More than half of people trying to secure permanent residency through the Home Office’s 10-year route are struggling to afford food and pay bills
The 10-year route to settling permanently in the UK was one of a series of deliberately tough measures introduced in 2012 by former UK prime minister Theresa May when she was home secretary.
The route is available to persons with strong ties to the UK, such as having a British child, but who do not earn enough to qualify for faster settlement routes. Applicants must accrue 10 years of continuous lawful residence before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain. Fees payable over the course of the decade-long qualification period exceed £12,800 for each adult and persons are required to re-apply for visas every 30 months.
Most of the estimated 170,000 people who are part of the scheme are in low paid occupations and the design of the scheme leads to poverty and insecurity for many as they are not allowed recourse to public funds. Based on the survey carried out by the Institute for Public Policy Research of more than 300 people currently making or having recently made this application, 62% struggled to meet the cost of electricity, heating, water and the internet, and 57% struggled to buy food.
The requirement to pay fees over the course of the term means those persons who find themselves unable to afford the fees may become undocumented and therefore illegal. Home Office delays in the visa renewal process may also add to the difficulties experienced by people on this route.
Activists have appealed for a shorter, faster, and more affordable route to settlement to remove some of the impediments and allow applicants to participate fully in both society and the economy.
