News

Jan 31, 2023 - Tech Nation announces it will cease operations, including as endorsing body for visa purposes, on 31 March 2023

Tech Nation, a non-profit organisation that has been providing support to the UK's tech industry for the past 10 years, is shutting down due to a lack of funding from the UK government.

The organisation was previously backed by the UK government, but the funding has now been directed towards another program run by Barclays Bank.

The shutdown of Tech Nation is set to take place on 31 March 2023, while it searches for new funding channels. In the meantime, the organisation is open to anyone interested in acquiring its assets.

When Tech Nation was founded by the coalition government, the UK’s tec...

Jan 26, 2023 - High Court casts doubt on British citizenship of children of EU citizens

In a judgment handed down last Friday, the High Court has cast doubt on the British citizenship status of children born in the United Kingdom before 2 October 2000 to EU citizens who did not at that time possess indefinite leave to remain. The case is R (on the application of Roehrig) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 31 (Admin).

The claimant was born in the UK on 20 October 2000. His mother was a French national who had been living and working in the UK since June 1995. Between 2006 and 2020, while the Citizens Directive was in force, an EU citizen living and working in...

Jan 24, 2023 - Court of Appeal in Alam & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Is the case of Chikwamba still relevant? Yes, although only in very limited circumstances. This was the conclusion of the Court of Appeal in Alam & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 30.

For those who don’t know, the House of Lords held in Chikwamba v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] UKHL 40 that only rarely will it be appropriate to dismiss an article 8 appeal on the ground that the appellant should apply for entry clearance from abroad.

After 15 years of legislative changes and case law, this is no longer true. In Alam Lady Justice Elisabeth La...

Jan 19, 2023 - Electronic travel authorisation for non-EU nationals who do not need a visa to enter the EU

The House of Commons Library has put out a helpful note about the upcoming implementation of two schemes:

  • EU Entry/Exit System (EES) which is an automated system for registering travellers from non-EU countries, including the UK, each time they cross an external EU border
  • European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) which is travel authorisation to enter the EU, including the UK, for citizens of non-EU countries who do not require a visa to enter the EU

EU Entry/Exit System (EES)

Due to be introduced by the end of 2023, this will be an automated system for registering...

Jan 13, 2023 - Government review of Tier 1 Investor visa scheme confirms permanent closure of route

Almost five years after Amber Rudd committed to a review of individuals who had entered the UK under the Tier 1 (Investor) route, Suella Braverman provided the government’s final response.

The review looked at individuals who had entered the UK between 30 June 2008 and the introduction of reforms to the route in April 2015. The reforms in 2015 included a requirement to open a regulated UK bank account. Despite the changes, after the invasion of Ukraine, the investor was route closed to all new applicants in February 2022.

As part of the review, the Home Office considered 6,312 Tier 1 (Investor...

Jan 12, 2023 - Official fees for all British passport applications will rise from February

The cost of all British passport applications are set to rise in February this year.

The government said it will introduce new passport fees for all applications on 2 February 2023, which will affect those newly applying or renewing their passport.

The fee for a standard online application made from within the UK will rise from £75.50 to £82.50 for adults and £49 to £53.50 for children.

Postal applications will increase from £85 to £93 for adults and £58.50 to £64 for children.

The government’s web page announcing the proposals says: “The new fees will help the Home Office move towards a syste...

Jan 06, 2023 - The reasonably foreseeable consequences of depriving someone of British citizenship

The case of Muslija (deprivation: reasonably foreseeable consequences) [2022] UKUT 337 (IAC) makes it clear that the reasonably foreseeable consequences of deprivation of British citizenship do not include predicting the outcome of a subsequent human rights appeal.

The case concerns an Albanian national who obtained refugee status, and subsequently citizenship, by pretending to be Kosovan. Mr Muslija admitted his deception. The key issue was whether depriving him of his British citizenship would disproportionately interfere with his right to private and family life with his British wife and da...

Dec 23, 2022 - High Court finds EU Settlement Scheme breaches the Withdrawal Agreement

The Brexit fall out continues with the High Court finding in the case of Independent Monitoring Authority v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3274 (Admin) that the EU settlement scheme is unlawful. The scheme was set up by the British government to transition the lawful basis of residence for EU citizens from EU law to domestic UK law. The court found that the scheme breaches the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU because it fails properly to protect the rights of EU citizens.

In short, the court ruled that the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement mean that EU cit...

Dec 21, 2022 - Flawed EU settlement scheme could create illegal migrants says High Court

The UK scheme to settle millions of EU citizens risks creating illegal migrants overnight and is unlawful, the High Court has ruled.

In a highly critical judgment on 21 December 2022, the court said the scheme breached the UK's Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

The watchdog for EU citizen's rights argued the scheme could strip people of rights if they do not register in time.

The Home Office said EU citizens are friends with clear protections and it will challenge the ruling.

Since 2018, the Home Office has run a two-stage process for EU citizens who wanted to remain in the UK.

This scheme was set ...

Dec 21, 2022 - High Court determines proper interpretation of an original ‘patrial’ provision of the 1971 Act

In the clause “had that citizenship by his birth, adoption, naturalisation or registration in the United Kingdom”, does the requirement for it to be in the United Kingdom apply to just registration or all of the other means of acquiring citizenship on the list? This was the question before the High Court in Murugason v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3160 (Admin).

Background

Mr Murugason’s father was born in 1948 in Penang, a British dominion at the time, and was thus a British subject by birth. When the British Nationality Act 1948 came into force, his father became a C...