The Home Office UKVI change from BRP cards to evisa is causing confusion to UK visa holders. At Thaxted Legal we help our clients to navigate the changes and new updates relating to evisas are published every day recently. According to the Guardian article, to avoid windrush- style scandal passengers will be allowed to use expired identity documents to travel to the UK because of flaws in the eVisa system. The UK immigration minister…
Read MoreUK evisa deadline delays – UK to postpone switch to evisa digital system
The Home Office UKVI change from BRP cards to evisa is causing confusion to UK visa holders. At Thaxted Legal we help our clients to navigate the changes. It is important to have the UKVI online account and evisa and check that all details recorded on your UKVI account and evisa are fully correct. Most physical documentation proving the right to remain in the UK, such as biometric residence permits BRPs, will no longer be valid…
Read MoreImportant UK immigration update – more sanctions on rogue employers including ban from hiring overseas workers
In one of our previous blogs we discussed the further measures that the new Labour government intends to bring in order to reduce net migration to the UK. Today 28th November 2024 Home Office issued press release Rogue employers will be banned from hiring overseas workers. The Home Office used strong wording at the start ‘Shameless businesses who commit serious offences will be banned from sponsoring overseas workers to crack…
Read MoreUK immigration update – new Statement of Changes to Immigration rules 26th November 2024
UK immigration changes, Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules published on 26 November 2024 The changes will be implemented on various dates from 26 November 2024 as detailed in the implementation section of the accompanying Statement of Changes. For the changes that introduce a Visa requirement on Colombia, due to safeguarding the operation of the UK’s immigration system, those changes will come into effect at 15:00 GMT on 26…
Read MoreUK immigration – UK visa holders should check their UKVI account and evisa before travelling
The Home Office UKVI change from BRP cards to evisa is causing confusion to UK visa holders. At Thaxted Legal we help our clients to navigate the changes. It is important to have the UKVI online account and evisa before travelling and check that all details recorded there are fully correct. According to Home Office, it’s your responsibility to check the entry, exit and transit requirements of other countries, and…
Read MoreWarning to new sponsor licence applicants in the UK – tougher Home Office UKVI assessment of applications
Formally there have been no significant changes to Home Office guidance for sponsors yet. However, in practice new sponsor licence applications are assessed more strictly. There are certain rules and principles that give Home Office UKVI significant discretion in decision making depending on the circumstances of each case. For example, the concept of ‘genuine vacancy’ allows Home Office to assess the business applying for the sponsor licence and the job…
Read MoreUK visa – changes in commercial partners VFS Global and TLS contact
From 15 October 2024, UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) are no longer provided by Sopra Steria UK. TLScontact has taken over the running of UKVCAS. For clarity, commercial partners are commercial organizations to whom Home Office outsources the biometric appointments & documents collection from visa applicants and forwarding them to Home Office UKVI. We previously published an article on changes to commercial partners and this current article is a continuation on the same…
Read MoreNo work or limited working hours on skilled worker work visa in the UK – Health and Care visa holders problems
We previously published articles on fraud when fake Certificates of Sponsorship (COS) are issued that causes skilled worker and health and care visa refusals. This time we decided to write about another problem that many skilled worker visa holders face when they arrive in the UK but there is no or very little work provided by sponsor employer. Certificate of sponsorship (work permit) – hours of work and pay When…
Read MoreImportant UK immigration news – new measures to reduce net migration announced on 24th September 2024
On 24th September 2024 Sir Keir Starmer told the Labour Party conference that his Government will reduce migration and Britain’s dependency on foreign workers. In the afternoon on the same day there was published a press release on reducing net migration. Previously the new Labour government stressed the importance of the removal of those who remain in the UK illegally (e.g. overstayers, illegal entrants, those whose family relationship broke down…
Read MoreUK immigration – COS scams & fraud costing victims
BBC in a recent article draws attention to the large number of skilled worker visa scams. We previously wrote about fake COS certificates and lack of option to check COS authenticity as this has been a problem for sometime now. The fact that there is no working method of checking the validity of a COS certificate other than by applying for the visa means that unscrupulous fraudsters can take advantage…
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