Home Office drops timeline for promised indefinite leave reforms

Documents from the Home Office show that the earlier schedule - a parliamentary statement on 14 October followed by immediate implementation - has been erased, and no new timeline has been set for the Indefinite Leave to Remain changes. The reforms were initially pledged by Shabana Mahmood in November 2025, but the department is still considering the more than 200,000 responses to a consultation that ended on 12 February.

The Immigration Change Landscape Document now notes that the policy is subject to further discussions between policy officials and ministers, hinting that any eventual rollout could be delayed into the next year or beyond. Critics, including the Shadow Home Secretary and migration research groups, have condemned the lack of progress and warned of financial impacts on taxpayers. The Home Office maintains that the reforms aim to make settlement earned rather than automatic, referencing a parliamentary question answered in February and a policy announcement from November of the previous year.