Leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has opposed granting automatic permanent residency to Nigerians and other migrants on temporary work visas, insisting that only those who make substantial economic contributions should be eligible to settle permanently in Britain.
Badenoch argued that temporary work visas should not automatically lead to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), maintaining that migrants employed in low-paid or low-skilled jobs should return to their countries once their visas expire.
In a letter dated June 13 and addressed to the UK Home Secretary, the Conservative leader criticised reports suggesting that the Labour government was considering exempting about two million migrants who entered the UK on work visas between 2021 and 2026 from a proposed 10-year qualifying period for permanent residency.
She warned that such a move would weaken immigration controls and reverse efforts to reform the country’s settlement system.
According to Badenoch, the previous five-year route to ILR allowed migrants to obtain permanent residency too quickly. She maintained that only migrants who demonstrate meaningful economic contributions over a 10-year period should qualify to remain permanently in the UK.
She also argued that many temporary migrants occupy low-wage and low-skilled positions that could be filled by economically inactive British citizens.
“Those not working, or working in low-paid jobs, should be required to go home at the end of their temporary work visa,” Badenoch stated.
The Conservative leader further expressed concerns that granting ILR would automatically make migrants eligible for welfare benefits and provide a pathway to British citizenship after one year, placing additional financial pressure on taxpayers.
“There is currently no provision in the Immigration and Asylum Bill or existing powers to vary the welfare entitlements of people with ILR. A U-turn on ILR would unleash huge increases in benefits claims by recent arrivals, which hard-pressed taxpayers cannot afford to fund,” she said.
Badenoch also insisted that the UK government has the legal authority to revise settlement rules for temporary visa holders, arguing that extending the qualifying period to 10 years would not amount to retrospective legislation.
Her comments have sparked mixed reactions on social media platform X.
While some users supported her position as a necessary step to strengthen immigration controls, others accused her of changing the rules for migrants who had complied with the existing five-year pathway.
One user argued that completing five years without access to public benefits already represented a fair balance between rewarding migrants who contribute through taxes and maintaining immigration controls.
Another critic said Badenoch’s proposal contradicted her own migration background and unfairly altered the expectations of migrants who had followed the UK’s immigration rules.
Others also questioned why such a policy was not introduced while the Conservative Party was still in government.