Keir Starmer’s Shocking Immigration Shake-Up Could Spark Surge in Illegal Migrants, Experts Warn

Last month, Keir Starmer revealed new plans to change how immigration works in the UK. One of the biggest changes is that foreigners will now have to wait ten years before they can apply for permanent settlement and later become British citizens. This is double the current waiting time.

Experts are warning that this change might lead to more people becoming illegal immigrants. According to a report by the IPPR think tank, the new rule will affect around 1.2 million migrant workers, 183,000 people from Hong Kong, and 160,000 refugees who were already on a path to settle in the UK by the end of last year.

Getting “indefinite leave to remain” means a person can live, work, and study in the UK without restrictions. It also means they don’t have to keep paying expensive visa fees or the yearly NHS surcharge, which is over £1,000.

Once they have indefinite leave to remain, they can also apply for British citizenship and start receiving regular government benefits. This status helps people feel stable and allows them to build a long-term life in the UK. For example, they can take new jobs freely without applying for a new visa.

But the IPPR’s researchers, Marley Morris and Lucy Mort, said that forcing people to wait longer could make it harder for them to settle and feel part of the community.

They said it would put extra financial pressure on migrants, make finding steady work more difficult, and leave many feeling uncertain about their future. They urged the government to clearly explain who exactly would be affected by these changes.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper supported the idea of making the new 10-year rule apply to anyone who arrived in the UK in the last five years. She’s concerned that the large number of people who moved to the UK after the post-Brexit immigration system started in 2020 could lead to too many people getting permanent status too quickly.

Now, under the new rule, these people will have to wait ten years in total before applying for indefinite leave to remain. Once they receive that, they can apply for citizenship. However, the IPPR believes this longer wait could slow down how well migrants settle into society and might actually lead to more people staying in the UK without legal permission.

In 2023, more than 269,000 people became British citizens a record high and nearly 173,000 were given permanent settlement, the most in over a decade. There’s no exact number for how many illegal migrants live in the UK, but estimates say it’s somewhere between 700,000 and 1.2 million. These new rules might make that number grow even higher.