A review of the UK Government’s proposed changes to immigration law
On November 17 th 2025, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced new plans that limit the rights of Asylum Seekers, focusing on enforcement, not protection. We have concerns that the government proposals oversimplify the subject and fail to counter the false narratives of the far-right. The proposals summarised below are not yet law, and there are details to be added and arguments to be made before they become law.
Summary of proposed changes:
1 Changes to refugee status
Currently:
People recognised by the UK as being at risk of persecution in their home country are granted five years of refugee status – guaranteed protection. At the end of this period, they can apply for permanent status (indefinite leave to remain), giving them stability and the ability to rebuild their lives.
Proposed changes:
The Home Secretary plans to replace this system with a new “core protection status”. This will mean people are given leave to remain for two and a half years at a time and required to reapply at the end of each period. Their situation would be reviewed each time to decide whether protection is still needed, and refugee status could be revoked if their home country is judged to be “safe.”
Refugees will now have to wait 20 years – renewing this “core protection” status eight times - before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain, instead of the current five years.
The government plans to introduce a new in-country “Protection Work and Study” route. Under this system, people who have been granted protection will be able to apply to move onto this route if they secure a job or begin study at a certain level and pay a fee, and this will allow them to “earn” settlement more quickly. However, the full details of how this will work have not yet been set out.
Refugees will be subject to criteria on “earned settlement”. This means having to
demonstration “contribution” before being eligible for indefinite leave to remain. The government is consulting on “earned settlement” rules.
There will be no “automatic” right to refugee family reunion under “core protection”. People who move onto the “Protection Work and Study” route may become eligible to sponsor family members to join them in the UK, but this is likely to involve minimum income and other requirements.
Refugees will continue to have access to public funds, but the government plans to consult in 2026 on introducing criteria that need to be met to access benefits. The government says it will “prioritise access for those who are making an economic contribution to the UK”.
Consequences:
We don’t know for certain if this will only affect people who have not yet arrived in the UK. For anyone who is affected by this change, permanent residency status will be a distant prospect. People will face 20 years of short grants of leave, each renewal dependent on the government’s assessment of whether their country of origin is still unsafe, unless they meet as-yet unspecified criteria to move onto another route. Even then, they will be subject to what the government is calling “earned settlement” and given even more hoops to jump through.
This clearly removes stability and threatens community safety and resilience. When people feel secure, they build relationships and become community leaders. Removing this possibility isolates individuals and damages their communities.
2 Removal of people, notably children, from the UK
Currently:
Currently, children are not prioritised for removal from the UK and cannot be detained by law.
Proposed changes:
The government want to increase the removals of people who do not have a settled status. They will not return people to countries deemed to be unsafe, but they may be forcibly removed, even if they are established in their communities. The government has specifically mentioned the prospect of enforcing returns to Syria.
The government also proposes to remove people who have arrived in the UK with children and say they are exploring measures for the enforced removal of families, including children.
Consequences:
The most striking consequence is that in order to remove children, the government will have to detain them, which we believe is a hideous prospect.
3 Changes to asylum support
Currently:
The UK Home Office has a legal duty to provide accommodation and essential living support to people seeking asylum who are, or are likely to become, destitute. This support includes housing and a weekly allowance. People who arrive in the UK seeking safety are not allowed to work until their asylum claim has been processed. If they have been waiting 12 months, they can apply for permission to work, but only for a certain list of jobs requiring specific qualifications.
People who claim asylum who are already on a visa that allows them to work can continue working while their claim is assessed, as long as that visa isn’t cancelled. People applying for asylum support must already prove that they would be destitute without it. They do not automatically receive Home Office support, and if people can support themselves, they are expected to do so. For this reason, not everyone in the asylum system is receiving Home Office support.
Proposed changes:
The government has announced plans to revoke its statutory duty to provide asylum support, making it a discretionary power instead. The government also plans to remove support for people who have the right to work while their claim is being processed. The government plans to make it easier to withdraw support for anyone who breaks the law, fails to follow the conditions of their support, fails to follow removal directions, or works illegally.
The government says people who can contribute to their support will be expected to do so. It’s been suggested that this may mean people’s personal belongings being taken from them.
Consequences:
Removing asylum support will punish people for circumstances beyond their control, leave them with no safety net and make them destitute.
If the government removes support from families with children, they risk making children homeless and burdening the local authorities, who have a duty to support them.
4 Changes to asylum appeals
Currently:
Many initial asylum decisions are flawed and are overturned on appeal. Because so many appeals have to be made, there is a backlog of asylum appeals in the courts, leaving people in limbo for years.
Proposed changes:
The government proposes to overhaul the appeals process, introducing a new appeals body, although there is already an existing Tribunal for immigration appeals. People will be restricted to one appeal. There are no further details on this point yet. The government has also said they plan to fast-track cases they deem to have little chance of success or cases of people with criminal convictions.
Consequences:
These changes will make the system more complicated and even harder to navigate than it is already by introducing a second appeal body for asylum decisions. It may make it harder to appeal asylum decisions, and some people may receive negative decisions sooner, especially if they have previous criminal convictions. However, there is little detail on how the new process will work or how the government will decide which cases have less chance of success.
5 Changes to human rights protections
Currently:
Everyone in the UK has human rights, which are recognised by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). When it would breach someone’s human rights to remove them from the UK, this is sometimes treated as a reason not to remove them. People with proven roots in the UK, whose job prospects, social network or family are here, may also be able to get limited leave to remain in the UK on the basis of their human rights. Often, these decisions are made in the courts. People can also receive extra protection if the government accepts
that they are victims of modern slavery. It may take time for people to understand they have been a victim of modern slavery, and it may take even longer to feel able to come forward about this. Current law doesn’t penalise them for taking time in this way.
Proposed changes:
The government wants to make it harder for people to stay in the country based on human rights issues. To do this they say they will “reinterpret” the rights in the ECHR rather than changing the rights themselves.
Specifically, they will reinterpret Article 3, which protects people from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, to “support the deportation of dangerous criminals”, and Article 8, which guarantees the right to family and private life, to make it more restrictive.
They also plan to change how and when people can make further applications based on asylum or human rights. They plan to overhaul the Modern Slavery Act, arguing that people must come forward as victims of modern slavery as soon as they arrive in the UK, and that they may not be eligible for legal protection if they delay and come forward later.
Consequences:
This change focuses on how different rights are interpreted and what they mean for individuals who are asking the government to take their human rights into consideration when making a decision about their case. It’s difficult to predict what this will look like in practice. Early test cases will tell us far more.
6 New Safe Routes to the UK
Currently:
There are currently no safe, legal routes to claim asylum in the UK, and people are forced to make life-threatening journeys. This must change.
Proposed changes:
The government will introduce new safe and legal routes to the UK to reduce the number of dangerous journeys that people are taking to reach the UK.
This will operate under a community sponsorship model, similar to the Homes for Ukraine scheme which saw British people host Ukrainians fleeing war.
There will be an annual cap on the number of people allowed to use this route, and the numbers will be based on the capacity of local communities. We don’t know what the annual cap will be. To be on the route, people will need to be identified by referral partners such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The government will also introduce a capped route for refugee and displaced students to study in the UK, and a capped route for skilled refugees and displaced people to come to the UK for work, building on the current Displaced Talent Mobility Pilot, which launched in 2021. People arriving on these reformed resettlement routes are likely to be placed on a 10-year route to settlement and subject to “earned settlement” criteria.
Consequences:
Safe routes are welcome, but if there’s a cap on numbers and only specific nationalities are eligible, these proposals will be inadequate.