reforms

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has unveiled what has been billed as the biggest changes to tackle illegal migration “in modern times”.

The package, modelled on the stricter approach brought in by Denmark’s centre-left government, makes refugee status temporary, narrows the appeal process and threatens visa bans on countries that block returns.

Here’s what we know:

People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay in the country temporarily, with their status reviewed every 30 months.

This means people could be returned to their home country if it is judged “safe”.

The scheme mirrors the approach in Denmark, where refugees get two-year permits and must reapply when they expire.

The government says it has already started supporting people to return to Syria voluntarily, following the toppling of the Assad regime.

It will now start exploring forced returns to Syria and other countries where people have not routinely been removed to in recent years.

Refugees will also need to be resident in the UK for 20 years before they can apply for permanent residence or indefinite leave to remain – up from the current five years.

Meanwhile, the government will create a new “work and study” visa route, and encourage refugees to find employment or begin education in order to switch onto this route and earn settlement more quickly.

Only those on this work and study route will be able to sponsor family members to join them in the UK.

The home secretary also plans to end the process of allowing multiple appeals in asylum cases and replacing it with a single, consolidated appeal where all grounds must be raised at once.

A new independent appeals body will be created, staffed by trained adjudicators and supported by early legal advice.

To do this, the government will introduce a law to change how the right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is applied in migration court cases.

Only those with immediate relatives, like children or parents, will be able to remain in the UK in future.

A greater weight will be given to the public interest in removing foreign offenders and people who entered illegally.

The government will also narrow the application of Article 3 of the ECHR, which bans inhuman or degrading treatment.

Ministers say the current interpretation of the law allows multiple appeals against refusals for asylum – including serious criminals having their deportation blocked because their healthcare needs cannot be met.

The Modern Slavery Act will be tightened to curb last‑minute trafficking claims used to halt removals by requiring asylum seekers to disclose all relevant information early. Any information disclosed later will be treated as less credible.

Mahmood will revoke the legal duty to provide asylum seekers with support, ending guaranteed housing and weekly pay.

Support would still be available for “those who are destitute” but will be withheld from those with permission to work who do not, and from people who break the law or defy removal directions.

Those who “have deliberately made themselves destitute” will also be denied support.

Under plans, asylum seekers with assets will be required to contribute to the cost of their accommodation. This echoes Denmark’s approach where asylum seekers must use savings to pay for their accommodation and authorities can seize assets at the border.

UK Home Office sources have ruled out confiscating sentimental items like wedding rings, but Home Office Minister Alex Norris has suggested that cars and e-bikes could be targeted.

The government has previously pledged to end the use of hotels to hold asylum seekers by 2029, which official figures show cost the government £5.77m per day last year.

The government is also consulting on plans to end the current system where families whose asylum claims have been refused continue receiving housing and financial support until their youngest child turns 18.

Ministers say the current system creates a “perverse incentive” to remain in the UK without status. Instead, families will be offered financial assistance to return voluntarily, but if they refuse, enforced removal will follow.

Alongside tightening access to refugee status, the UK would create new legal routes to the UK, with an annual cap on numbers.

Under the changes, volunteers and community groups will be able to sponsor individual refugees, echoing the “Homes for Ukraine” scheme where Britons hosted Ukrainians fleeing war.

The government will also expand the work of the Displaced Talent Mobility pilot, set up in 2021, to encourage businesses to sponsor at-risk people from around the world to come to the UK to help fill skills gaps.

The home secretary will set an annual cap on arrivals via these routes, based on local capacity. But those arriving on the legal routes will be on a streamlined ten-year route to settlement.

Visa penalties will be applied to countries who fail to co-operate with the returns policies, including an “emergency brake” on visas for countries with high asylum claims until they takes back its citizens who are in the UK illegally.

The UK has already identified three African countries it plans to penalise if their governments do not improve co-operation on removals.

The governments of Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo will have a month to start co-operating before a sliding scale of sanctions are imposed, the Home Office said on Monday.

The government is also planning to roll out new technologies to strengthen enforcement.

Trials of AI-driven technology to verify the age of asylum seekers, particularly those claiming to be children, will be rolled out more widely.

Alongside this, the government plans to introduce a digital ID by the end of Parliament. This will allow more accurate right-to-work checks by employers and make it harder for illegal workers to use fraudulent documents, the government argues.