The 2025 UK Immigration White Paper,
Restoring Control over the Immigration System, introduced significant reforms to how migrants can settle in the UK.
Settlement will no longer be granted automatically after a fixed period of five years. Instead, migrants will need to earn it by demonstrating sustained good conduct, contribution and integration. In effect the new policy will lengthen the route to settlement for most migrants from five to ten years. The Government are consulting on a series of conditions that could either add to or subtract from the baseline ten year period. The consultation will be open until the 12th February 2026:
What is the time period to settlement for Armed Forces and their families? Currently serving personnel are required to serve for four years before they are eligible for settlement on discharge. Serving personnel who medically discharge prior to serving four years are not eligible for settlement. Serving personnel are not eligible for Citizenship until they have lived in the UK for five years.
Families are required to have spent five years with continuous leave in the UK before they are eligible, but they must also wait until the serving person has served for five years.
We want to reassure you that there are no proposals to
lengthen the current settlement routes for Armed Forces personnel and their families, however the consultation is gathering evidence as to whether the current time should be
reduced.
AFF is putting together evidence from serving personnel and their families – this is your opportunity to have your say!
All responses collected will remain anonymous. Anonymised data will be shared with third parties as part of AFF’s response to this Government consultation.
If you would like to find out more about how we use and store your data, please read our privacy policy here.