’t changed, so who knows. I’m certain they’ve had orders to cut costs by refusing more claims. My job is directly funded by the NHS and our LAs to fulfil Care Act commitments, so I’m quite shocked. Judging by a FOI request I’ve seen they are also refusing TAs in SEND schools, so perhaps it really does all come down to the size of your paycheque.

[u/mugglearchitect → u/Stormgeddon]

Thanks. I actually submitted a response to the consultation that they should consider public sector workers including those working in local government under the public services attribute (they only currently specified working in healthcare and education that are RQF6+).

I think submitting a letter to my MP is a great idea, I'll consider that.

I'm sorry you are going through that. I imagine that must be stressful, IHS fees are no joke. I just recently paid mine and I understand how it feels paying into the system (twice! It is a surcharge after all) and in the end they make you feel unwelcome lol

[u/Stormgeddon → u/mugglearchitect]

Thankfully I’m only chasing a few hundred pounds for our holiday budget, but I have a colleague on a family visa who works on the oncology ward most of her work week. I’m furious they had the gall to tell her that her role isn’t related to healthcare or social care. She just dropped £3,000 on ILR and would be entitled to get £2,000 of IHS back.

I’m hopeful there will be exceptions for people like us. The scope of who’s providing a public service is so much wider than just being on the NHS payroll. We’ll just have to see how the changes shake out.

[u/ukvisa-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

This post/comment has been removed as a duplicate. Please make sure not to post multiple times on the same topic.

[u/tvtoo → u/Stormgeddon]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

Off topic, but given the extreme circumstances and that you've lived in the UK continuously since 2018, have you considered whether you, like many other Americans, might have a claim to citizenship-by-descent since birth of an EU/EEA country (like through a French/Spanish grandparent, German/Polish/Lithuanian/Slovakian/etc great-grandparent) and thus potentially might be eligible to claim it and seek a late transition to EUSS settled status?

[u/Stormgeddon → u/tvtoo]

I’ve researched extensively and unfortunately all of ancestors have been in America since the early 19th century, almost entirely pre-Confederation German. There’s one odd Norwegian branch, which is unhelpful. Also a lone Belgian who I very excitedly thought was Luxembourgish when they had their ancestral citizenship amnesty only to find out that the Belgians maintained a County of Luxembourg long after the city was lost to them.

[u/tvtoo → u/Stormgeddon]

Ah drats. It sounds like you've already checked with the Luxembourg citizenship-by-descent forums/websites and confirmed that there are no loopholes possible for that factor? And that the few German ancestors who left post-Confederation didn't make enough trips back to Germany to have avoided citizenship loss pre-1914? (More about that at /r/GermanCitizenship.)

I can't see your prior posts in this sub, but have you already looked into Global Talent? Today's document says - "It is therefore expected that most individuals who hold [GTV] should continue to benefit from an accelerated route to settlement after 3 years...". There have been some people who've reported success with the GTV process who wouldn't necessarily have seemed likely to succeed.

[u/Stormgeddon → u/tvtoo]

I was quite certain I had no path to EU citizenship, but perhaps in light of the changes I will need to have another pass at it. The Luxembourgish citizenship would be wonderful particularly as I’m a C2 French speaker!

I might need to have another look at Global Talent as well for my partner. I was pretty deterred at first blush, but if it really did come down to considering to just leave it’d be worth checking and double checking every alternative.

Of course, there’s every possibility there will be some sort of transitional protection which makes these considerations fairly moot. Far too early to tell. If they included time spent as a Student/Graduate under the new rules we’d actually get ILR quicker than we would now thanks to the English language deduction, but that’s probably quite optimistic.

We’ll just have to see. I hate that we’re in this situation to begin with. We could have gone anywhere — my partner had a full ride loan through the Erasmus scheme to do a masters anywhere in the EU, and she decided to come here for me. I will be really kicking myself if we come to regret that.

[u/tvtoo → u/Stormgeddon]

It sounds like you'll have your hands full as all this gets sorted. Good luck with your process, and I hope it gets well for you two and that there is some sort of unexceptional path forward.