1 Find your MP
2 Your details
MPs only answer people who live in their constituency, so your letter needs your full name and address.
Doctors, nurses and NHS staff on national pay scales may keep the 5-year route under the new plans. If that’s you, you can still write: choose “A constituent who supports them” above.
Make it personal (recommended: MPs give more weight to letters in your own words)
Your real figure shows your MP exactly where you stand, so they can’t just reply that the 5-year route is still open to higher earners.
3 Check your letter and send it
The letter updates as you fill in your details. You can edit any of it.
Or open it in · ·
Your email opens with your MP’s address, the subject and the letter filled in. Check it, then press Send. It goes from your own email address, so your MP can reply to you directly.
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Ask others to write too
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What has changed
- The standard wait for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) goes from 5 years to 10.
- You keep 5 years only if you earn at least £50,271 (the higher-rate tax threshold) in 3 of the 5 years before you apply. The visa rules themselves only need £41,700, or £31,300 for people who first got a Skilled Worker visa before April 2024.
- Care workers who came before May 2025 keep 5 years only if they earn more than £25,000 and are sponsored. Those who don’t get a further 5-year visa before they can settle. Care workers who came after May 2025 face 10 years.
- Doctors, nurses, teachers and some public service staff on national pay scales keep 5 years. Other Skilled Workers and Health and Care workers already here get no protection.
- Scotland is hit harder. The 42% higher rate of tax starts at £43,663 in Scotland, but the settlement test uses the £50,271 threshold that applies in the rest of the UK. A worker in Scotland can pay higher-rate tax and still have to wait 10 years.
- It is not law yet. The Home Secretary says the rules will start to be laid from December 2026 and come in during 2027.
Checked 4 November 2026. Sources: Government response to the consultation (GOV.UK), Free Movement. This page is not legal advice.