“Immigrants should only get British citizenship after 15 years” – Kemi Badenoch

• Tory leader announces plan to tighten the immigration system by extending five to ten-year period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for migrants.

Kemi Badenoch has announced a significant policy change, suggesting that immigrants should wait a minimum of 15 years before they can qualify for British citizenship.

This initiative, part of her inaugural major statement as the leader of the Conservative Party, aims to strengthen the immigration framework by extending the duration required for migrants to seek indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five years to ten years.

“I want to reduce immigration and make living here actually mean something. We need to change the way our immigration system works. So I am announcing that the conservative party is going to do the following things differently: 1. If you want to stay in our country permanently and apply for indefinite leave to remain, the time you have to live here before you apply would increase from 5 years to 10 years. 2. You will have to be a net contributor with a high enough salary, especially if you want to bring family members with you. And if you have a criminal record, you are banned.

“We would increase the time you can apply for a British passport from 12 months to 5 years, meaning it will take a minimum of 15 years to start an application. If you enter this country illegally or overstay your visa, you will be banned from ever getting leave to remain or a passport,” she stated in a video posted on her X account.

Currently, the existing system allows most migrants to apply for ILR after five years of employment in the UK, with certain visa holders eligible after two or three years.

ILR provides the right to live, work, and study in the UK indefinitely, and after a year, holders may apply for British citizenship.

The recent proposal put forth by the Conservative Party seeks to extend the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) period to a duration of ten years, followed by an additional five-year waiting period before migrants may apply for citizenship. This effectively increases the minimum timeframe from six years to fifteen years.

The party is advocating for these modifications to be retroactively applied to 2021 through amendments to the forthcoming Border Security, Asylum, and Immigration Bill, which is scheduled for parliamentary discussion next week.

Additionally, Badenoch’s initiative aims to tighten access to welfare for immigrants. While the majority of migrants on work visas, asylum seekers, and individuals residing in the UK unlawfully are ineligible for state benefits due to the “no recourse to public funds” stipulation, some have had this restriction removed.

Badenoch contended that the existing system has established a “conveyor belt” to citizenship, permitting an excessive number of individuals to settle in the UK too rapidly, thereby exerting pressure on public services.

“We need to make sure that people coming here have a real, meaningful connection to the UK—no criminal records, they should be net contributors to the economy, not relying on benefits but people who care about our country and our communities,” she stated, as reported by the BBC.

Nevertheless, she refrained from detailing the extent to which this policy would decrease migration figures.