The British government on Saturday announced far-reaching changes to the United Kingdom 's asylum policy in an attempt to reduce irregular immigration and counter the growing popularity of the far-right . Under the new plans, which are modelled on Denmark 's strict asylum system, refugee status for asylum-seekers arriving in the UK will be cut from five years to 30 months, while those granted asylum will have to wait 20 years to apply for permanent residency rather than the current five years.