In The Uk, You Need To Have Lived And Worked In The Country For 5 Years Under A Work Visa To Apply For

in the uk, you need to have lived and worked in the country for 5 years under a work visa to apply for "indefinite leave to remain" (i.e. permanent residency). keir starmer's labour government plans to increase that requirement to 10 years.

indefinite leave to remain is a prerequisite for british citizenship. only citizens are allowed to vote in any election.

if you're in the uk on a work visa and you're fired or laid off, you have 60 days to find a new job with a company that can sponsor your visa. if you can't find a new job, you need to leave the country before your 60 days are up.

if you have to leave the country and come back later on a new work visa, none of the time on your previous work visa counts toward any application for indefinite leave to remain. the clock resets to zero.

so what you have here is a segment of the population who risk deportation if they lose their jobs for any reason--meaning it can be very dangerous to raise issues about their working conditions--and who may end up working and paying taxes in the uk for decades without basic citizens' rights, i.e. the ability to vote and have their interests represented by those who govern them.

and the real kicker is that the government keeps telling us they're going to fix the problem of modern slavery.