Petitions/5 year ILR route for those with UK university higher education qualification
StatusClosed
Opened19 Dec 2025
Closes19 Jun 2026
Government response
Parliamentary debateNot eligible
Milestones

Keep 5 years route to get ILR status for those who came to UK to study (RFQ Level 6 or above) from UK universities and then switched to Tier 2 Skilled Worker Visa. These are the people who have invested 1-4 years in their education and then on PSW visa in UK which does not count towards ILR.

Time spent on student visa + PSW visa does not count towards ILR. Increasing time spent on skilled worker visa from 5 to 10 years to get ILR status will put extra strain on people who come to UK for their higher education. This will mean a person has to spend 1 to 4 years to get a degree in UK, then 18 months on PSW visa and then Tier 2 skilled worker visa i.e. 10 years to settlement starts meaning a person who come as student has to spend 2.5 to 5.5 years + 10 years to get ILR which we believe is unfair.

10,000
100,000

Constituency engagement ranking

Edward Argar
1Edward Argar MP
Melton and Syston
4
Shockat Adam
2Shockat Adam MP
Leicester South
2
Liam Conlon
3Liam Conlon MP
Beckenham and Penge
1
Nigel Farage
4Nigel Farage MP
Clacton
1
Paul Davies
5Paul Davies MP
Colne Valley
1
Sarah Jones
6Sarah Jones MP
Croydon West
1
Seema Malhotra
7Seema Malhotra MP
Feltham and Heston
1
Catherine West
8Catherine West MP
Hornsey and Friern Barnet
1
Mike Wood
9Mike Wood MP
Kingswinford and South Staffordshire
1
Miatta Fahnbulleh
10Miatta Fahnbulleh MP
Peckham
1