Government must ensure earned settlement scheme is fair and upholds the rule of law

News:

Proposals for migrants to 'earn' settlement must be fair, not retrospectively applied, and avoid undermining the UK's global competitiveness, said the Law Society of England and Wales.

The Law Society has responded to the Home Office's earned settlement consultation* which closes today (12 February).

"The UK government must take action to ensure the proposals are fair for everyone," said Law Society president Mark Evans.

"Earned settlement should not be applied retrospectively to migrants already in the UK on a pathway to settlement in a way that disadvantages them.

"We are concerned that the financial thresholds are ambiguous and the proposals will disadvantage stay-at-home partners, carers, lower-paid people, students and recent graduates.

"Requiring dependant partners to earn settlement in their own right will lead to different tracks to settlement within the family unit, disadvantage children, potentially breach the Equality Act and affect the decision-making of the overseas, skilled professionals the UK seeks to attract."

The Law Society is also concerned that earned settlement will create substantial challenges for UK employers, affect recruitment and retention, and potentially make the UK less globally competitive.

"Longer qualifying periods, higher costs, and more complex rules will deter overseas workers while placing heavy administrative and financial burdens on UK employers," added Mark Evans.

"The government needs to ensure its growth agenda and immigration agenda are joined up."

Other key points in the Law Society's submission include:

• applying the proposals and longer qualifying periods to refugees would undermine UK commitments under the Refugee Convention. Other vulnerable groups should also be exempt from the changes
• discretion must be built into the framework, allowing decision makers to consider a person's circumstances, whether assessing suitability, residence or another requirement, without the person being penalised

Notes to editors

• *See the earned settlement consultation. A copy of the Law Society's full response is available on request to the Press Office.
• 'Settlement' refers to a person's right to live in the UK permanently without any immigration restrictions. Under UK government's proposals, the time it takes to qualify for settlement is being extended from a baseline of five years to now 10 years. And the government says migrants will need to 'earn' it by demonstrating sustained good conduct, contribution and integration.