Immigration
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the forthcoming changes to earned settlement will preserve eligibility to apply for settlement after five years under Appendix Settlement Protection for people granted five years’ permission to stay as a refugee or person with humanitarian protection as a result of an asylum claim or further submissions made on or before 1 March 2026.
Answered by Alex Norris
On 5 March 2026, the Home Office updated the Immigration Rules to reduce the length of refugee and humanitarian protection permission to stay, for adults and accompanied asylum seeking children who claimed asylum from 2 March 2026, from 5 years to 30 months.
The Explanatory Memorandum accompanying the Rules change confirmed:
“Adults and accompanied and unaccompanied children granted 5 years leave as a result of an asylum claim or further submissions made by 1 March 2026 will remain eligible to apply for settlement after 5 years under Appendix Settlement Protection.” Explanatory Memorandum to The Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules.
The Home Office ran a public consultation on earned settlement across migrant cohorts earlier this year, including how the current system should be reformed and how those reforms should be implemented. The consultation, which ran for 12 weeks, opened on 20 November 2025 and closed on 12 February 2026. We are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model. Once the final model has been decided, the Home Office will communicate the outcome publicly.
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