Sonali Naik KC and David Sellwood of the Garden Court Immigration and Public Law Teams are advising Skill Migrants Alliance, instructed by Kingsley Napley.
Joint Head of Garden Court Chambers, Sonali Naik KC, along with David Sellwood, are instructed to advise on a potential legal challenge against Home Office proposals to retrospectively extend the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) from five to ten years.
The proposals were announced in a statement, ‘A fairer pathway to settlement’, to Parliament by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, on 20 November 2025. The Home Office consultation on the proposed changes closed on 12 February 2026.
If implemented, the proposals would mean that migrants in the UK would only be able to qualify for ILR (also known as “earned settlement”) after ten years of UK residency. This would also apply retrospectively, i.e. affecting those who moved to the UK under the previous five-year pathway to ILR.
In a statement, Skills Migrants Alliance (SMA) has said:
“By securing the best legal counsel, we are sending a clear message to the Home Office: we are prepared, we are professional, and we are united.”
SMA is a community-led initiative to advocate for the fair treatment of skilled migrants and their families in the UK. Any potential legal challenge by SMA is pending announcement by the Home Office of its final policy regarding the proposed retrospective changes.
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