The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has added fresh political heat to the government’s immigration shake-up with a study showing that more than 300,000 children already living legally in Britain would be pushed onto a 10-year or 15-year route to settlement once the Home Office’s draft rules come into force.
Publishing its findings on 9 February, the centre-left think-tank calculated that children account for almost a quarter of the 1.35 million people currently on five-year work-based pathways to ILR. Doubling the qualifying period, it argues, would prolong insecurity for families, expose teenagers to international university fees and heighten the risk of child poverty as parents juggle repeated visa fees and surcharges.
![300,000 children could face decade-long wait for UK settlement, IPPR warns]()
The report lands as more than 40 Labour MPs, joined by Conservative back-benchers in migrant-heavy constituencies, question the fairness of applying tougher rules retrospectively. One 18-year-old A-level student told the Guardian she may have to abandon plans to study medicine because her family cannot afford another decade of visa costs.
Business-immigration lawyers say employers will also feel the pinch. Longer routes increase the likelihood that valuable staff will leave the UK mid-assignment, forcing companies to restart expensive sponsorship processes. HR directors are urging ministers to allow children who entered the UK before the rule change to remain on the five-year track.
Home Office officials stress that settlement remains a “privilege, not a right” but acknowledge the need for “transitional protections” for minors. Detailed secondary legislation is due after Easter; mobility managers should monitor for grandfathering clauses that could spare existing child dependants.
Publishing its findings on 9 February, the centre-left think-tank calculated that children account for almost a quarter of the 1.35 million people currently on five-year work-based pathways to ILR. Doubling the qualifying period, it argues, would prolong insecurity for families, expose teenagers to international university fees and heighten the risk of child poverty as parents juggle repeated visa fees and surcharges.
The report lands as more than 40 Labour MPs, joined by Conservative back-benchers in migrant-heavy constituencies, question the fairness of applying tougher rules retrospectively. One 18-year-old A-level student told the Guardian she may have to abandon plans to study medicine because her family cannot afford another decade of visa costs.
Business-immigration lawyers say employers will also feel the pinch. Longer routes increase the likelihood that valuable staff will leave the UK mid-assignment, forcing companies to restart expensive sponsorship processes. HR directors are urging ministers to allow children who entered the UK before the rule change to remain on the five-year track.
Home Office officials stress that settlement remains a “privilege, not a right” but acknowledge the need for “transitional protections” for minors. Detailed secondary legislation is due after Easter; mobility managers should monitor for grandfathering clauses that could spare existing child dependants.
Source: The Guardian
