The Home Office confirmed on 8 November that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has instructed officials to draft legislation that will mirror the core features of Denmark’s hard-line immigration model. The Danish system sharply restricts automatic family-reunion rights, requires a hefty financial guarantee from sponsors, imposes an age-24 rule on spouses, and limits many refugees to temporary residence that can be withdrawn if the country of origin is deemed safe.
According to government sources, the U-turn is designed to show Labour is ‘serious about control’ after net-migration topped 800,000 last year. Officials who visited Copenhagen in October were especially impressed by Denmark’s ability to revoke protection for Syrians from Damascus and by its controversial “parallel societies” law, which blocks family-reunion for residents of housing estates where more than 50 % of occupants are classified as “non-western”. Ministers believe these ideas could be transplanted into the UK’s forthcoming Border Security Bill and into secondary legislation due early in 2026.
![UK plots Danish-style overhaul of asylum and family-reunion rules]()
The announcement has split the governing party. Red-wall MPs say tougher rules are vital to blunt the electoral threat from Reform UK, while left-leaning back-benchers warn the measures are “morally bankrupt” and risk undermining Britain’s international obligations. NGOs including Refugee Action and Save the Children accused the Home Office of ‘policy cosplay’ that will not reduce backlogs or the use of hotels but will make integration harder and fuel destitution.
For employers and mobility managers the proposals matter on two fronts. First, Mahmood signalled she wants to double the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain—from five to ten years—for most protection and family routes. That would delay when assignees can secure settlement and access public funds, increasing the cost of long-term postings. Second, family-reunion guarantees and language tests could become a sponsorship-compliance issue similar to Denmark’s ‘bank-bond’ requirement. HR teams should prepare for higher evidential thresholds and longer lead-times once the bill is introduced next spring.
Policy analysts say the UK is unlikely to copy Denmark’s plan to offshore asylum processing, which depends on bilateral treaties, but expect further convergence on temporary protection and on revoking status when home countries are re-designated as safe. Corporates that currently move staff under the family route—or who recruit refugees under the Skilled Worker concession—should model scenarios in which leave can be curtailed or dependants refused.
According to government sources, the U-turn is designed to show Labour is ‘serious about control’ after net-migration topped 800,000 last year. Officials who visited Copenhagen in October were especially impressed by Denmark’s ability to revoke protection for Syrians from Damascus and by its controversial “parallel societies” law, which blocks family-reunion for residents of housing estates where more than 50 % of occupants are classified as “non-western”. Ministers believe these ideas could be transplanted into the UK’s forthcoming Border Security Bill and into secondary legislation due early in 2026.
The announcement has split the governing party. Red-wall MPs say tougher rules are vital to blunt the electoral threat from Reform UK, while left-leaning back-benchers warn the measures are “morally bankrupt” and risk undermining Britain’s international obligations. NGOs including Refugee Action and Save the Children accused the Home Office of ‘policy cosplay’ that will not reduce backlogs or the use of hotels but will make integration harder and fuel destitution.
For employers and mobility managers the proposals matter on two fronts. First, Mahmood signalled she wants to double the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain—from five to ten years—for most protection and family routes. That would delay when assignees can secure settlement and access public funds, increasing the cost of long-term postings. Second, family-reunion guarantees and language tests could become a sponsorship-compliance issue similar to Denmark’s ‘bank-bond’ requirement. HR teams should prepare for higher evidential thresholds and longer lead-times once the bill is introduced next spring.
Policy analysts say the UK is unlikely to copy Denmark’s plan to offshore asylum processing, which depends on bilateral treaties, but expect further convergence on temporary protection and on revoking status when home countries are re-designated as safe. Corporates that currently move staff under the family route—or who recruit refugees under the Skilled Worker concession—should model scenarios in which leave can be curtailed or dependants refused.
