News
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 ...
06.08.2024 - All biometric residence permit holders can now apply for an eVisa
04.12.2024 Home Office minister makes statement on eVisas. Extending use of expiring BRPs on or after 31 December 2024 as valid evidence of permission to travel until at least 31 March and this date will be kept under review
The Home Office changed its official web-page on the eVisa to say that everyone with a biometrics residence permit can now apply for an eVisa, we have previously already written an article about the procedure on creating an account and setting it up in order to apply for an eVisa.
This change is described as “Updated wording to include details for out of country applicants...
01.08.2024 - Bank of England cuts interest rates to 5% in first drop since March 2020
The Bank of England has cut interest rates from 5.25% to 5%, the first drop since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
The Bank of England's rate setting committee voted by a majority of five to four to reduce the rate.
The base rate is closely followed as it heavily influences the rates set by High Street banks and money lenders.
Interest rates were hiked in the last few years in a bid to combat the pace of price rises, known as inflation.
High rates have led to people paying more to borrow money for things such as mortgages and loans, but savers have also received better returns.
There w...
24.07.2024 - On 24 July official visa fees rose by 20 percent for family visas and those on discretionary or human rights grounds
Family visa applicants are among those affected by the latest application fee hike, with UKVI fees jumping from £1,048 to £1,258.
23rd July marked the final day of a £1048 visa application fee, ahead of a £250 increase that took effect on 24 July 2024.
The largest groups impacted by the 20% hike are those extending their stay as partners, the parents of British citizen children and those applying on the basis of their private life.
However, the new £1258 fee also affects a smaller group of people making non-standard applications, including those on discretionary or human rights grounds.
This ...
15.07.2024 - Electronic visas (eVisas): who is affected and what steps to take now
Please note that we have previously written about this topic on our web-site on 17 April 2024, the news article available here.
However, there is still a lot that remains unclear about the Home Office’s introduction of eVisas, and therefore below we shed light on what we know so far about the roll out and use of eVisas. In line with its ‘digital by design’ strategy, the Home Office has been gradually introducing a number of measures with the ultimate aim of an end-to-end digitalised immigration system. As part of this strategy, from 2025 eVisas are set to replace biometric residence permits (B...
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