News
20.03.2024 - UK inflation falls to 3.4% - lowest level for almost two and a half years
The slower pace of food price rises helped push down inflation, along with soft drinks, restaurants and hotels, the Office for National Statistics stated.
This effect was partially offset by petrol prices and rental costs. Overall, the cost of living is not falling but prices are rising less quickly than they were previously.
Inflation was running at 4% in the year to January, the same as December's rate.
The drop was driven by a slowing in the growth of food prices with the report showing prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rising by 5.0% in the year to February 2024, down from 6.9% i...
18.03.2024 - Sponsors no longer need to report changes to hybrid and remote working
Employers who sponsor migrant workers must comply with a number of sponsor duties to avoid breaching the conditions of their licence.
As we reported on 15 May 2023 in our previous news article (available here), the reporting obligations for sponsored workers working from home were abolished but working in the hybrid mode was still eligible for reporting purposes. However, now the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) announced it has abolished the reporting obligations for the hybrid mode of work as well.
UKVI’s reasoning
The updated Sponsor Guidance explains UKVI’s reasoning:
We recognise that ma...
15.03.2024 - Home Office immigration database errors hit more than 76,000 people
Major flaws in a huge Home Office immigration database have resulted in more than 76,000 people being listed with incorrect names, photographs or immigration status.
Leaked internal documents reveal the scale of the database fiasco at the Home Office, which has recently been criticised for delays in immigration application processing, long queues at borders and the distribution of incorrect identity cards.
The Home Office has been relatively silent about the database failures, referring vaguely to them as “IT issues”. Ministers have denied there is a “systemic” problem with Atlas, the tool use...
14.03.2024 - Appellant keeps British nationality after Court of Appeal overturns dishonesty finding
An appellant did not act dishonestly when he applied for British citizenship and answered ‘no’ when asked whether there was anything that might cast into doubt his good character. This was despite him being arrested four weeks after citizenship was granted and later pleading guilty to an offence that took place prior to the application.
This is the conclusion of Lord Justice Lewison, Lord Justice Green and Lady Justice Andrews in Hafiz Aman Ullah v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWCA Civ 201.
Background
Mr Ullah arrived in the UK in 2004, was granted indefinite leave to rema...
14.03.2024 - Statement of immigration changes HC 590: salary thresholds increased and other changes
As we have previously stated in our news article on 30 January 2024 (available here), the UK government confirmed that the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker Visa as well as the minimum income threshold for spouse and family visas shall increase on 04 and 11 April 2024 respectively.
Skilled worker salary threshold
Namely, as regards the Skilled Worker Visa Category, employers must from 4 April 2024 pay those entering the skilled worker route a general salary threshold of £38,700 or the going rate for the role (also being raised, from the 25th percentile to the median), whichever is higher...
12.03.2024 - Non-Dom Changes – FAQs
In his Budget of 6 March 2024, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced significant changes to the non-dom regime – effectively abolishing the need to reference domicile in tax law by replacing it with a residence based test for those who have not been UK tax resident in the last ten years (the concept of domicile still remains relevant to the drafting of Wills and the devolution of assets on death).
Much of the detail is not yet known, but affected taxpayers will have a number of questions and we seek to outline what we know so far in the FAQ sheet below. This sheet assumes the rules come into effect...
08.03.2024 - UK Budget 2024 – what changes in taxation are proposed and expected
Following the 6th March 2024 announcement of the UK Spring Budget 2024, please see below the detailed review of the upcoming taxation changes and amendments.
Abolition Of The Non-Dom Status And The Remittance Basis Regime
After much speculation in this area, the Chancellor has taken the bold step to abolish the current non-UK domiciled tax regime from 6 April 2025. There will be a limited replacement for individuals coming to the UK for the first four tax years of residence, to be known as the foreign income and gains (FIG) regime.
Many of the proposed rule changes outlined in the Budget are ...
07.03.2024 - Britain's net migration set to rise by 315,000 annually
The UK’s net population is set to rise by 315,000 over the next five years.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) bumped its net migration forecasts from 240,000 to 315,000 for each year up to 2028 – an increase of 70,000 people, and a 28 per cent increase since its last forecast in autumn.
The figure takes into account people leaving the country, though the predictions fall a great deal lower than last year’s 670,000.
Migration Watch UK chairman Alp Mehmet said the updated forecast would mean the UK’s population would see an increase of nine million people by 2046, meaning it’s set to ri...
06.03.2024 - UK Budget 2024: The non-dom tax status has been abolished
On 6 March 2024, the chancellor Jeremy Hunt has unveiled the UK Budget for 2024.
Budget 2024 – what changes in taxation are proposed and expected
Non-Dom Changes – FAQs
Here are the key points.
- On taxes
• National insurance contributions for employees are being cut from 10% to 8% from April - impacting about 27 million workers - with savings of up to £450 a year.
• National Insurance, a payroll tax, cut by 2p in the pound for employees and the self-employed.
• Self-employed NI rates will drop by two percentage points as well.
• Higher rate of property capital gains tax will be red...
27.02.2024 - Changes to the rules as regards providing tuberculosis test for UK immigration
In most cases for a first UK entry visa (there are exceptions, for example, a tourist visa for any period or Ukrainian visa schemes) you need to provide a test confirming the absence of tuberculosis. The test is taken in one of the approved medical clinics, located in various countries of the world.
A valid tuberculosis certificate is required if the applicant was in the country or countries listed below by the link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-tuberculosis-tb
Previously under the old immigration rules, the applicant was not required to pass the tub...
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