UK Skilled Worker Visa 2026: The 10-Year ILR Rule Isn’t Law Yet — And That Matters More Than You Think
If you searched for UK settlement rules this week, you probably read that the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain has doubled from five years to ten. Several widely-shared pages say so plainly. Some say it took effect in April 2026.
That is wrong, and the error works against you.
According to the House of Commons Library, the government’s earned settlement consultation closed on 12 February 2026 with more than 200,000 responses. No final Immigration Rules have been laid before Parliament. The Home Secretary indicated in March 2026 that she intended to enact the policy later in the year, reportedly in the autumn. Sterling Law, Davidson Morris and Westend Consultants all confirm the same position independently.
The five-year route to indefinite leave to remain is still open.
It may not be open in six months. The Home Secretary has said the new model is intended to apply to people already in the UK who have not yet secured settlement. If you are close to qualifying under today’s rules, the sensible response is not to wait — it is to move.
This guide separates what is actually law from what is still a proposal, because in UK immigration in 2026, that distinction is the whole game.
Status as of July 2026: The general Skilled Worker salary threshold is £41,700 or the going rate for your SOC code, whichever is higher. The skill level is RQF 6. B2 English has been required since 8 January 2026. The 10-year ILR baseline is a proposal, not law — the five-year route remains in force, with implementation of earned settlement targeted for autumn 2026.
What is actually in force
These are the changes that have already happened. They apply to you today.
The salary rules
Since 22 July 2025, the general minimum salary for most new Skilled Worker applications has been £41,700 per year, up from £38,700.
Meeting that figure is not sufficient on its own. Every eligible role carries a going rate tied to its Standard Occupational Classification code. You must be paid the higher of the two. There is also a minimum hourly rate of £17.13, calculated against a maximum 48-hour week. A job offer must satisfy all three tests simultaneously.
Reduced thresholds still exist for specific categories:
| Category | Threshold |
|---|---|
| General (most new applications) | £41,700 |
| New entrants (recent graduates, under 26) | £33,400 |
| PhD relevant to the role | £37,500 |
| Immigration Salary List roles | £33,400 |
| Pre-4 April 2024 transitional cases | £31,300 |
| Senior or Specialist Worker | £52,500 |
A salary of £39,000 fails if the going rate for that SOC code is £45,000. Equally, a high annual figure fails if the hours are stretched so the hourly rate drops below £17.13. Both refusals are common.
The skill level
The minimum skill level rose to RQF Level 6 — degree level — on 22 July 2025, up from RQF 3.
This is the change that quietly ended most sponsorship for mid-skilled roles. Sub-degree occupations can now only be sponsored under narrow exceptions: continuing-employment cases where a Certificate of Sponsorship was assigned before 4 April 2024, or roles temporarily sitting on the Immigration Salary List or the new Temporary Shortage List.
Both lists are time-limited. The ISL is due to expire on 31 December 2026. The TSL covers roughly 60 sub-degree roles, carries no right to bring dependants, offers no fee discounts, and continues past 2026 only if the Migration Advisory Committee recommends it.
English language
Since 8 January 2026, new applicants for Skilled Worker, Scale-up and High Potential Individual visas must demonstrate English at CEFR level B2, up from B1.
This is not a minor adjustment. B2 is a meaningful step above B1, and it is now a hard gate at the front of the route.
Care workers
Overseas recruitment of social care workers ended on 22 July 2025. This route is closed to new applicants from abroad. Anyone offering you a care worker sponsorship from overseas is describing something that no longer exists.
Pay-period compliance
From 8 April 2026, under paragraph SW 14.3B of Appendix Skilled Worker — inserted by the March 2026 Statement of Changes, HC 1691 — the Home Office can assess salary compliance across individual pay periods rather than only against the annual figure.
For workers paid monthly or less often, pay across any three-month period must be at least a quarter of the annual minimum. For those paid more frequently, pay over any 12-week window must reach 12/52 of the annual threshold.
In practice: a single month where your pay dips below the threshold — through unpaid leave, a payroll error, or a salary sacrifice arrangement — can now be treated as a compliance breach. Check your payslips against the figure on your Certificate of Sponsorship.
Fees
The ILR application fee rose to £3,226 per person from 8 April 2026. The Immigration Skills Charge, paid by your employer for each sponsored year, increased in December 2025. Verify the current figure on GOV.UK before budgeting — several published guides still quote pre-increase rates.
What is not in force
Now the column that half the internet has misfiled.
The 10-year ILR baseline
Under the “A Fairer Pathway to Settlement” consultation, the government proposed raising the standard settlement qualifying period from five years to ten years for most migrants, with a possible fifteen-year baseline for sponsored workers in roles below RQF 6, including many health and care roles.
The consultation proposed reductions for high earners — sustained income above £125,140 could cut the wait to as little as three years, and income above £50,270 could reduce it by up to five. It also proposed increases: five extra years for claiming public funds under twelve months, and adjustments running as high as twenty or thirty years for immigration breaches.
None of this is law. The consultation closed on 12 February 2026. The Home Office is analysing over 200,000 responses. No draft Rules have been published.
What has been confirmed around it
Two linked items are settled. The ILR fee increase took effect on 8 April 2026. And the English requirement for a number of settlement routes will rise to B2 from 26 March 2027 — written into the rules in March 2026, in force roughly a year later.
That gap between “written into the rules” and “in force” is worth noting, because it shows the government does not always implement immediately.
Whether it will apply to you
This is the part that should change your behaviour.
The Home Secretary told The Times on 1 March 2026 that the changes will take effect in autumn 2026 and will apply to people already in the UK on a path to settlement. At a Westminster Hall debate on 2 February 2026, the Minister said transitional arrangements remain under active consultation and gave no assurance protecting existing applicants.
The only confirmed protection is that settled status, once granted, cannot be removed.
Two petitions against the retrospective element each passed 100,000 signatures and were debated. The government has not committed to protecting people currently on a five-year route.
What this means you should do
I am not your solicitor, and this is general information rather than advice. But the logic here is not complicated.
If you will qualify for ILR under the current five-year rules before autumn 2026, apply as soon as you are eligible. Field Seymour Parkes, a UK law firm, put it plainly: once the new rules land, you may lose that eligibility and face waiting years longer.
If you are two or three years into a five-year route, take regulated advice now about your realistic position under both frameworks, and about whether an earnings-based reduction might apply to you.
If you are outside the UK looking for sponsorship, understand that the route you are entering may not lead to settlement on the timeline the job adverts imply. Plan for ten years, and treat five as upside.
Use an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Verify every figure in this article against gov.uk before you act on it. Rules in this area change with a Statement of Changes, sometimes at short notice.
Why so many pages get this wrong
Worth understanding, because it will keep happening.
The White Paper, the Command Paper, the consultation and the Home Secretary’s public statements all describe the ten-year model with confidence. A writer skimming those documents reasonably concludes it is settled. What they miss is the last mile: a proposal becomes law only when Immigration Rules are laid before Parliament.
Add the pressure to publish “2026 UK visa rules” content quickly, and the error propagates. It has now reached pages that rank.
When a page tells you a rule has changed, ask one question: on what date, and under which Statement of Changes? Anything that cannot answer that is describing a plan, not a rule.
Key Takeaways
- In force: £41,700 general threshold (or higher going rate), £17.13 hourly floor, RQF 6 skill level, B2 English since 8 January 2026, care worker route closed since 22 July 2025, pay-period compliance checks since 8 April 2026, ILR fee £3,226.
- Not in force: the 10-year ILR baseline, the 15-year baseline for sub-degree roles, earnings-based reductions. All proposals.
- The five-year ILR route remains open as of July 2026.
- Implementation of earned settlement is targeted for autumn 2026 and is intended to apply retrospectively to people already in the UK.
- No transitional protection has been promised for those part-way through a five-year route.
- If you qualify under current rules, apply now rather than wait.
- The ISL expires 31 December 2026. The TSL carries no dependant rights.