Almost 300,000 foreign care workers are to be exempt from Shabana Mahmood's immigration rules crackdown after a Labour Party revolt.
New measures published on Monday marked a major U-turn on plans – first published a year ago – to make foreign workers wait much longer to qualify for settlement to live in Britain.
Huge concessions to Labour MPs who opposed the original plan mean that out of 1.9million foreign nationals due to become eligible for settlement by 2030, only 500,000 will end up waiting longer.
The Home Secretary's new scheme will mean about three quarters of foreign care workers – more than 282,000 people – remain on a five-year qualification period for settlement, or 'indefinite leave to remain' (ILR).
And those who do not qualify for ILR after living here for five years will be given a new five-year visa and a second chance to meet the criteria for permanent residence.
The new package also contains a series of concessions for other types of workers, as well as shorter ILR waiting periods for some refugees.
The existing five-year route will remain available for other foreign nationals employed in public sector jobs that require lower qualifications, such as teaching assistants, podiatrists and nursing auxiliaries.
Other workers in lower-qualified jobs will no longer have to wait 15 years for ILR – as previously set out by Ms Mahmood – and could instead qualify in ten years.
It comes just months after Ms Mahmood warned that a failure to implement her original blueprint would lead to a '£10billion drain on public finances' as foreign workers qualify for full access to welfare and social housing.
Shabana Mahmood has U-turned on plans to make foreign care workers wait far longer for settlement in the UK
She had insisted that diluting the proposals would be 'an affront to the idea of fairness within our society', while putting 'further strain on public services like housing and healthcare'.
But now the measures have been rewritten after strident opposition from her party's Left-wing.
Angela Rayner castigated them as 'un-British' in March when she was a backbencher – and has since been reappointed to the Cabinet by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The Home Office's measures will be phased in from next year.
They will require all applicants for ILR to meet certain key criteria, such as not having a criminal record and being able to speak English.
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