News

19.10.2015 - Right to rent checks introduced for landlords

The government has announced that from 1 February 2016, all private landlords in England will have to check new tenants have the right to be in the UK before renting out their property.

Landlords who fail to check a potential tenant’s status will face penalties of up to £3,000 per tenant.

Landlords should check identity documents for all new tenants and take copies.  

If a potential tenant has an outstanding immigration application or appeal with the Home Office, landlords can conduct a check via the Landlords Checking Service.

16.09.2015 - Immigration Bill 2015

The government has published the new Immigration Bill 2015 with the aim of increasing tougher powers for the government to take action against those with no right to be in the UK. The main themes of the Bill include the following:

  • Removing the in-country right of appeal for Article 8 ECHR cases – migrants will instead have to leave the UK where they would then have an out-of-country right to appeal;
  • Creating a new offence of driving while unlawfully in the UK, maximum sentence of six months imprisonment and an unlimited fine in England and Wales;
  • Ensuring that only those people living in the ...

03.09.2015 - Changes to the Tier 2 (General) limit

The Tier 2 (General) limit applies to Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (RCoS) – these are needed to sponsor migrants who apply for Tier 2 from outside of the UK (except those earning £155,300 or more) and for Tier 4 dependents who are switching into Tier 2.

There is an overall annual limit of 20,700 and RCoS are allocated on a monthly basis during a Home Office allocation meeting based on a points table. Up until recently this has worked fine as the limit was never oversubscribed so there was no need for the points table to applied, however for the last three months the limit has been ov...

26.08.2015 - UK businesses punished by targets to cut immigration

In 2011 Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to get net migration down to “tens of thousands”, this has lead to a radical change in immigration, for instance the £18,600 income threshold for family migration and salary increases for Tier 2. 

However, today it has been announced that UK net migration has hit a record high (estimated to be 330,000 in the year to March). In light of this the Institute of Directors and British Future have warned that Prime Minister David Cameron is “punishing businesses” by trying to fulfil promises he has made to cut immigration. 

The two groups are calling for a c...

12.08.2015 - Migration Advisory Committee – Review of Tier 2: Analysis of Salary Thresholds Report

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has today published their report on the Tier 2 analysis of salary thresholds. This report differs from their previous reports as it does not make any recommendations, instead it makes a summary of the analysis and conclusions.

The MAC’s summary and conclusions are as follows:

Economic rationale for setting new salary thresholds

  • There was not much evidence of Tier 2 migrants salary undercutting skilled workers in the UK labour market;
  • An increase in Tier 2 salary thresholds could be justified if it puts upward pressure on wages in sectors which ar...

02.08.2015 - Migration Advisory Committee: Tier 2 Review

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), who most recently published a report recommending changes for the Tier 1 (Investor) route, which was subsequently incorporated into the Immigration Rules (most notably increasing the level of investment from £1million to £2million), has been commissioned by the Government to review the Tier 2 route.

The Government has asked MAC ‘to advise on changes to Tier 2 to address concerns about the rising number of migrants in that route and reliance on them to fill shortages.’ As part of their ongoing review Law Firm Limited attended a MAC consultation at the Hom...

19.07.2015 - Overseas Criminal Record Certificate Requirement

The Home Office published new Policy Guidance introducing the overseas criminal record certificate requirement rule from 1st September 2015 for applications for initial leave as Tier 1 (Investor) and Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Migrants, and their PBS dependents over 18.

The overseas criminal record certificate requirement rule requires applicants to provide an overseas criminal record certificate from any country (excluding the UK) they have lived in continuously for 12 months or more over the past 10 years, since aged 18 years old.  So for instance, if you have lived in ten countries for 12 months...

13.07.2015 - Statement of Changes in the Immigration Rules

A new Statement of Changes in the Immigration Rules has been presented to parliament this week. There are significant changes to Tier 4 of the Points Based System. Please find below a breakdown of the main changes:

  • College students will no longer be able to switch into Tier 2 or 5 in the UK from November 2015. They will instead have to leave the UK and apply for Entry Clearance;
  • Tier 4 dependents will no longer be able to take low or unskilled jobs, from the autumn they will only be able to take part-time or full-time skilled work;
  • From August 2015, new students at publicly funded colleges wi...

07.07.2015 - Summer Budget 2015

George Osborne has delivered the first solely Conservative Budget since 1997

15.06.2015 - Upcoming immigration rules changes regarding the Tier 2 visa category

On 11 June 2015, David Cameron announced new crackdowns on immigration from outside the European Union, in particular with regard to non-EU nationals applying for work permits. 

Among the planned changes are measures to raise minimum salary thresholds, limit the number of work permits and the introduction of new business levies for businesses employing migrant workers, which are said to be aimed at reducing net migration to the UK. 

The next step will be the review of the Tier 2 visa system, which is to be undertaken by the Migration Advisory Committee shortly. Under the current rules, migrant...

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