The home secretary has been accused of pushing ahead with an “unfair” and “inhumane” immigration crackdown despite unveiling an exemption for care workers.

Shabana Mahmood has watered down her plans to make care workers wait up to 15 years for settled status, following a backlash from senior Labour figures.

Instead lower-qualified workers who arrived on health and social care visas during the “Boriswave” from 2022 will only have to be in the UK for five years, as long as they meet their visa conditions and earn at least £25,000 a year.

But the default for most workers will still double to ten years, as the right to settled status will no longer be automatic and must be earned.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp described Ms Mahmood’s announcement as “a U-turn”, and claimed it would cost the taxpayer £10 billion. The government insists it will save billions.

Under the changes those who arrive on a small boat will have to wait 20 years for settlement, rising to 30 years if they do not enter work or study, in what the government says is a bid to encourage people to come to the UK using safe and legal routes.

On the other hand, high earners and those in some jobs will also be exempt from the new 10 year waiting period.

The highest earners, earning at least £125,141 a year, will be able to settle within three years, while those taking in more than £50,271 and some public service workers – like doctors, nurses and teachers – will have to wait only five years.

Anyone seeking to settle will have to have a spotless criminal record, speak English to a high standard, no debt liabilities for the taxpayer and a record of sustained National Insurance contributions. Previously migrants could apply if they had received a 12-month suspended sentence.

Veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott, warned the home secretary she was at risk of creating another Windrush scandal. She hit out at the changes, which she said “still seem to be unfair because you can come in legally, you can work legally, and then have residency rights turned upside down. How can that be fair?”

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, said: “The home secretary tells people to play by the rules, then moves the goalposts when they do. People who have built their lives around the government’s requirements deserve better than decisions that turn their own and their families’ lives upside down.

“The calls for compassion and reason from within the Cabinet should have prompted a wholesale change of approach. Softening parts of an unfair policy does not resolve the injustice at its heart.

“Behind the talk of qualifying periods and exemptions are people raising children, caring for others and trying to build a secure future. Making settlement harder means prolonging uncertainty for families who have already spent years making their home here.”

Kamena Dorling of the Helen Bamber Foundation charity said: “Extending the qualifying period for settlement to 20 years for refugees who have not arrived through a safe and legal route, with a further ten years for those deemed to have entered through an “illegal” method, is simply inhumane.

“This will not deter people fleeing war, persecution, torture and violence, who are fighting for their lives and seeking safety in the UK.”

The announcement follows months of behind-the-scenes wrangling after senior Labour figures spoke out against the crackdown.

Ms Mahmood said the move would create a system that was “fair”.

Her initial plans came under heavy criticism from Labour MPs who are now ministers in Burnham’s government. Angela Rayner called retrospective changes “un-British” before she rejoined the cabinet this summer.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, said in September they would have been “tough” for her own family, who came to the UK as refugees.

Prime minister Andy Burnham said Ms Mahmood had his “full support”.

He added: “People want to see an immigration system based on control, contribution, and which rewards those who play by the rules.

“These proposals are based on that principle and recognise the contribution made by overseas workers to our country.”

Sue Ferns, senior deputy general secretary of the union Prospect, said: “The government says it wants to attract the world's best talent, but these proposals risk telling highly skilled international workers that after a decade of paying taxes, contributing to our economy and building vital industries, they're still not secure here.”

More than 200,000 responses were submitted to the consultation on Ms Mahmood’s initial proposals.

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