By Muvija M
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain plans to double the time most foreign workers must wait for settled status to 10 years, with exceptions for doctors and nurses, the government said on Thursday, adding that some illegal immigrants would face a 30-year wait.
Political discourse in Britain has been dominated by a decade-old debate over immigration, with successive governments implementing policies to curb arrivals, from tightening visa rules to raising salary thresholds for foreign workers.
The Labour government – trailing in polls behind the populist Reform UK party that has a tough anti-immigration stance – billed the new proposals as the “biggest shake-up of the legal migration system in nearly half a century”.
There would be exceptions for high earners and entrepreneurs, who would be fast-tracked for settlement at three years, while doctors and nurses at the state-run National Health Service would retain the current five-year wait.
That would be a relief to the NHS where over two-thirds of doctors and almost half of nurses are trained abroad. The main nursing union has warned that up to 50,000 migrant nurses could leave if the government extended the waiting period.
The government also proposed to impose penalties for those “exploiting the system,” saying those who rely on benefits will have to wait 20 years, quadruple the current period and the longest in Europe. Those who arrive illegally or overstay visas will have to wait up to 30 years.
Without the changes, the government estimated that 1.6 million people were on track to claim settled status between 2026 and 2030. Net immigration to Britain peaked at 944,000 in the year ending March 2023, according to official data.
Last week the government overhauled its asylum policies, pledging to make refugee status temporary and to speed up the deportation of those who arrive illegally.
Many voters in Britain, with a population of around 69 million, have voiced concerns that immigration is putting pressure on public services. Others argue migrants are vital to sustaining key sectors such as health and social care.
(Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Elizabeth Piper and Ros Russell)
