Immigration blog and updates

New much stricter criminality good character criteria for British Citizenship  Changes to criminality good character criteria for British Citizenship applications announced on 30th July 2023 will come in force on 31st July 2023. This is the most recent update to the UK immigration rules and policies out of many recent changes announced, including upcoming significant increase to NHS Surcharge and visa fees 13th July 2023, updates to Skilled Worker 17th…

Read More

Dependants and switching restricted for students There are some important changes to UK student visa route that are being introduced in the Statement of Changes to Immigration Rules 17 July 2023. In a nutshell, the announced changes to student visa focus on two main topics, i.e. 1. Dependant family members will no longer be able to join their student family member in the UK unless the student visa holder is…

Read More

Important changes to skilled worker visa – statement of changes 17 July 2023 There are some important changes announced for Skilled Worker visa route in the Statement of Changes to Immigration Rules 17 July 2023. In a nutshell, the changes to skilled worker visa focus on two main topics, i.e. new jobs have been added to Shortage Occupation List and restrictions on switching from student visa to skilled worker, other…

Read More

Major announcement for EU Settlement Scheme pre-settled status holders On 17 July 2023 Home Office announced important policy changes for holders of pre-settled status under EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS). The policy change has been introduced following the recent High Court judgement. The High Court ruling confirmed that it is unlawful for Home Office to require that pre-settled status holders make another EUSS application before the initial 5-year permission expires. In December 2022 we…

Read More

Huge increase to UK visa fees and NHS Surcharge fee On Thursday 13th July 2023 the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced increase of pay for public sector employees. At the same time, he explained that this increase in wages should not be funded from people taxes or from borrowing. Rishi Sunak announced that the money will come from the increase of UK visa application fees and NHS Surcharge fees.…

Read More

Is UK-EU Youth Mobility visa on the cards? UK Youth Mobility visa Scheme is a form of working holiday visa for young people who wish to come to the UK and experience UK life. This is a reciprocal visa scheme under which people up to a certain age limit are able to apply for fixed-term visas to travel and work in the other country, without meeting eligibility requirements for other…

Read More

Those individuals who have claimed asylum in the UK can apply for permission to work if they have been waiting 12 months for a decision, and they are not considered responsible for the delay. We write about this in more detail in our other blog here. If permission is granted, the asylum seeker will be allowed to take up jobs on the shortage occupation list only. Although, the courts have…

Read More

Illegal Migration Bill – review by the Human Rights Committee On 7 March 2023, the Government introduced the Illegal Migration Bill (the Bill) to the House of Commons. The Government’s rationale is that the Bill will deter ‘illegal’ entry and prevent people smuggling and further deaths in the Channel. The Bill would make significant changes to the law on immigration detention and bail, modern slavery, citizenship and settlement, and legal…

Read More

What next for pre-settled status holders Holders of pre-settled status under EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) are currently waiting for important announcement. Home Office is expected to amend its policy for pre-settled status holders during this summer. The policy change is required due to the recent High Court judgement. The High Court decision confirmed that it is unlawful for Home Office to require that pre-settled status holders make another EUSS application…

Read More