Badenoch Urges Labour to Keep 10-Year Settlement Rule for UK Work Visa Holders

…Says Temporary Work Visa Must not Stay Forever

Leader of the UK Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has called on the Labour government to retain its proposed 10-year qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), arguing that temporary work visas should not automatically lead to permanent settlement in Britain.

Badenoch made the appeal in a statement posted on her X account on Monday, alongside a letter addressed to the UK Home Secretary, in which she criticised reported efforts by some Labour lawmakers to water down the government’s planned immigration reforms.

She maintained that extending the qualifying period for permanent residency from five to 10 years would help strengthen the UK’s immigration system and ensure that temporary work visas remain temporary.

“People who come to Britain on temporary work visas should not automatically be able to stay forever,” Badenoch wrote, adding that the Conservative Party would support Labour’s original proposals if they were brought before Parliament without amendment.

The letter, co-signed by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, warned against reports that the government was considering exempting about two million migrants who entered the UK on work visas between 2021 and the present from the proposed reforms.

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Describing such a move as “a grave mistake,” the Conservatives argued that Britain’s previous five-year pathway to indefinite leave to remain had contributed to unsustainable levels of permanent migration.

‎Badenoch also contended that many low-paid and low-skilled jobs currently filled by migrant workers could instead be taken up by economically inactive British citizens if more employment opportunities were created.

She argued that migrants who fail to make what she described as a significant economic contribution over a 10-year period should return to their home countries when their temporary work visas expire.

According to Badenoch, granting indefinite leave to remain after five years places additional pressure on the UK’s welfare system because beneficiaries become eligible for social benefits and may later apply for British citizenship.

‎She rejected suggestions that extending the qualifying period would amount to applying new rules retrospectively, insisting that temporary work visas do not guarantee permanent residence and that governments are entitled to revise settlement rules.

Badenoch further pledged the Conservative Party’s support for Labour’s original immigration proposals, saying their passage would demonstrate the government’s commitment to reducing immigration and strengthening Britain’s border controls.

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