Kemi Badenoch has unveiled a major policy shift, proposing that immigrants must wait at least 15 years before becoming eligible for British citizenship.
The plan, part of her first major announcement as Tory leader, seeks to tighten the immigration system by extending the period before migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five to ten years.
She also disclosed that those who claim benefits, access social housing, or have criminal records would be barred from settling in the UK permanently.
“I want to reduce immigration and make living here actually mean something. We need to change the way our immigration system works. So I am announcing that the conservative party is going to do the following things differently: 1. If you want to stay in our country permanently and apply for indefinite leave to remain, the time you have to live here before you apply would increase from 5 years to 10 years. 2. You will have to be a net contributor with a high enough salary, especially if you want to bring family members with you. And if you have a criminal record, you are banned.
“We would increase the time you can apply for a British passport from 12 months to 5 years, meaning it will take a minimum of 15 years to start an application. If you enter this country illegally or overstay your visa, you will be banned from ever getting leave to remain or a passport,” she said in a video shared on her X, formerly known as Twitter, handle.
Under the current system, most migrants can apply for ILR after five years of working in the UK, with some visa holders qualifying in two or three years.
ILR grants the right to live, work, and study in the UK indefinitely, and after 12 months, holders can apply for British citizenship.
The new Conservative proposal extends the ILR period to ten years and mandates an additional five-year wait before migrants can apply for citizenship—tripling the minimum timeframe from six to 15 years.
The party is pushing for these changes to be backdated to 2021 by amending the upcoming Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill, set for parliamentary debate next week.
Badenoch’s plan also cracks down on welfare access for immigrants.
While most migrants on work visas, asylum seekers, and those in the UK illegally cannot claim state benefits due to the “no recourse to public funds” condition, some have had the restriction lifted.
Badenoch argued that the current system had created a “conveyor belt” to citizenship, allowing too many people to settle in the UK too quickly and “creating a strain on public services.”
“We need to make sure that people coming here have a real, meaningful connection to the UK—no criminal records, they should be net contributors to the economy, not relying on benefits but people who care about our country and our communities,” she said in ss quoted by BBC.
However, she declined to specify how much this policy would reduce migration numbers.