Reform UK has unveiled radical immigration reforms that would abolish the right of migrants to gain permanent settlement in Britain after five years, should the party come to power.
Under the proposal, the long-standing system of Indefinite Leave to Remain, which grants permanent residency, access to benefits, and a pathway to citizenship, would be scrapped.
Migrants would instead be forced to reapply for visas every five years under stricter conditions, including higher salary thresholds and tougher English language requirements.
The party also pledged to restrict access to welfare exclusively to British citizens, arguing the policy would save the UK £234bn over time.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves dismissed the claim, saying the projected savings “have no basis in reality” and noted the government is already reviewing migrant access to welfare.
Reform leader Nigel Farage insisted the UK must end its role as “the world’s food bank.” At the policy launch, he declared: “It is not for us to provide welfare for people coming in from all over the world.”
Currently, migrants are able to apply for ILR after five years, or sooner under certain visa routes, provided they meet eligibility rules such as language proficiency and the Life in the UK test.
Reform’s proposal would also apply retrospectively, meaning hundreds of thousands already living in the UK could lose settled status if they fail to meet the new standards.
Farage argued the move was necessary to counter the so-called “Boris wave”, 3.8 million people who entered the UK after Brexit reforms introduced by Boris Johnson.
“The main reason for the policy,” he said, “was to wake everybody up to the Boris wave.”
According to official data, 213,666 people with ILR were claiming Universal Credit in July, with about a third in employment.
Oxford University’s Migration Observatory estimates around 430,000 non-EU citizens held ILR at the end of 2024.
Reform stressed that EU nationals covered by the Withdrawal Agreement would be unaffected, though others would fall under the new rules.
Farage acknowledged the policy could split families and disrupt communities but said: “That’s why we’re giving people advance notice of what’s coming.”
The party plans to expand alternative migration routes for entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators while introducing “Acute Skills Shortage Visas” (ASSV), under which firms may recruit a foreign worker only if they commit to training a domestic one.
Reform also wants to extend the minimum period before applying for British citizenship from six to seven years.
Policy chief Zia Yusuf said the overhaul would push many to leave the UK: “Many of those who will lose their leave to remain are entirely dependent on the welfare state and will leave voluntarily upon losing access to benefits.
Those that don’t will be subject to immigration enforcement as part of our mass deportation programme.”
The retrospective nature of the plans has sparked concern, with critics warning of legal challenges and social upheaval.
No other major party has proposed such sweeping changes to legal migration.
Farage maintained the cost of migration is far higher than official estimates: “The exact figure is not known due to gaps in publicly available data but the £234bn figure is without doubt too low.”
The proposals drew sharp criticism across the political spectrum. Chancellor Reeves said, “The numbers that Reform have come out with overnight have already begun to disassemble.”
Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Reform of mimicking Conservative ideas in an unworkable way, “Mass low-skill migration carries real fiscal costs… but Reform are a one-man band with no experience of government, and their reckless, left-wing economics mean more debt, more spending, more tax.”
The Liberal Democrats dismissed the plans outright, warning: “Businesses would be thrown into disarray, and the UK would lose billions in economic growth and tax revenues.”
