There’s a rule in the UK that forces some migrants to wait ten years before they can apply to stay permanently. Not because they’ve done anything wrong. Just because that’s how the system is set up.
The people affected by this aren’t strangers. They’re carers, nurses, parents. People who’ve lived here for years, worked, paid taxes, and built lives alongside us. And yet they’re told to keep waiting. Ten years of uncertainty. Ten years of application fees, renewals, paperwork and limbo.
It’s called the 10-year route to settlement. You only qualify if your situation falls outside the standard immigration system. Like if you’re caring for a British child, or you’ve lived here a long time but don’t meet a technical requirement. You’re given a 2.5-year visa, then told to renew it four times. Only then can you apply to stay permanently.
The costs add up. Nearly £19,000 across those ten years, plus a final fee of over £3,000. That’s before you even think about legal help. Most people on the route are already in low-paid work, or excluded from public funds. Many are women, disproportionately from Black and South Asian backgrounds. It’s not a route that anyone chooses. It’s what you’re left with.
Some people are already here for decades before even getting on this track. Then they’re asked to prove, again and again, that they still deserve to be here.
It wears people down.
A recent white paper from the UK government suggests making this ten-year route the standard. Not just for the people currently forced onto it, but for everyone. Settlement would be something to earn, not something you’re entitled to after building a life. The proposed system rewards extra work, study, or volunteering. As if the people already holding up parts of the economy aren’t doing enough.
Campaigners are calling for the opposite. A fair system. One where five years of living here is enough to apply for permanent settlement. Where fees are affordable, and where people aren’t punished with insecurity just because they earn less or fell through a bureaucratic gap.
Praxis, a charity that supports migrants, is leading a campaign called Scrap the Barriers. The message is simple. Ten years is too long. The government’s own data shows the damage this policy does. To mental health, to families, to communities. Even the Home Office has admitted it increases risk and hardship.
The people on this route are not asking for special treatment. They just want to stop living on a countdown. To be able to plan a future, sign a lease, take a job, raise kids without the looming question of what happens when the visa runs out again.
If we believe in fairness, in community, in recognising the people who are already part of this place, then this is a good time to speak up.
Sign the petition. Add your name. Ten years is too long.
Tag: Scrap the Barriers
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Ten Years is Too Long