Currently refugees can apply to settle in the UK – also called indefinite leave to remain – after five years, giving them the right to live, work and study in the country for as long as they want.
Under the forthcoming rules, the government says refugees will be offered a “package of core protection” but will face “a new, longer route to settlement requiring them to contribute, replacing the current five years”.
Earlier this week, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set out her plans to make it similarly harder for migrants to qualify for indefinite leave to remain.
Under the proposals, legal migrants will have to learn English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community to be granted permanent settlement status.
Reform UK has announced it would replace indefinite leave to remain with visas requiring migrants – including non-EU nationals who already have the status – to reapply every five years.
The Migration Observatory estimates there are about 4.5 million people who hold indefinite leave to remain, including roughly 430,000 non-EU citizens.
The expected changes to settlement rules for refugees will be accompanied by alterations to family reunion conditions.
In September, the then home secretary Yvette Cooper announced that she was pausing the scheme which allowed refugees to bring their family to the UK with “no conditions” attached.
She said new rules would be announced in the coming months but until then refugees would have to face the same restrictions as other migrants – for example earning at least £29,000 and being able to provide the relative with suitable accommodation.
Arguing that the change was needed, Cooper said it was “not fair” that refugees should face a lower bar than others.
She also said the levels were “not sustainable” and that some councils were “finding that more than a quarter of family homelessness applications are linked to refugee family reunion”.