News

02.11.2020 - Coronavirus and the UK immigration system (as of 02 November 2020)

General immigration policy rules

Exceptional assurance was initially available only to those with a visa expiring up to 31 October, but has now been extended to 30 November as part of the second national lockdown. Further extensions of the scheme seem likely.

People requesting exceptional indemnity/assurance need to fill in an online form to explain why they can’t leave by 30 November. 

The guidance also allows people to apply for further leave to remain in the UK even “where you would usually need to apply for a visa from your home country” — provided that the application is “urgent”.

Biomet...

02.11.2020 - Government increases support for self-employed across the UK

The self-employed will be able to claim state aid of up to 80% of profits during the month-long lockdown, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced today.

To reflect the recent changes to the furlough scheme, the UK-wide Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will be made more generous – with self-employed individuals receiving 80% of their average trading profits for November.

And to ensure those who need support get it as soon as possible, payments will also be made more quickly with the claims window being brought forward from 14 December to 30 November.

The changes will ensure that self-...

31.10.2020 - Furlough Scheme Extended and Further Economic Support Announced as England enters second national lockdown

People and businesses across the UK are being provided with additional financial support as part of the government’s plan for the next phase of its response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday (31 October).

Throughout the crisis the government’s priority has been to protect lives and livelihoods.

As part of the announcement of month-long restrictions in England, including the closure of pubs, restaurants, gyms and non-essential shops, the Prime Minister said the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - also known as the Furlough scheme - w...

29.10.2020 - “Compassionate” Home Office targets rough sleepers, again

Оver the past few months the Home Office seems to have entertained only the most inhumane immigration policies, such as offshore “asylum processing centres” mirroring Australia’s notorious Nauru detention centre, and using nets to clog the propellers of refugee boats crossing the Channel.

Now added to this list is a renewed focus on migrant rough sleepers. Buried in the 514-page statement of changes to the Immigration Rules that dropped last week is the revelation that the Home Office will again be targeting migrants who suffer the misfortune of sleeping on the streets.

The new rough sleeping ...

26.10.2020 - Welcome Court of Appeal U-turn on ten-year lawful residence gaps

In Hoque & Ors v SSHD [2020] EWCA Civ 1357 the Court of Appeal addressed the issue of gaps in lawful residence in ten-year long residence applications.

It found that the previous authority of R (Masum Ahmed) v SSHD [2019] EWCA Civ 1070 – which held that any applicant who had overstayed for any period of time in between visas would be ineligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain after ten years of otherwise lawful residence – was incorrectly decided.

In the course of making its decision, both the Secretary of State and the Immigration Rules in general come in for some pretty robust critic...

26.10.2020 - New-look Appendix V: changes to UK visit visa rules from 1 December 2020

With the end of EU free movement nearly here and the visitor route likely to see greater use in future, changes to the route have (in the nick of time) now been announced. A new Appendix V will replace the existing version, with a key focus on a consolidated and simplified set of visitor rules.

As with any type of change, trying to simplify the Rules can — inadvertently or not — have an impact on the substance of the rules as well. In this article we take a look at some substantive changes to the visitor route, which take effect from 9 am on 1 December 2020.

Travel documents vs ID documents

Cu...

22.10.2020 - New Changes to the Immigration Rules – effective from 01 December 2020

The long-awaited Statement of Changes giving us more details on the famous new Points-Based Immigration System has now been published.

Below is a summary of the most important immigration changes.

Timing

First of all, what happens when?

  • Most changes take effect on 1 December 2020.

  • Most changes relating to provisions for Irish citizens, Appendix EU, Appendix ECAA and Appendix FM take effect on 31 December 2020. However, changes relating to cancellation, curtailment and revocation of leave to enter or remain for Appendix EU take effect on 1 December 2020.

  • Ch...

22.10.2020 - New, improved English language requirements for immigration applications

The creatively named ‘Appendix English Language’ (in its second iteration) will take effect at 9am on 1 December 2020; any application made before this highly specific date will be treated under the old rules. Unlike Appendix English Language the First, which only applied to the Appendix Student route, the new Appendix will apply to all applications made under the following routes:

22.10.2020 - Supreme Court finds treatment of skilled worker unfair

The Supreme Court held today in R (on the application of Pathan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 41 that the Home Office’s treatment of a Tier 2 skilled worker, Mr Pathan, was unfair. Mr Pathan had applied for an extension of his visa as a sponsored worker in good time, but his application was refused several months later after the Home Office had, without telling him, revoked his employer’s sponsorship licence. This revocation meant that Mr Pathan’s application was, ultimately, doomed to fail.

Mr Pathan was left unlawfully resident in the UK with no warning and, after...

21.10.2020 - The UK Chancellor increases financial support for businesses and workers

The government today announced it will significantly increase the generosity and reach of its winter support schemes to ensure livelihoods and jobs across the UK continue to be protected in the difficult months to come, supporting jobs and helping to contain the virus.

The chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled increased support for businesses, jobs and workers hit by Covid restrictions after growing clamour from firms in tier two areas.

Job Support Scheme (JSS)

Recognising the pressure businesses in some sectors and areas are facing, today’s announcement lightens the burden of keeping on staff.

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