Nigel Farage is set to unleash plans to kick out hundreds of thousands of legal migrants (Image: Getty)
Nigel Farage is set to unleash plans to kick out hundreds of thousands of legal migrants in a move that would shatter Britain’s current border system.
The Reform UK boss will reveal proposals to force all migrants holding permanent residency to reapply for visas under tougher rules that demand higher salaries and better English skills, reports The Telegraph.
The party would also rewrite the law to block foreign nationals from tapping into Britain’s welfare system. Reform claims the shake-up would slash costs by £234bn over each migrant’s lifetime. The news comes as Britain is handing a ‘gift to China and Russia’ by weakening the UK overseas according to this new report.
Writing in The Telegraph, Zia Yusuf, Reform’s policy chief, revealed the changes would trigger “hundreds of thousands of people having to apply and ultimately losing their settled status in the UK” through a staged process designed to avoid business chaos.
He said: “Many of those who will lose their leave to remain are entirely dependent on the welfare state and will leave voluntarily upon losing access to benefits.
“Those that don’t will be subject to immigration enforcement as part of our mass deportation programme.”
Farage targets Boris Johnson‘s migration legacy
The announcement launches Reform’s fresh assault on what they brand the “Boriswave” – 3.8 million people who entered the UK after Brexit under looser rules brought in by Boris Johnson’s administration.
Farage will sound the alarm that “Boriswave” migrants will qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in January, handing them lifetime access to the NHS and welfare benefits that he brands “catastrophic.”
The Reform leader will vow to axe ILR completely within 100 days of his party seizing power, forcing economic migrants to apply for visas under harsher conditions.
The Government refuses to publish figures showing how many migrants hold ILR status, but officials granted settlement to another 163,353 people in the year to June 2025 – up 18 per cent from the previous year. The total figure could top one million.
Sir Keir Starmer is under fire over his “one in, one out” migration deal with France, which has managed to deport just three people so far.
The Prime Minister has promised to cut net migration among legal arrivals to the UK, which dropped last year to 431,000 but remains well above pre-Brexit levels.
The announcement follows one of Britain’s biggest Right-wing rallies, where around 100,000 protesters led by Tommy Robinson marched through London chanting anti-migration slogans.
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Current system faces complete overhaul
Under existing rules, foreign nationals can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years in the UK, then convert their settled status to citizenship after another 12 months.
But Reform’s plans would force migrants to reapply for visas every five years, meet salary thresholds higher than the current £35,800 for skilled workers, and wait seven years before applying for a British passport.
Applicants would need to prove professional-level English fluency and demonstrate “good character” with clean criminal records. Anyone who spent more than 90 days outside the UK or claimed benefits would face a ban from remaining in the country.
Unlike the current system, Reform’s new worker visa would deny settled migrants access to welfare or free NHS services, which the party says would save “well in excess of £230bn” over the average claimant’s lifetime.
Yusuf warned that half of Boriswave migrants and their dependents don’t work, creating a “financial disaster” for the UK when 800,000 people become eligible to claim benefits next year.
Declaring the “era of cheap foreign labour is over,” he added: “Our nation is proud, resourceful, and resilient, but we have been suffocated by a political class that continues to betray the British people.
“For too long, the Tories and Labour have rolled out the red carpet for mass unskilled immigration, turning Britain into a food bank for the world.”
Trump-style visa charges considered
The policy mirrors recent restrictions on economic migration in the US by Donald Trump, who has announced plans to charge $100,000 (£74,000) for skilled worker visa applications.
Yusuf has been tasked with preparing Reform’s policy agenda before the next election, which the party believes could happen as soon as 2027.
Reform currently leads both Labour and the Conservatives by more than 12 points in opinion polls, and looks set to gain more seats in local and devolved government next May.
The party’s immigration policy launch follows criticism of economic migration rules under Johnson, including attacks by Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader.
The first statistics on benefit claimants’ nationality, published by the Home Office in July, showed between 15 and 17 per cent of Universal Credit recipients are migrants.
Labour has said it plans to “toughen up the system” by doubling the time a person must live in the UK before gaining indefinite leave to remain, though the rules haven’t changed yet.
Business concerns over worker shortages
Reform’s policy is likely to face criticism from businesses that depend on foreign workers for cheaper labour.
The party says it would introduce a new “Acute Skills Shortage Visa” to fast-track migrants for sectors facing major job shortages, but any employer sponsoring such visas must pay to train a British worker in the same skills.
Wealthy foreign entrepreneurs would still be allowed to settle in the UK, and would receive new “golden” visas requiring investment in the British economy.
A Government spokesman said: “People here illegally rightly do not get anything from our benefits system.
“Foreign nationals usually have to wait five years to claim Universal Credit and we’re looking at increasing this to 10 years.
“We inherited a broken welfare system and spiralling benefits bill. That’s why we’re taking action and reforming the system and have seen the proportion of Universal Credit payments to foreign nationals fall since last July.”
Government defends current system
A Government spokesman said: “People here illegally rightly do not get anything from our benefits system.
“Foreign nationals usually have to wait five years to claim Universal Credit and we’re looking at increasing this to 10 years.
“We inherited a broken welfare system and spiralling benefits bill. That’s why we’re taking action and reforming the system and have seen the proportion of Universal Credit payments to foreign nationals fall since last July.”
Explained: Nigel Farage’s bombshell vow to expel hundreds of thousands of LEGAL migrants
Nigel Farage’s immigration programme has attracted renewed attention because it goes beyond proposals to remove people who are already in the United Kingdom illegally. One of the most controversial elements of Reform UK’s plans concerns migrants who entered Britain legally and have built lives in the country under existing immigration rules.
At the centre of the proposal is the future of Indefinite Leave to Remain, commonly known as ILR. The status currently gives eligible migrants the right to live and work in Britain without a time limit. Farage has proposed abolishing the existing route to permanent settlement and replacing it with a system in which many non-British citizens would have to continue renewing visas.
The proposal was first set out prominently by Farage in September 2025. At the time, he said around 800,000 people could otherwise become eligible for ILR between 2026 and 2030. Reform described these migrants as part of what Farage called the “Boriswave”, referring to the large increase in legal migration during the Conservative governments led by Boris Johnson.
The distinction between legal migration and illegal migration is therefore crucial.
Farage’s proposal does not simply involve deporting people who crossed the Channel without permission or overstayed their visas. Instead, Reform has proposed changing the legal status available to people who were admitted lawfully but who have not yet become British citizens.
What is ILR?
Indefinite Leave to Remain allows a person to remain in Britain without an expiry date on their permission to stay. It also removes many of the restrictions attached to temporary visas.
Under the existing system, the qualifying period varies depending on the immigration route. For many migrants, five years of continuous lawful residence can provide a route towards ILR, although different categories have different requirements. ILR can subsequently provide a route towards British citizenship for people who satisfy the relevant conditions.
The Institute for Government describes ILR as giving an individual the right to live, work and study in the UK without a time restriction.
Farage’s proposal would fundamentally alter that system.
Rather than allowing migrants to progress automatically towards permanent settlement after meeting the existing requirements, Reform has proposed requiring non-British citizens to remain on renewable visas.
The party has discussed five-year visas, with applicants required to continue satisfying conditions such as salary and English-language requirements.
That would mean that lawful residence would not necessarily develop into a permanent right to remain.
Who could be affected?
This is where the headline figure of hundreds of thousands comes from.
Farage said approximately 800,000 people were expected to become eligible for ILR between 2026 and 2030 under the existing rules. Reform argued that these people should instead face a new immigration regime.
The figure should not be interpreted as meaning that 800,000 people would automatically be deported.
The proposal is more complicated.
A person affected by the abolition of ILR could potentially continue living in Britain if they qualified for and obtained another visa. Those who subsequently became British citizens would obviously no longer be subject to immigration controls in the same way.
The issue is what happens to people who fail to satisfy the proposed new requirements.
Reform has suggested substantially higher salary thresholds and stricter conditions for remaining in Britain. That creates the possibility that some people currently living legally in the UK could eventually lose their right to remain if they failed to qualify under the new system.
The Guardian reported that Farage had left open the possibility that families could be separated under the proposed arrangements, depending on whether individual members continued to meet the new requirements.
Why does Reform want to change the system?
Farage has presented the proposal as a response to the increase in legal migration that occurred during the previous Conservative governments.
He has argued that the scale of migration created pressure on housing, public services and the welfare system.
Reform’s wider immigration programme is built around the principle that permanent settlement should be harder to obtain and that migrants should have to demonstrate a continuing economic contribution.
The party has also proposed restricting access to welfare to British citizens, another policy that would represent a substantial change from current arrangements. The Institute for Government lists both the proposed abolition of the existing ILR pathway and Reform’s proposal to restrict welfare eligibility to British citizens.
Farage has therefore linked immigration, welfare and settlement into a single policy framework.
His argument is that entering Britain legally should not automatically lead to a permanent right to remain.
Critics, however, argue that the people affected would include individuals who followed the rules that were in place when they entered the country.
What about EU citizens?
The situation is particularly complicated for European citizens with settled status.
The UK’s post-Brexit arrangements gave eligible EU citizens and their family members permanent rights to live and work in Britain under the EU Settlement Scheme. The arrangements also provide rights concerning social security and pensions.
In June 2026, the Guardian reported that Reform proposals affecting EU nationals with settled status could require renegotiation of Britain’s post-Brexit arrangements with the European Union.
That makes the issue considerably more complicated than simply changing domestic immigration rules.
Any government seeking to alter rights guaranteed under international agreements would have to consider the legal and diplomatic consequences.
There could also be reciprocal implications for British citizens living elsewhere in Europe if the rights of EU nationals in Britain were substantially changed.
Is Reform proposing mass deportations?
The answer depends on which part of Reform’s immigration programme is being discussed.
The party has separately proposed mass deportations of people who do not have a legal right to remain in Britain. In February 2026, Reform announced plans for an immigration enforcement agency with the capacity to deport hundreds of thousands of people and said it would replace ILR with renewable five-year visas.
The party has also proposed an annual deportation target for people it classifies as being in the country illegally.
That is different from the ILR proposal.
However, the two policies could become connected if migrants currently living legally in Britain lost their immigration status under a new system and subsequently failed to qualify for another form of permission.
This is why the proposal has generated such intense debate.
A separate plan for asylum seekers
Reform’s policy on successful asylum claims is another important distinction.
In April 2026, the party said it would review successful asylum claims made during the previous five years. Zia Yusuf said people who had entered illegally or overstayed a visa and subsequently claimed asylum could have their status revoked and be deported.
The Independent reported that Reform estimated around 400,000 people could be “in scope” for the review, with the party saying the majority could ultimately be deported.
Again, this is not the same as the ILR proposal.
One concerns people who received asylum protection and whose claims would potentially be reassessed. The other concerns migrants who entered Britain legally and were progressing through the settlement system.
Together, however, they form part of Reform’s much broader immigration programme.
What would have to change?
For the proposals to become law, a future Reform government would need Parliament to approve legislation changing the existing immigration framework.
That would involve decisions over people who already possess ILR, people approaching eligibility for it, EU citizens with settled status, family members, refugees and migrants holding different categories of work visa.
The precise legal consequences would depend on the legislation eventually introduced.
The Institute for Government has described Reform’s proposals as a significant departure from the UK’s recent approach to settlement and asylum. It notes that the party intends to create a system in which migrants would need to renew visas rather than progressing through the current permanent-settlement route.
Why the proposal matters
The central question is therefore not simply whether Farage wants to “deport legal migrants”.
His proposal is more specifically about changing the rules governing permanent settlement.
People who currently have a legal route towards ILR could instead face a system of repeated temporary visas. Those who failed to satisfy the new requirements could potentially lose their right to remain.
At the same time, people who already hold ILR, settled status or other forms of legal residence could be treated differently depending on the final legislation.
That distinction matters because the headline figure of hundreds of thousands does not represent a confirmed number of people who would automatically be expelled from Britain.
It represents the much larger group potentially affected by a fundamental change to the settlement system.
Farage’s argument is that Britain’s immigration rules should be redesigned so that permanent residence is earned through continued contribution rather than granted after a defined period of lawful residence.
Critics argue that people who entered legally should not have their long-term status fundamentally altered after they have built careers, families and communities in Britain.
The debate therefore goes to the heart of a much larger question: what should Britain offer people who are allowed to live and work in the country legally, and when should temporary migration become permanent settlement?
Under current rules, the answer depends on the immigration route and the requirements attached to it.
Under Farage’s proposed system, the answer would be considerably more conditional.
For now, the proposal remains a political commitment rather than an enacted change in British immigration law. Whether it could be implemented in full would depend on future legislation, parliamentary approval, existing legal commitments and the precise rules governing different groups of migrants.
What is clear is that Reform UK’s approach would seek to move Britain’s immigration system away from the established pathway towards permanent settlement and towards a model in which many non-British citizens would need to repeatedly demonstrate that they continue to qualify to remain.
That would make the future of hundreds of thousands of legally resident migrants one of the most significant questions in the party’s wider immigration programme.