Campaign update (January 2026): evidence first, petition after 12 February 2026

Fair Settlement Isle of Man is taking a phased approach. This petition is a public call for clear transitional protection for people already on a 5-year route to settlement. Our immediate priority is evidence gathering via a short survey, so we can quantify the impact on residents and employers. We will launch this petition formally after 12 February 2026, once the UK consultation closes, alongside survey findings.

Survey link: https://forms.gle/TbmZS4KsBhS2gJ6RA 

Why sign the Fair Settlement petition when it launches after 12 February?
Many of the people who keep the Isle of Man running – in our schools, hospitals, care homes, businesses and essential services – moved here on the basis of a clear, published route to settlement.

For years, the expectation was simple: work, follow the rules, contribute, and after five years you can apply for settlement and build a secure long-term home.

On the strength of that route, families made life-changing decisions: selling homes, leaving jobs, relocating children, and paying significant visa and relocation costs to contribute to the Island’s workforce and community.

The UK has now proposed an “earned settlement” model that would extend the baseline route to settlement to 10 years, with longer routes for some roles below RQF level 6, and possible extensions linked to penalties. If changes of this kind were applied on the Isle of Man without clear transitional arrangements, people already part-way through a five-year journey could face many more years of uncertainty and repeated visa costs.

This is more than a technical adjustment. It risks undermining predictability for families who planned their lives around the rules in place when they arrived – and it could create serious unintended consequences for the Island’s workforce stability.

The Isle of Man relies on inward migration to support its population and economy, and to help staff essential services. Losing experienced workers – particularly in health and care, education, hospitality and key trades – would add pressure to services and make recruitment more difficult and costly than retaining people already here, already trained, and already integrated.

The proposed approach could also disproportionately affect roles the Island depends on. Linking faster settlement to higher salaries and degree-level roles may push many mid- and lower-paid workers into much longer timelines, despite the essential nature of their work and the reality that many families cannot absorb years of extra costs and uncertainty.

For families, a longer settlement route can mean:

• significant unplanned visa and associated costs
  disruption to children’s education and long-term plans
• prolonged uncertainty and stress about their ability to remain
  difficult decisions about whether they can continue building a life on the Island

There is a fair and proportionate alternative: clear transitional protection for people already here and already on the five-year route they relied on.

We are not asking the Isle of Man to block all future reform. We are asking for a practical commitment to fairness and stability:

If you moved here under a five-year settlement route, that route should be honoured (or protected through clear transitional arrangements).

We ask on the Isle of Man Government and Members of Tynwald to:

• publicly confirm that any new settlement framework will include transitional protection for people already on the five-year route
  set out those protections clearly, with timelines, so residents and employers can plan responsibly
• explore sensible safeguards that address fiscal concerns without destabilising the resident workforce and their families

By protecting those already here on the route they began, the Isle of Man can strengthen workforce stability, support public services, and uphold trust in published rules.

We stand for fair, stable and predictable settlement arrangements – for everyone who calls the Isle of Man home.