Rejected petition Do not apply ILR rule changes to current migrants in the UK retrospectively

We urge the Government to guarantee that any increase to the ILR qualifying period will apply only to future visa applicants. Migrants already in the UK on 5-year settlement routes must remain protected under the rules they entered on. Changing them mid-way would be unjust.

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Thousands of Skilled Worker and other work visa holders and their dependants moved to the UK based on the three to five-year ILR pathway. Migrants contribute to the UK through essential work and over £2 billion in taxes each year. Applying new rules retrospectively would not only be unfair to those who have built their life in the UK but also undermine trust in the system and damage thousands of families who contribute fully but live with limited rights.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

Keep the 5-Year ILR pathway for existing Skilled Worker visa holders
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/727360

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 16 May 2025
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