News
19.09.2024 - Former Tax Official Highlights Challenges in UK's Tax Administration
We have observed that in recent months and years, communication with HMRC has become increasingly challenging. Our concerns are not unique; other professionals share similar views and have expressed their concerns through news articles and social media posts. Additionally, it is worth noting that similar opinions were published in separate LinkedIn posts by individuals not connected with each other, and their viewpoints are identical. To provide a firsthand perspective, we turn our attention to a former HMRC employee who articulates these shared concerns.
In a thought-provoking and candid refl...
18.09.2024 - The risks of making a fee waiver application for the purpose of “buying time” to make a different application
In some cases, if you cannot afford to pay the fee for your immigration or nationality application, or if paying the fee would result in the needs of a child not being met, you can request a fee waiver.
In this post we explain the variety of reasons that it is a very bad idea to submit a fee waiver application purely for the purpose of getting section 3C leave, with no eligibility for or intention of making the subsequent immigration application mentioned in the fee waiver application. The consequences of doing this are likely to be very severe for both the applicants. This can include impriso...
16.09.2024 - Challenge to refusal of Tier 1 Entrepreneur
An applicant has successfully challenged the Home Office’s refusal of his application for further leave to remain in the old Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route after obvious errors were made both procedurally and in the refusal letter. The case is R (on the application of Ghadam) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Discretion – further enquiries – s31(2A)) [2024] UKUT 281 (IAC).
Background
The applicant is an Iranian citizen who arrived in the UK with leave to enter as a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Migrant on 11 July 2019. The applicant registered a business “Robin Investment Ltd” on 21 August 20...
11.09.2024 - New Maintenance Requirement for International Students from 02.01.2025
There is a maintenance requirement for student applicants to demonstrate they have funds to support themselves for each month of their course (up to nine months). This level of funds for international students to demonstrate was originally matched with the maintenance loans available for home students, but the maintenance requirement for international students has not been updated since 2020.
The change increases the maintenance requirement for international students to match the maintenance loans available for home students for the 2024-25 academic year.
The new rules have also updated the ...
27.08.2024 - Government pledges new support to prepare for EU border checks
The new government measures shall include the following:
- new £10.5 million funding to help prepare for new EU checks at the border in autumn
- money will support the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel at Folkestone and Eurostar at St Pancras to help avoid queues
Ahead of upcoming changes at the border being implemented by the EU, the government has today (27 August 2024) announced £10.5 million to support preparations at the Port of Dover, Eurostar and Eurotunnel.
This autumn, the EU will introduce the Entry/Exit System (EES) – a new digital border system. Travellers from the UK and other non-E...
23.08.2024 - Upper Tribunal says that article 8 rights of overseas family members must be considered
The Upper Tribunal has said that where family life exists, the article 8 rights of family members overseas need to be taken into account and it is wrong to focus only on the rights of the UK based sponsor. Following on from that, the refusal to grant entry clearance to a Syrian family was held to be unlawful. The court case in question is – Al Hassan (Article 8, entry clearance, KF (Syria)) [2024] UKUT 00234.
Background
The appellants are members of a family who lived together in one household in Syria before fleeing to Jordan, becoming separated from the sponsor in the process. The sponsor, M...
21.08.2024 - Home Secretary announces new measures to boost Britain’s border security
New measures to boost Britain’s border security are being set out today by the Home Secretary, including the immediate recruitment of up to 100 new specialist intelligence and investigation officers at the National Crime Agency (NCA) to target, dismantle and disrupt organised immigration crime networks.
Yvette Cooper has also today announced a major surge in immigration enforcement and returns activity, to make sure that immigration and asylum rules are respected and enforced - saying that the government has new plans for the next 6 months to achieve the highest rate of removals of those with ...
The EU is planning to introduce its €7 EU visa waiver for British holidaymakers by next summer.
The scheme, which the EU confirms on its website will start "in the first half of 2025", will cover people from more than 60 non-EU countries including the UK.
The EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson suggested the visa waiver may be in place by the May half-term holiday in 2025.
She was speaking as she confirmed the Entry/Exit Scheme (EES) - which will require non-EU travellers to register fingerprints and a photo instead of having their passport stamped - will start on 10 November.
Under th...
20.08.2024 - No discrimination found against Afghan man blocked from Ukraine visa schemes
The Upper Tribunal has held that an Afghan man who was living in Ukraine at the time of the Russian invasion and who wanted to come and join his brother in the UK was lawfully refused a grant of entry clearance under the Ukraine schemes.
The case is R (on the application of LR (Afghanistan)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Ukrainian Family Scheme – discrimination, nationality) [2024] UKUT 00236.
Background
The applicant is an Afghan national who arrived in Ukraine on 8 October 2015 as a student. He studied at the University of Ukraine and had multiple visa extensions to 15 August...
15.08.2024 - UK economy continues recovery with 0.6% growth
The UK's economy grew by 0.6% between April and June as it continued its recovery from the recession at the end of last year.
The latest figure was in line with forecasts and follows a 0.7% increase in the first three months of this year.
Growth was led by the services sector, in particular the IT industry, legal services and scientific research.
Services are the biggest contributor to the UK's economy, far outstripping manufacturing and construction, both of which saw output fall between April and June.
"The UK economy has now grown strongly for two quarters, following the weakness we saw in ...
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