Overview
- Reform UK says it would abolish ILR, rescind many existing settled statuses and require migrants to move onto renewable five-year visas with higher salary and English thresholds, tighter family rules and no access to benefits or most NHS entitlements.
- Nigel Farage maintains the policy would save more than £230bn, but the Centre for Policy Studies says the lifetime savings estimate it produced should no longer be used, and Reform has not provided updated calculations.
- Senior figures confirmed EU citizens with settled status would be exempt from the proposed welfare ban and ILR changes, with Reform saying it would seek talks with the EU over benefit rights.
- The party frames the plan around what it calls a post‑pandemic “Boriswave,” citing 3.8 million arrivals and roughly 800,000 people becoming ILR‑eligible from 2026, while saying UK citizenship already granted would not be revoked.
- Labour, Conservatives, industry groups and unions call the proposals unworkable, warning of labour shortages and legal risks, and noting unanswered questions on salary thresholds, timelines and the handling of families and pensioners.