Immigration: Carers and Disability
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the government’s proposed Earned Settlement reforms on disabled partner visa applicants and primary carers, including the proposed personal earnings requirement; what steps her Department is taking to ensure that such reforms do not indirectly discriminate against those with protected characteristics; and what transitional arrangements will apply to families already on the partner route to prevent retrospective disadvantage.
Answered by Mike Tapp
The earned settlement model, proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, announced changes to the mandatory requirements and qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain. It is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026.
The consultation seeks views on the impact proposed changes might have on different groups, including disabled people and carers. Details of the earned settlement model will be finalised following that consultation.
The final model will also be subject to economic and equality impact assessments, which we have committed to publish in due course
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