The settlement route is set to be reviewed amid concern that it is too easy for immigrants to stay indefinitely.
UK immigration rules are set to face further changes as Damian Green, the country's immigration minister, will tomorrow (February 1st) announce plans to review every settlement route into the country.
The review is being planned amid concern that it is currently too easy for immigrants to enter the country and stay indefinitely.
People coming to the country could even find themselves stopped from switching onto UK visas that would later allow them to earn a UK passport, Mr Green told the Daily Telegraph.
Speaking to the paper, he added that the rules need to be "much clearer" regarding which routes are designed to be temporary and which are designed to be permanent UK immigration routes.
"I want a much cleaner system that enables people to know whether they are coming here to do a job for a period of time or whether they are on a route that is likely to lead, if they want to, to staying here altogether," the minister explained.
Settlement allows immigrants to remain in the UK indefinitely. Eventually, they will be granted the possibility of applying for British citizenship.
At the moment, the settlement routes available include employment, study, family and asylum.
However, this could change once Mr Green has initiated the comprehensive review of the system.