News

Feb 25, 2022 - Ukrainians in the UK – new immigration concessions

The Home Office has agreed some temporary concessions to support Ukrainian nationals currently in the UK who are now unable to return when their existing visa expires. These concessions will assist Ukrainian nationals in extending their stay in the UK without having to leave and re-apply from overseas.

If you’re in the UK and unable to return to Ukraine, you may be able to extend your visa or switch to another one even if your visa does not normally allow you to do so.

Visitor Visa

The Home Office has introduced a temporary concession to allow Ukrainian nationals in the UK on a visitor visa to...

Feb 24, 2022 - New temporary UK Visa Application Centres for applicants from Ukraine

As announced previously, the UK Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Kyiv is now closed and all UK visa services in Kyiv are suspended.

Dependents of British nationals who need a UK visa can apply through the new, temporary location in the Lemberg Business Centre in the city of Lviv.

Alternatively, you can apply through a UK Visa Application Centre in a nearby country. UK Visa Application Centres are currently also operating and accepting visa applications in:

  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Hungary
  • Moldova

All other visa applicants will be required to apply through a UK Visa Application Centre i...

Feb 24, 2022 - Issue of passports for British nationals in Ukraine – new update

From today and until further notice, Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) is prioritising already submitted passport applications for British nationals in Ukraine.

HMPO are proactively contacting people to get more information where needed so their pending applications can be decided as soon as possible.

As of 24 February 2022 and until further notice, HMPO are unable to accept any new applications for British passports from Ukraine.

Feb 24, 2022 - Closure of the UK Visa Application Centre and suspension of UK visa services in the capital of Ukraine – Kyiv

From today and until further notice, the UK Visa Application Centre located in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, is closed due to the current military actions taking place in the territory of Ukraine.

All other UK visa services in Kyiv are also suspended until further notice.

Feb 23, 2022 - Right to Work and Right to Rent Schemes – update about the date for the resumption of physical document checks

The adjustments for online processing of right to work and right to rent checks, which were made due to COVID-19, will now continue until 30 September 2022 (inclusive). 

This follows the government's announcement enabling employers to use Identification Document Validation Technology (IDVT) to carry out digital checks on behalf of British and Irish citizens who hold a valid passport (or Irish passport card) from 6 April 2022. 

It has been decided to defer the date for the resumption of physical document checks to 1 October 2022. This will ensure employers and landlords have sufficient time to ...

Feb 18, 2022 - ILPA regarding the closure of the Tier 1 Investor Visa

On 18 February 2022 the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association sent an open letter to the Home Office with regard to the recent closure of the Tier 1 Investor visa category with immediate effect.

In particular, the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association wrote the following in their letter, which is now pending with the Home Office and subject to their response or comments:

On 17 February 2022, without prior warning, you tweeted, ‘We have closed the Tier 1 Investor visa with immediate effect following our review of all those granted’. The Home Office confirmed this in a news story.

A S...

Feb 18, 2022 - Temporary visa concessions have been introduced for family members of British nationals who usually live in Ukraine

As per the temporary concession, recently introduced by the British government due to the current escalation situation in Ukraine, you can apply for a family migration visa for free, which will be valid for six months and subject to further prolongation inside the country if escalation in Ukraine does goes further, if you are the family member of a British national, who himself usually resides in Ukraine.

Your British national family member must be one of the following:

  • a spouse or civil partner
  • an unmarried partner (you must have been living together in a relationship for at least 2 ...

Feb 17, 2022 - Tier 1 Investor visa closed to new applicants “with immediate effect” – announced by Home Office

The Tier 1 Investor visa route has been closed to all new applicants with “immediate effect”, the Home Office announced today, citing “security concerns” and “wider corruption”. This follows multiple media reports yesterday that closure was imminent, although an announcement had not been expected until next week.

The route has long been controversial in terms of dirty money concerns generally and its use by Russian citizens specifically. Around half of all Investor visas ever issued are reportedly under review.

Russian citizens used to account for up to one third of Investor applicants, but th...

Jan 31, 2022 - ILR can be cancelled while holder is outside the UK

The Home Secretary does have the legal power to cancel someone’s indefinite leave to remain after all, the Court of Appeal has held. 

The decision in R (C1) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Rev1) [2022] EWCA Civ 30 reverses the tentative conclusion of Mr Justice Jay last year.

There is very little information about the anonymous appellant; the case seems to be national security related. 

As per the case details, C1 had indefinite leave to remain in the UK. He left the country in 2018 and went to Iran. While he was abroad, the Home Secretary personally ordered his ILR to be cancell...

Jan 27, 2022 - Stripping people of British citizenship without telling them is definitely illegal

The UK government’s attempt to strip a British-Pakistani woman of her citizenship without telling her was unlawful, a Court of Appeal has confirmed.

The case is R (D4) (Notice of Deprivation of Citizenship) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 33.

The woman known only as “D4” was born in the UK in 1967 and has always been a British as well as a Pakistani citizen. She is “assessed to have travelled to Syria to align with the proscribed terrorist organisation Islamic State” and has been detained at Camp Roj for the last three years.

On 27 December 2019, the government mad...

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