No young person should have to put their life on hold for 30 years

The Government's earned settlement rules could leave young people seeking sanctuary waiting up to 30 years to call the UK home.

On 2 November, the Home Secretary confirmed a new “earned settlement” model. For most people, the wait for indefinite leave to remain will double from five to ten years. For refugees who did not arrive through a safe and legal route, it will be up to 20 years, and up to 30 for those who arrived by small boat.  Since March, most new refugees will also have their protection reviewed every 30 months. 

The Government says unaccompanied children, children in care, and young people who grew up here will keep their current route to settlement.  But they may still have to meet tough new minimum requirements, including a high standard of English and a completely clean record. Anyone who has claimed benefits in the five years before applying could face a 20-year wait. 

What this means for the young people we support 

For a young person who arrives at 18, that means waiting until they are 38, or even 48, to know that they can call the UK home. GCSEs, A-levels, a degree, a first job, perhaps a family of their own: all of it lived without knowing whether it could be taken away at the next review. 

We know what that limbo does. It harms mental and physical health. It makes it harder to stay in education and to plan beyond the next few months. 

Every week, young people tell us about the waiting. Waiting for an interview. Waiting for a decision. Waiting to be moved again. Waiting to find out whether they can start the course they’ve worked so hard for, or take the job they’ve been offered. 

There is little evidence that making people wait longer for settlement will deter anyone from seeking safety in the UK. No one fleeing for their life weighs a 30-year wait against the dangers they are escaping. What it will do is keep young people in limbo through the very years when they should be building their futures and hold back the contribution they are so ready to make. 

The Government says refugees can cut ten years from their wait through work or study. This is where we see the difference our support can make: our education grants and mentoring help young people back into college, university, and work. But young people who are still catching up on missed schooling, recovering from trauma, or have had to rely on Universal Credit, risk being left behind.

This week our CEO, Matt Blacker, shared the story of a young man who waited 12 years for the Home Office to decide his future. He is not exception. But we also see what happens when the waiting ends. Young people do better in education, make friends, find meaningful work, and start giving back to the communities that welcomed them. Their confidence grows. For the first time, they can plan. As a result, young people begin to thrive, and our communities thrive with them.

Safe and legal routes

We welcome the Government’s plans for new safe and legal routes, including community sponsorship, work, and study routes. Creating pathways into education is at the heart of everything we do. But these routes are only open to refugees registered in seven countries, with first arrivals expected in autumn 2027, with every applicant needing a sponsor. The UK Resettlement Scheme has reopened, but it depends on a referral from UNHCR, and refugee family reunion has been suspended since September 2025. 

So we echo Matt’s question to the Home Secretary: if the answer for young people is to “use safe and legal routes”, which route can most young people fleeing war apply for themselves, and qualify for? 

The reality is that almost all of the young people Hope for the Young works with would not be eligible or able to apply for sanctuary through one of these routes. 

Until there is an answer, we will continue to stand alongside every young person seeking sanctuary in the UK, with one-to-one mentoring, advocacy and financial support, so they can have the best chance of rebuilding their lives. 

We will keep standing alongside every young person we support, however they arrived.