How many years does it take to convert a work permit to permanent residence? 2026 salary threshold £41,700 and new rules over 10 years

Recently, the same question came up on the backstage: "I am in the third year of my Skilled Worker work permit. Can I still get permanent residence in 5 years? I heard it will be changed to 10 years?" The anxiety is real - the salary threshold has increased to £41,700 in the past two years, and the government has launched the "Earned Settlement" program, which may change the 5 years to 10 years or even 15 years. Which are the hard rules that is now in effect, and which are just proposals ? Let’s explain this clearly at once.

Starting from on July 22, 2025, the basic salary threshold for Skilled Worker will rise to £41,700/year, or the "going rate" industry standard salary corresponding to your occupation code (SOC 2020), , whichever is higher . The moment you apply for permanent residence, your actual salary must exceed these two lines at the same time, rather than just meeting the standards when you first get your visa.

Easy pitfalls: Many people were approved for visas a few years ago, and their salaries met the standards at that time; but now that the threshold has increased, or the going rate of the industry has increased, if there is no salary increase at the time of renewal and permanent residence, you may get stuck at this step. Before applying for permanent residence, be sure to check against the latest going rate table.

There is also an exception channel for "less salary": for new entrants or those whose occupation is on the Immigration Salary List (Immigration Salary List), the threshold is lowered to £33,400 or 70% of the corresponding going rate, whichever is higher. But be careful - New Entrant is a transitional status, and discounts are usually no longer applicable when you transfer to permanent residence. Do not regard temporary discounts as long-term protection.

How is continuous permanent residence counted? Don’t step on the 180-day red line

The rule of continuous residence is most easily misunderstood. The hard line is: , no more than 180 total days away from the UK in any rolling 12-month period. Pay attention to the keyword - "rolling 12 months", not based on calendar years, nor is it an average of the total number of days in 5 years.

Home Office will calculate each 12-month window segment by segment. Even if your total number of days away from the country in five years does not seem to be many, as long as a certain 12-month period of exceeds 180 days, you may be sentenced to have interrupted your continuous residence and your permanent residence will be directly rejected. All departures are counted: business trips, visits to relatives and tourism are all treated equally, as is work at sea outside British territorial waters.

The accompanying spouse and children are and their respective days of residence and departure are calculated separately for and do not follow the main applicant. When a family applies together, any one person's days exceeding the limit will affect that person's application. This kind of rolling number of days is very easy to make mistakes by remembering it in your head. It is recommended to use 永居计算器APP to accurately calculate the number of days and record each entry and exit. The system will automatically mark which window is approaching the red line.

New rules for "Earned Permanent Residence": ILR years may be doubled to 10 years

This is the part that scares everyone the most. The government announced the "Earned Settlement" program on November 20, 2025. The core is to extend the benchmark period of permanent residence for most immigrants from 5 years to 10 years. For some Skilled Workers in positions below RQF Level 6, the benchmark even mentioned 15 years.

The name is "earning type" because high income can "earn back" the number of years: according to the proposal, taxable income exceeding £125 and 140 for three consecutive years can be reduced by up to 7 years (the fastest is 3 years to obtain permanent residence); income exceeding and £50, 270 can be reduced by up to 5 years. But for people below RQF Level 6, with a baseline of 15 years, even if their income exceeds £50,270 minus five years, it only drops to 10 years - still double the current rate.

The timeline must be clearly understood: the consultation ended on February 12, 2026, and Home Office is processing about 130,000 responses. The implementation target is set for the fall of 2026, but there is no binding date for yet, and the final immigration rules have not yet been submitted to Parliament. In other words – it’s business as usual now, don’t scare yourself.

At present, most lawyers' interpretation is optimistic: People who have entered before the policy effective date are more likely to follow the current 5-year rule. However, "more likely" does not mean "certain". In the end, the transitional provisions written in black and white in Home Office will prevail.