Over 25,000 Migrant Workers Unite to Challenge Proposed Extension to UK Settlement Rules

More than 25,000 sponsored migrant workers have joined a campaign preparing legal action against the UK Government over proposed immigration rule changes that would double the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain from five to 10 years.

The planned reforms, announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in November, are currently under consultation and could take effect as early as April. If implemented, they would alter the route to settled status, affecting people who have built their lives around the existing five-year pathway. Estimates suggest up to 2.2 million people, including around 300,000 children, could be impacted.

The campaign group, Skill Migrant Alliance, has grown rapidly in recent weeks and now includes healthcare workers, IT professionals, carers and other sponsored employees. Organisers say they are gathering case studies, have taken advice from a barrister, and have raised £25,000 towards a potential judicial review.

Among those affected is Ahsan Raza Sabri, who moved to the UK from Pakistan in 2020 and has worked since 2021 supporting NHS hospital systems in London. He said:

“Over the past several years, I have paid taxes, followed immigration rules, and built my life in the UK in full compliance with the law. We organised our future around the clearly established five-year pathway to ILR. It feels like the rules are being changed after we have already committed our lives to them. We are not asking for special treatment. We are asking that the rules we relied on are honoured.”

Campaign organisers state their aim is to secure fairness and consistency for families who made long-term decisions based on the existing settlement framework. To join the campaign fill in the form.