Kemi Badenoch proposes 15-year wait for UK citizenship, says ‘Britain is not a dormitory’

UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has proposed extending the qualifying period for British citizenship to 15 years, arguing that permanent settlement should be earned rather than automatically granted to temporary migrants.

Badenoch made the remarks during parliamentary debate on the Labour government’s Immigration and Asylum Bill, where she criticised the current immigration system and called for tougher rules on settlement and citizenship.

Declaring that “our country is not a dormitory,” the Leader of the Opposition said temporary workers and other migrants should not expect a quick pathway to permanent residency simply because they entered the UK legally.

She argued that the current immigration system has placed increasing pressure on public services and slowed the integration of new arrivals into British society.

“The pace of immigration has been too quick and the numbers coming too high for meaningful integration,” Badenoch said. “We ended free movement, but the system that replaced it is not working. We need to slow down the track for citizenship.”

Under her proposal, migrants would have to wait up to 15 years before becoming eligible to apply for British citizenship, significantly longer than the current pathway.

Badenoch also called for a legally binding cap on net migration and proposed that people who enter the UK illegally should never be granted permanent settlement, regardless of the outcome of their asylum applications.

Her proposals come as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government seeks to overhaul Britain’s immigration system through its Immigration and Asylum Bill, which focuses on strengthening border security and giving law enforcement agencies greater powers to tackle people-smuggling networks.

However, Badenoch argued that the government’s emphasis on illegal migration fails to address the impact of large numbers of people entering the country through legal work and study routes.

The proposals have drawn criticism from human rights organisations, immigration lawyers and business groups, who warn that extending the path to citizenship could make the United Kingdom less attractive to highly skilled workers.

Business leaders have argued that sectors such as healthcare, engineering and technology, which already face labour shortages, could struggle to recruit international talent if settlement rules become more restrictive.

Trade unions have also expressed concern that delaying access to permanent residency while migrants continue to pay taxes could create a two-tier workforce, leaving many foreign workers more vulnerable to exploitation.

Immigration remains one of the dominant political issues in the United Kingdom, with both the governing Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives facing growing electoral pressure over border control and migration policies.

While Badenoch’s proposal would require parliamentary approval before becoming law, it signals the Conservatives’ intention to campaign on stricter immigration controls and tighter citizenship requirements ahead of the next general election.