U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday announced a major immigration overhaul that doubles the residency requirement for citizenship and imposes stricter English language requirements, declaring settlement in Britain “a privilege, not a right.”
The new policy increases the residency requirement from five to ten years before migrants can apply for citizenship, with exceptions for those making a “high contribution” to the island nation.
The overhaul is being spearheaded by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, promising English language requirements across every visa route, extending to adult dependents for the first time.
“We will create a migration system that is controlled, selective, and fair – a clean break from the past,” Starmer said at a press conference on Monday, per Sky News. “When people come to our country, they should also commit to integration and to learning our language.”
The reforms come as net migration to the U.K. reached record levels, climbing to 906,000 in June 2023 and standing at 728,000 last year, according to the BBC.
“That is what this White Paper will deliver: lower net migration, higher skills and backing British workers,” with the reforms estimated to cut migrant numbers by 50,000 annually.
Starmer accused industries of being “almost addicted to importing cheap labour” instead of “investing in the skills of people here and want a good job in their community.” He singled out engineering as a sector “where visas have rocketed while apprenticeships have plummeted.”
The government’s immigration White Paper reflects months of research and comes after Reform U.K. made significant gains in local elections, applying political pressure on Labour to address migration concerns.
While previously critical of Conservative immigration policies, Starmer now finds himself implementing restrictions that in some ways go beyond those proposed by his conservative predecessors.
If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English. That’s common sense.
So we’re raising English language requirements across every main immigration route.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 12, 2025
Conservative critics remain skeptical of Labour’s commitment to immigration control, as polls show increasing popular support for reduced immigration.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp dismissed the proposal, saying the idea that Starmer “is tough on immigration is a joke” and promised to push Parliament to introduce a binding cap on migration, which Starmer has declined to implement thus far.
Labour Party MP Sarah Owen, who chairs the Women and Equalities Committee in Parliament, slammed Starmer from the Left, writing on Bluesky that the PM is “chasing the tail of the right” and is putting the U.K. on “a very dark path.”
Starmer warned that without “fair rules,” Britain risked becoming “an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.”
