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Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has expressed serious reservations about Labour’s plan to amend visa regulations, which would extend the time foreign workers must wait to gain permanent residency in the UK. Speaking ahead of Labour’s annual conference in an interview with The Times, Rayner challenged Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s proposal, arguing the plans are unjust and amount to “changing the goalposts.” The suggested changes would require most migrants to wait ten years for residency, a significant increase from the current five-year period. Specifically, foreign workers holding health and social care visas could face an even longer wait time of 15 years.
Mahmood has indicated that the government aims to finalize a decision on this immigration policy overhaul by the end of the year. Rayner voiced her concern that these retrospective changes would disrupt the expectations of migrants who arrived earlier this decade under rules that promised quicker residency. “I do have concerns about that,” she stated, describing the proposed adjustment as “very disruptive.” She emphasized the human impact of these changes, noting how foreign care workers, who relocated to the UK to care for vulnerable loved ones, would be particularly affected.
Rayner’s criticism is notable because the policy under scrutiny originated during the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer and was inherited by Prime Minister Andy Burnham, under whom she currently serves again in the cabinet since July. It is uncommon for an active cabinet minister to openly question a government plan mere days before the party’s conference, which highlights internal tensions within Labour. Increasingly, members of the party are voicing opposition to the retrospective aspects of this visa rule change, with Rayner having previously described the proposal as “wrong” earlier this year.
Support for Rayner’s stance has also come from York Central MP Rachael Maskell, who condemned the scheme on the BBC Today programme. Maskell described the proposed changes as reflecting “the wrong set of values,” arguing that they unfairly impact migrants who have worked faithfully in the UK, only to be informed they must now wait an additional decade to gain citizenship. Unions have similarly pressured the government to revise the plan, with dozens of Labour MPs signing a letter labeling the proposals as “un-British.” However, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy rejected this characterization, stating that the UK has never guaranteed automatic citizenship to most foreign arrivals and insisted that the home secretary is working to balance respect for individuals with maintaining public confidence in the immigration system. While Nandy left open the possibility of changing the policy, she also emphasized Labour’s right to uphold its plans if deemed appropriate, underscoring a commitment to fairness for migrants while ensuring the system’s integrity.
During recent parliamentary proceedings, Home Secretary Mahmood acknowledged concerns around the policy, noting awareness that many who arrived in 2022 would qualify for settlement under current rules by February 2027. She promised that later this year, the government would unveil new settlement policies along with any transitional arrangements designed to address these issues. The debate over this immigration overhaul remains ongoing, with key Labour figures clearly divided but united in their call for a balanced approach to immigration reform
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