Retrospective change to UK visa rules unfair, campaigners tell Shabana Mahmood

The British government must rule out the retrospective application of new settlement rules for migrant families already in the UK, cross-party MPs and workers rights campaigners have told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

The British government must rule out the retrospective application of new settlement rules for migrant families already in the UK, cross-party MPs and workers' rights campaigners have told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan initiated the latest appeal to Mahmood on Wednesday, with a letter signed by over 50 fellow members of Parliament, including of Indian origin, peers, civil society organisations and one of the country's largest trade unions Unison. The cross-party letter warns that the Labour government's plans to double the settlement period for most migrants to 10 years, and 15 years for workers in the social care sector, are not only unfair but will also undermine the government's priorities for economic growth. ''Thousands of families have planned their lives around current rules,'' reads the letter, posted on social media. ''The proposal to double the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) to 10 years, rising to 15 years for those such as care workers, wrongly deemed 'low-skilled', alongside new conditionality is deeply unfair. ''The proposals to change settlement rules would pull the rug from under migrant workers, including in social care who provide dignity and comfort to our loved ones, often in difficult conditions and for low pay. The government must uphold its promises – we cannot simply change the rules halfway through an agreed process,'' it states. The letter, signed by British Indian MPs Navendu Mishra, Nadia Whittome and Warinder Juss among others, warns against the Home Office plans to make ''sweeping immigration reforms without transparency''. ''It must restart the process with an Impact Assessment, together with a Child Rights Impact Assessment, with the starting point of treating people fairly as well as supporting the economy and public services,'' it says, with reference to an ongoing online consultation process to finalise the details of the new settlement rules. The changes announced by Mahmood last year are targeted at the estimated 1.6 million people qualifying for ILR between 2026 and 2030, with a peak of 450,000 expected to be hit in 2028. The South Asian heritage minister has said the reforms are necessary because over 2 million migrants arrived in the UK from 2021, under the post-Brexit Conservative Party ''Boriswave'' – named after the then prime minister Boris Johnson. The UK Home Office has dubbed the changes as the ''biggest overhaul'' of the country's legal migration system towards an ''earned settlement'' model that rewards those making greater contributions to British society. ''These plans condemn migrant workers to at least a decade of sponsorship, tied to employers for years with no opportunity for upward mobility, and at risk of exploitation,'' said Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, CEO of the Work Rights Centre – a charity running a campaign against the new extended ILR rules. ''They reduce contribution to the balance on a payslip, and penalise the most vulnerable for getting sick or being a refugee. Retrospective application means that while migrant workers have upheld their side of the contract, the UK government is trying to renege on its own. ''It is simply not right to canvas the public's view on the biggest shake-up to the immigration system in 50 years when the government has not assessed the potential impact on commutes, public services, and our economy. This consultation is a farce and it must be restarted with the full picture made available to the public,'' she said. Mahmood has declared it her ''moral mission'' to get to grips with soaring immigration rates, both legal and illegal, with the tougher residency and visa norms set to be enforced from April.

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