These changes are gigantic - but they will be controversial

While the headline is an extension from five to ten years, the detail paints a far tighter picture.

For entrepreneurs and those earning at the top rates, the wait could be as low as three years.

But for lower paid workers, people who have claimed benefits and those who arrived illegally, the term could stretch up to 25 years.

The aim of these reforms is initially around the huge number of people who moved to the UK in the so-called 'Boriswave' in the years after Brexit.

Politics Hub: New legal migration rules announced

Under the current five-year rule, they would start to become eligible for settlement from next year.

It's thought the largest volumes of people started to arrive in 2022 and 2023 under a now-axed care visa route.

That means the biggest peaks in applications for settlement would have started from 2027 and 2028.

Allies of the home secretary have previously made it known that she was "concerned" about this.

Under these reforms, someone who came to the UK as a lower-paid care worker in these years could see their wait for settlement lengthened from five to 15 years.

That could go up to 20 or even 25 if they have claimed benefits while in the country.

Without labouring the point, that could mean someone who was planning on getting settlement in 2027, now being forced to wait until 2047 before they can apply.

There will be discounts for achieving a higher level of English or volunteering and more senior public sector workers will retain their five-year route.

These changes will still be controversial though.

Expect accusations that the government is moving the goalposts for people who are in the country legally and breaking a contract with migrants who may have planned their lives around the existing settlement regime.

Home Office sources started the week briefing that Shabana Mahmood was a woman "in a hurry".

They weren't kidding.

In the space of four days she has ripped up and replaced swathes of immigration law related to both legal and illegal arrivals.

You could forgive many Brexit-supporting Tories for wondering if this is what "take back control" really looks like in practice.

(c) Sky News 2025: These changes are gigantic - but they will be controversial