British PM Keir Starmer to end automatic right for refugees to stay indefinitely

Lucy White, Bloomberg News on Oct 1, 2025

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LONDON — The UK will no longer automatically allow refugees granted asylum to stay indefinitely or reunite with their families, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to curb the incentives for migrants crossing the English Channel.

Starmer will announce the changes on Thursday at the European Political Community summit in Copenhagen, where he will co-chair a roundtable on tackling illegal immigration. People fleeing persecution will have to “contribute” to the UK and be in the country for longer than five years before they can claim so-called settled status, Starmer will say, according to a statement from his office.

“There will be no golden ticket to settling in the UK,” Starmer said. “People will have to earn it.”

The move is part of newly installed home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s efforts to show more action to reduce immigration. While Starmer promised in his election manifesto to “smash the gangs” of people-smugglers helping to ferry migrants across the English Channel in dangerous small boats, numbers hit a record high in the first six months of the year.

It’s a delicate balance for Starmer’s center-left Labour Party, which is bleeding support to the anti-migrant Reform UK party. The party is also losing voters to left-wing parties such as the Greens, who oppose Starmer’s tack to the right on immigration.

Currently, successful asylum-seekers are granted refugee status for five years — during that time, they can work and claim welfare payments such as Universal Credit and child benefit. After that point, they can claim indefinite leave to remain, which gives them the right to stay in the country and have access to a wider array of benefits. Starmer described this system as “not fit for purpose.”

“Settlement must be earned by contributing to our country, not by paying a people-smuggler to cross the channel in a boat,” he said. “The UK will continue to play its role in welcoming genuine refugees fleeing persecution. But we must also address the pull factors driving dangerous and illegal small boats crossings.”

Contributions would include being in work, making a certain level of National Insurance contributions, learning English to a high standard, having a clean criminal record, and volunteering in the local community. The proposals are likely to be unpopular with organizations who help refugees, as studies have indicated those granted asylum tend to struggle finding work.

The government said “genuine” refugees wouldn’t be returned to their home country, and would be entitled to “a package of core protection” should they be successful in securing asylum. Full details would be set out in an asylum policy statement in the autumn, the government said.

Mahmood earlier this week announced plans to change the way workers can gain indefinite leave to remain, as well. The government has also controversially suggested that citizens and migrants should have ID cards, which would help prevent illegal employment.

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