News

13.03.2020 - New statement of changes to the Immigration Rules (2020)

The government continues to keep us up-to-date with yet another statement of changes to the Immigration Rules.

All the changes appear to take effect on 6 April 2020.

 Surinder Singh cases

The amendments confirm that, to use this route, the UK citizen needs to be resident abroad and exercising free movement rights before the end of the transition period. This is the quite specific time of 23:00 GMT on 31 December 2020. The previous version of the rules was not particularly clear on this.

The upshot is that people availing of the Surinder Singh route can return to the UK any time before on 29 Ma...

12.03.2020 - Immigration Health Surcharge rising to £624 in October 2020

The Immigration Health Surcharge is to increase from £400 to £624 in October 2020, the government has announced.

The rise was confirmed during the Budget, which Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented to Parliament today. An accompanying policy costings document states: 

This measure increases the Immigration Health Surcharge from the current level of £400 per year to £624 per year for each surcharge liable non-EEA temporary migrant (including dependants). The measure also increases the discounted rate for students, their dependents and those on the Youth Mobility Scheme from £300 to £470. The surcha...

11.03.2020 - Key points from budget 2020

Chancellor Rishi Sunak on 11 March 2020 delivered a new 2020 Budget to Parliament.

Please find below our summary of the key points of chancellor’s speech.

Coronavirus

  • The government is doing everything to keep country and people healthy and financially secured
  • Fiscal stimulus totalling £30bn, including welfare and business support, sick-pay changes and local assistance, including £7bn for businesses and families and £5bn for the NHS
  • The chancellor says he believes this is larger than any other country at present

Welfare

  • £1bn of additional funding, including a £500m local aut...

11.03.2020 - Bank of England urgently cuts interest rate to 0.25% due to coronavirus.

On Wednesday 11 March 2020 The Bank of England has slashed the main interest rate by 0.5 points from 0.75% to 0.25%, which is for the first time since August 2016. This decision is explained by the need to support the country's economy, which suffers from restrictive measures during the outbreak of coronavirus infection COVID-19.

‘Following the spread of Covid-19, risky asset and commodity prices have fallen sharply, and government bond yields reached all-time lows, consistent with a marked deterioration in risk appetite and in the outlooks for global and UK growth. Indicators of financial mar...

10.03.2020 - Home Office abandons “centre of life” test in Surinder Singh cases

The Home Office has updated its guidance on Surinder Singh cases to remove all reference to a “centre of life” test. This follows the case of ZA (Reg 9. EEA Regs; abuse of rights) Afghanistan [2019] UKUT 281 (IAC) in which the Upper Tribunal found that the test was made-up nonsense and incompatible with EU law.

Surinder Singh is an immigration route that allows British citizens who have moved to another EU country to return with non-European family members, bypassing the strict rules on UK family visas that apply to people who have not exercised free movement rights. The Home Office has always...

09.03.2020 - EU citizens are protected by EU law, High Court reminds government

The High Court has held that the Home Office trying to apply its “deport first, appeal later” policy to EU citizens is incompatible with European Union law. The case is Hafeez v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2020] EWHC 437 (Admin).

So what’s changed?

This will be a helpful decision for EU citizens facing deportation from the UK and those representing them. It makes it clear that EU law applies to all stages of the deportation process.

The Home Office can still certify cases and deport EU nationals before their appeals have concluded. However it needs to apply EU law when d...

05.03.2020 - Landmark Immigration Bill to end free movement introduced to Parliament

The bill will end free movement and give the government full control of UK borders for the first time in four decades.

The Immigration Bill will be introduced to the House of Commons today (Thursday 5 March) ending the European Union’s rules on free movement.

It represents an important milestone in paving the way for the new UK points-based immigration system. It will be introduced by the Minister for Future Borders and Immigration, Kevin Foster, and marks an historic moment in the country’s history, following the UK’s departure from the EU on 31 January 2020.

Minister for Future Borders and I...

26.02.2020 - Adult step-children of EU citizens don’t qualify for family member residence cards

Ronnie Latayan came to the UK from the Philippines on a visit visa in 2004 and has been here ever since, through multiple unsuccessful applications for further leave to remain. Now 46, Ms Latayan lives with her mother, a naturalised British citizen with an Irish partner.

In Latayan v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 191, the Court of Appeal heard Ms Latayan’s appeal against her latest Home Office refusal. She had applied for an EEA residence card, arguing that she was a dependent of her mother’s partner. Ms Latayan described him as her “stepfather” and said that he se...

20.02.2020 - CLOSURE OF TIER 1 (EXCEPTIONAL TALENT)

As it is known now, Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) was replaced by the Global Talent category on 20 February 2020. 

However, a number of transitional arrangements apply to applicants who are affected by this change, such as the following: 

  • Applicants who hold a valid Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) endorsement (Stage 1) but have not yet applied for entry clearance or leave to remain in line (Stage 2), can use this endorsement to apply for Global Talent.  The initial requirements mirror those previously applied to Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) applicants. 
  • Applicants who currently hold Tier 1 (...

19.02.2020 - Government abandons “Australia-style” immigration system

Today, the government has released a few more details of what it calls a “points based system” for immigration to the UK after Brexit.

Absent from the government press release and accompanying policy statement is any description of this system as “Australia-style”, previously a staple of government rhetoric. That is at least accurate: the Australian or Canadian version of a points based system allows economic migrants to settle in those countries permanently without employer sponsorship if they have various blends of abilities and qualifications. These proposals go nowhere like that far: they ...

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