It hasn’t been long since the visa fees increased in many categories, and the IHS is also set to rise in January, but on the 4^th of December 2023, the government announced a further raft of changes to the Immigration Laws. This is due to them not meeting their targets for bringing migration down and net migration reaching a record high of 745,000 last year.

Following our earlier articles on the application fee and IHS rises, and the new application fees that came into effect in October 2023, the government have recently announced that the IHS fees will rise no earlier than the 16^th of January 2024.

When are Visa Application Fees increasing?

Following our previous article, which noted the upcoming Visa Application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge increases, we can now report that the government has broken with the tradition of annual increases and has announced a mid-financial year increase, with the new UK visa application fees coming into effect on the 4th of October, 2023.

What is an Electronic Travel Authorisation?

The government announced in March 2023 that they would be bringing in a new entry permit system for visitors travelling to the UK. This will mean that certain people, who in the past wouldn’t have applied for a visa to come to the UK, will now need to apply for permission before they arrive in the form of an Electronic Travel Authorisation, which will then be linked to that person’s passport.

Background

In line with the government’s aims to reduce immigration and to balance its books, the government has once again resorted to charging immigrants an increasing amount. In a speech on the 13^th of July 2023, the Prime Minister announced that the government is looking to increase both the Immigration application fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge.

Visa Fee Increases

Work and visa fees will increase by 15%, whereas other visa fees, e.g., family visas, will increase by 20%. For example, a partner or spouse currently applying for a Spouse Visa to join a British national would currently pay £1,538. Under the new rules, this will increase by £308 to £1,845. This is only the application fee, and the applicant will also need to pay for the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is also increasing.

As recent net immigration has reached an record high, which has flown in the face of the current government’s repeated promise to reduce net immigration, the government has been looking at how to reduce the number and has noted the considerable increase in Students’ families and Care Work visas.

As a non-EU citizen married to an EU national living in the UK, you might be eligible to join your EU spouse in the UK through a EUSS Family Permit, Spouse Visa, or Dependant Visa, depending on your spouse’s immigration status in the UK and your relationship. The options available to a spouse depend mostly on when the relationship started i.e., before or after the 1st of January 2021. To understand the two different routes, it is helpful to have some understanding of the different rules that applied before and after the UK left the EU.

Biometric residence permits (BRPs) cards have been relied on for the past 15 years as a quick and easy way to prove a Migrant’s Indetitity, and right to live and work in the UK, and replaced the previous paper status documents, which could be more easily forged and difficult to verify the authenticity of.

Since 2008 the government has moved towards using these biometrics systems, for passports, visas and driving licences. This is owing to the added security that the holder’s fingerprints and biodata information are stored in a scannable chip, which makes it easier to verify if it matches the user.

Following last year’s below-inflation fee increases in some areas, this year, the UK government has kept most of the fees for visa applications the same, which is welcome news for those planning to apply for visas in the near future.

Making an application for a UK visa is a comparatively expensive process, and Immigration rules can be complex, therefore, any mistakes the applicant makes can have severe implications in terms of time, stress and finances. It is for this reason that one is best advised to use a qualified UK immigration lawyer when applying for a visa, which can potentially save the hassle and cost of things going wrong.

Although using a UK immigration solicitor reduces the chance of an application being refused, it is by no means 100% guaranteed to be successful (anyone disputing that is not being honest). Things can go wrong… and sometimes the Home Office make mistakes.

Now that the UK has left the EU, businesses here no longer have easy access to EU nationals when looking to recruit staff. This has led to a number of sectors struggling to fill vacancies and considering the option of hiring skilled workers from abroad. This is often possible, depending on the vacancy that exists, but the business needs to first hold a Sponsor Licence and there are certain steps that need to be followed; this article will outline the advantages, main steps required and possible pitfalls.

Advantages of a sponsor licence:

There are several advantages to having a UK employer sponsor licence from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to hire foreign workers, including:

As yet another year is coming to a close, which seems to have happened alarmingly quickly, we at Cross Border Legal Solicitors would like to once again send our best wishes for the festive season to you and your families. We hope that 2023 brings success and good fortune in all endeavours that you pursue. It has been a pleasure getting to know and assisting all of our clients and their families this year. 

Matters Immigration…

2022 started with the Covid restrictions still rumbling on, but as the vaccines have proven successful things in immigration have gradually returned to normal. Backlogs have gradually reduced, although the war in Ukraine increased delays for certain types of visas as the Home Office struggled to process the resulting increase in applications.

This article seeks to clarify the level of financial support required to bring a family to the UK permanently.

Spouse and Dependants Visa

For a British citizen or a person settled in the UK (e.g. with Indefinite Leave to Remain, Settled Status or EU nationals with Pre-Settled Status) who has a foreign national Spouse or Children looking to relocate or stay in the UK permanently, the correct visa to look at is a Spouse Visa / Dependant Visa.

On the 6^th of April 2022, the Home Office increased some of the fees for settlement, residence, nationality, visit, study, and work visas.

One of the underlying principles in UK law is that children’s safeguards and wellbeing must be at the forefront of any government decision. This is clearly protected under section 55 of the Borders and Citizenship Immigration Act 2009 and is known by the term ‘Best Interests of the Child‘ principle.

Best Interests of the Child Principle

Under immigration law and the implementation of the Best Interests of the Child’ principle, children’s interests must be the primary consideration (although not the sole consideration) for the Home Office when considering any actions that may affect children. This approach is enshrined in law by a case called ZH (Tanzania).

The government has now announced the introduction of The Ukrainian Family Scheme; this is in addition to the concessions under the Family Migration Visa, which were announced on the 27^th of February 2022 and allowed certain Ukrainians to come and stay in the UK. We covered these concessions in our previous blog post. The number of people covered under the initial concessions was quite limited and the government has faced pressure to do more, especially as other European nations are allowing many more Ukraine nationals to enter.

Following this pressure, on the 1^st of March, the government announced that they would be expanding the Ukrainian Humanitarian Route. There are two parts to this, the Ukrainian Family Scheme, which allows British nationals and settled people in the UK to invite their family members, and a local sponsorship scheme, which allows UK residents to sponsor families or individuals to come to the UK.

As the humanitarian situation in Ukraine worsens, the UK government has recently (on the 27^th of February 2022) published guidance in response to the call for humanitarian help, by allowing certain Ukrainians to come and stay in the UK.

The Ukrinane Abroad Concession

Unfortunately, this concession only covers a very limited group of people and does not create any new visas that didn’t exist prior to this crisis. It allows Ukranian family members of British nationals to apply for a family migration visa, free of charge, if the British national usually lives in Ukraine.

The government has recently published a very welcome Home Office concession, which will allow certain young people who were born or brought up in the UK without immigration status to be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK after five years of lawful residence, rather than the normal ten years route.

Traditional 10 Year Family and Private Life Route to ILR

Under the current Immigration Rules, an undocumented migrant can apply for leave to remain in the UK on the basis that it would otherwise disproportionately interfere with their Private Life, as protected under Article 8 of the European Conventions on Human Rights. This is provided for under Immigration Rules part 7, with one of the sections (Paragraph 276ADE(1)(v)) specifically catering for people aged 18-24 inclusive, who have spent half of their life living continuously in the UK, to apply for permission to stay, which is normally granted for 30 months. The applicant is required to continually extend this leave until they complete 10 years of lawful residence to qualify for ILR/Settlement – this is what is called the ten-year route to settlement.

The Skilled Worker Visa, which has replaced the Tier 2 General Visa, provides a visa route for non-UK workers, enabling employers who are looking to fill gaps in their workforce to hire skilled workers from overseas, provided that they meet the necessary requirements. This article seeks to give a brief overview as to what this route is and how to use it.

What is the Skilled Worker Visa?

At the end of 2020, the UK Government introduced the Skilled Worker Visa, by making changes to the Tier 2 (General Worker) route. It allows employers to recruit non-UK resident workers for certain eligible skilled roles, with the requirement that an individual should attain 70 points by meeting specific requirements, such as English language ability, skills, salary level, and having a qualified job offer from a UK sponsor.

We have recently written a few articles regarding the government’s response to the shortage of workers, including the creation of visas (Tier 5 Visa) for seasonal workers in the edible horticultural sector. More recently this has included the introduction of the HGV (fuel) driver visa, which was restricted to EU nationals.

The “New” visa

The government has now announced that the Temporary Seasonal Worker Visa will now replace the Seasonal Worker Visa (Tier 5). The new visa will include two more categories of workers, as well as the traditional horticultural workers. These are poultry workers and HGV food transport drivers, although these visas are only available on a temporary basis, presumably to cover the shortage that is anticipated as we approach the holiday season.

We have had a fair number of enquiries recently about the visas for HGV Fuel Drivers, so thought it may be useful to address some of the questions in the following article.

As you may be aware, the UK has recently suffered some difficulties with the supply of fuel, which has led to shortages and the closure of some petrol stations, with long queues at others. Part of the problem has been that, although the fuel is in the country, there is a shortage of HGV drivers to move the fuel from the relevant depot to the petrol stations. This has been greatly exacerbated by Brexit, as the industry has in the past used EU drivers to fill in any gaps.

Temporary Visas

The government’s response has been to bring in the military to help temporarily and to commit to training new drivers, as well as to offer a temporary visa that makes it easier for foreign lorry drivers to work in the UK. This visa allows successful applicants to work on a temporary basis.

Moving from one’s country of birth can be both exciting and scary, be it for temporary periods such as a student or more permanently, for example as the spouse of a British national applying for settlement. However, it can also be very expensive. This article seeks to highlight the costs and some potential savings of UK immigration, which should be one of the considerations for anyone looking to move or stay here legally.

Intro

So, life has been really good and cupid has found you a match, you have popped the question and she/he has said yes! Or you have been asked and you said yes! Congratulations!

Now you need to not only plan the wedding but also decide where you will hold the wedding; this article is hopefully going to aid you in making that choice if you are a Non-EU citizen living outside of the UK and are engaged to marry a Brit in the UK.

A little known visa, which the government have been trialing since March 2019 to run until December 2020, is the Tier 5 Seasonal Worker visa. This allows migrants from any part of the world to come to the UK as seasonal workers, if they are working for farmers in the edible horticulture sector who have a special licence from the government, allowing them to sponsor such temporary workers.

Origins

The backdrop of this visa is the government’s recognition of the fact that a lot of UK farms have for many years relied on eastern Europeans (mainly Polish and Romanian workers) who come to the UK during harvest season and help with the harvesting of farms. Given that the UK has now left the EU and the freedom of movement from the EU zone has ended, farmers have lobbied the government to ensure that such farms do not go under due to the lack of workers for roles that Brits mostly do not wish to do.

Covid-19 has changed many people’s plans in the last year, and it has made things more complicated for some of those who are in the UK with a visa. The government has made several attempts to allow a little leeway for those affected by disrupted flights, and the most recent amendments come in the form of ‘Exceptional Assurance.’

What is Exceptional Assurance?

‘Exceptional Assurance’ is a form of permission to stay that is being granted to those whose visas have or will expire, but who have been unable to leave the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Government has recently announced that they will refund the Immigration Health Surcharge to eligible individuals who work in Health and Care.

What is the Immigration Health Surcharge?

Most migrants need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge when they make an application for a UK visa. It is currently £624 per year for most adults, so it is quite a hefty sum when you are paying for a visa that lasts a few years. The government introduced it in 2015 to ‘ensure temporary migrants make a fair contribution to the comprehensive range of NHS services available to them during their stay’.

What is the Graduate Route / Post Study Work Visa?

The Graduate Route is a visa that will be available to students on completion of a higher-level qualification. It was previously referred to as the Post-Study Work Visa (PSW) and will bring back the route that was previously available but stopped in 2012.

In a recently published detailed guide, the Home Office officially opened The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa on the 31st of January 2021, which is a new visa exclusively for Hong Kong nationals with a BNO Passport. This article aims to summarise the main points, but if you have further queries, you may want to contact a qualified UK Immigration Lawyer for details on how it will affect you.

As this unprecedented year is coming to a close, we at Cross Border Legal Solicitors want to reach out and send our best wishes to you and your family. We hope that 2021 holds success and good fortune in all endeavours that you pursue. Despite the difficult circumstances this year, it continues to be a pleasure getting to know you and your families. 

As noted in our previous article in April 2020, the Immigration Health Surcharge was set to increase from £400 to £624 on the 1st of October 2020. However, there is a bit of good news, as the Home Office has not been able to get the new IHS fee increase to go ahead on the 1st of October 2020 as planned, as the legislative process has yet to finalise.

It seemed to come as a surprise to Boris Johnson that NHS workers and their families were also subject to paying the NHS surcharges, which are due to increase from £400 per year to £624 in October of this year. A spokesperson in May said that the Prime Minister had asked the Home Office to remove the IHS surcharge requirements for Health and Care workers and their families, but has any progress been made on this promise?

Life has its ups and downs and sometimes we are faced with how fragile it can be. The recent epidemic has particularly brought this to the forefront, as there are many who have lost their loved ones.

Least of your worries…

At such a trying and emotional time, it is not desirable to be worried about what will happen with your visa, so this article seeks to answer the question: what happens to a migrant’s immigration status if their spouse dies?

The recent highlighting of the country’s reliance on NHS workers and the health care system by the Covid-19 outbreak, which has led to an outpouring of public gratitude, has left the government keen to capitalise politically on the public mood. They have therefore created a “new” category of visa called the Health and Care Visa, which has been available since the 4^th of August 2020.

Yet another update has come in this morning with regards to the Covid-19 concessions (please see our previous article here), clarifying the Home Office’s position, with regards to the deadline of the 31st of July 2020.

Following our previous article, which detailed the impact of Covid-19 on UK immigration and the governments’ temporary changes to the rules, to assist those who were here on temporary visas (please see the article here), the Government has now published a guide for those who are applying for settlement visas or extensions and are struggling with meeting the income threshold.

The Covona Virus situation continues to develop, and there has now been a further update from the government with regards to those migrants affected by the almost universal shutdown of normal business and services, in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. If you have been affected you may find the below information useful.

Unfortunately, the short relief from the government not increasing the visa application fees for 2020/2021 is due to give way to crushing disappointment later this year, after Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget was presented to Parliament on the 11th of March 2020. He has announced a new increase to the Immingration Health Surcharge (IHS) later this year, which will see the overall price of immigration to the UK increase significantly. The government has now drafted legislation – The Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2020 – to pave way for the coming changes.

UK Now under “Lock Down“

UK is now under lockdown for next three weeks from tonight (23th March 2020) with Prime Minister issuing a press conference ordering UK citizens to stay in their homes in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus. measures includes :

Brexit and transition Period

So, on the 31^st of January 2020, Britain formally left the European Union, but no real changes have yet occurred, as the withdrawal agreement guarantees EU (and British citizens who are lawfully resident in other EU member states) broadly the same rights as they had before Brexit Day.

Background

There are different routes to meet the income threshold, and each have their own rules that need to be followed in order to be successful with a visa application. It is common knowledge that we can use cash savings to meet the income threshold, which typically involves cash savings held either in the form of a current account or a savings account e.g. an ISA account.

Background

If you are British citizen, or have an Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, and wish to bring your partner or child/children who are not EU-nationals to the UK, then you usually need to meet the income threshold of £18,600.

General Background

The financial requirement of £18,600 generally must be met by anyone applying for entry clearance, leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain in the UK as the non-European Economic Area (non-EEA) national partner or dependent child of a person, who is either a British citizen or has Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. Please note that sometimes the financial requirement might be a bit higher if sponsoring a non-EU partner and child/children.

Since July 2012, when the current rules regarding UK spouse visas came in to effect, the number one issues that many face when sponsoring their family for a UK settlement visa have been relating to the Income Threshold. This issue has been hotly contested in court but calumniated with the UK Supreme court confirming that the new rules were legal, although it did suggest certain exceptional circumstances where alternative incomes source should be considered by the UK Home Office ( see here).

Generally under UK Immigration rules, if you have been living in the UK for 10 years continuously and lawfully, youcan apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain on the basis of your private life andlong residence in the UK.

As a UK immigration lawyer, I wish to highlight several key points that someone making an application for this visa should note; including that the key words for this visa are “lawful” and “continuous residence.”

After many years of practising UK Immigration Law and Human Rights there are some simple mistakes that I often see people making during the application process for a UK visa. I would like to highlight some very simple mistakes and hopefully may be able forewarn someone who is about to do the same. Below are five common mistakes, in no particular order, that applicants are repeatedly making: 

Further to our previous article Brexit Update – Permanent Residence or Settled Status for EU nationals in UK, and as the new scheme has now been fully implemented, we wish to provide you with some general information on the application process under the EU settlement scheme.

Deadline

If you are an EU or EEA national or their family member, and wish to remain in the UK after Brexit, you need to apply for Settled or Pre-Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Under the European Community Association Agreement with Turkey, the “Ankara Agreement”, a Turkish national might extend his leave whilst already legally living and working in the UK.

Who is this visa for?

If you are a Turkish national living and working in the UK it might be good news for you, as there is the possibility to apply to extend your stay in the UK as a Turkish worker.

The new Access UK service has been rolled out in stages throughout 2016, went live initially in India and Turkey and was available to customers applying for visit visa routes.

Access UK has now been rolled out worldwide and should soon be available for all types of entry clearance visa applications.

UK visa and Immigration rules can sometimes be complex and it is  comparatively a very expensive process, therefore any mistake made by the applicant can have serious implications in terms of time, stress and finances. It is for this reason that one is best advised to use a qualified UK immigration lawyer when applying for a visa, which could potentially save them the hassle and cost of when things go wrong. This article is to highlight the process of trying to remedy things if a visa application is rejected.

As another year is coming to a close, we at Cross Border Legal Solcitors want to reach out and send our best wishes to you and your family. We hope that 2019 holds success and good fortune in all endeavours that you pursue. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and your families this year.

When to choose a 5-year route as a partner and when the 10-year route should be considered.

There are two routes to settlement on the basis of family life as a partner, provided by Appendix FM viz 5-year route and a 10-year route. The 5-year route as a partner will be appropriate for those who meet all the suitability and eligibility requirements of the Immigration Rules at every stage. The 10-year route as a partner applies in respect of applications for leave to remain as a partner who meets all the suitability requirements, but only certain eligibility requirements.

For those who have not noticed, on the 3^rd of November the UK Government introduced changes to the UK Immigration rules . These changes come into effect from the 24^th of November. This is due to affect those who are going to be making a UK Immigration visa application on or after the 24^th of November; these rules may affect you application. For those who have pending applications worry not, as these rules do not affect your application. Continue Reading →

Following from my earlier article on the Immigration Act 2016, it has now been confirmed that Section 63 of the Immigration Act 2016 will come into force on the 1^st of December 2016. The new law states that ALL immigration appeals will have to now be made from out of the country. There will be no in country appeals. Continue Reading →

For those who may have missed it (I would not blame you as this kicked in just a few weeks before the EU referendum in the UK), the government has passed yet another legislative Act of Parliament on Immigration in a bid to reduce immigration and especially come down hard on those in the UK without legal status. The Immigration Minister’s statement when the Immigration 2016 bill was introduced last year sets the tone of what the government hopes to achieve with the new immigration legislation. Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said:

“The message is clear — if you are here illegally, you shouldn’t be entitled to receive the everyday benefits and services available to hard-working UK families and people who have come to this country legitimately to contribute.

Whether it is working, renting a flat, having a bank account or driving a car, the new Immigration Bill will help us to take tougher action than ever before on those who flout the law.

This Bill will build on the government’s work since 2010 to crack down on abuse and build an immigration system that truly benefits Britain – by deterring illegal migrants from coming and making it harder for those already here to live and work in the UK.”

Continue Reading →

According to Part I, Chapter 18 of the British Nationality Act 1981, a person is entitled to naturalisation as British citizen if at the time of the consideration meets some requirements, such as being of good character. However, the Act itself does not provide with a definition of good character.

In absence of a statutory definition as to how this requirement should be interpreted or applied, it is the Secretary of State who should be satisfied that an applicant is of good character. In order for the Secretary of State to make an assessment on good character, Annex D of Chapter 18 of BNA contains a guidance with information on how to assess if the applicant is of good character. This guidance also applies to minors above the age of ten. Continue Reading →

Latest Immigration Rules changes:

Anyone who has been keeping an eye on UK immigration law will have now become accustomed to the regular Immigration Rules changes, which seem to always bear bad news for migrants.

The Immigration Rules are published by the Home Office. The last statement of change is from the New Immigration Rules Change, and is no exception to the general tradition. It brings some changes which mainly affect Tier 2 work permit holders. Continue Reading →

Immigration Health Surcharge

The Immigration Health Surcharge is one of the key reforms within the Immigration Act 2014 which both Human Rights Solicitors and migrants must get to grips with. In addition to a new higher fee that has just kicked in, an additional NHS Immigration Health Surcharge is payable as of the 6^th April 2015 by all non-EEA migrants coming to the UK for more than six months.

The UK Government has stated that the purpose of this surcharge is to ensure that non-EEA migrants contribute to the cost of the NHS. However, given the timing it could perhaps appear as an election stunt as some of the best immigration lawyers in the UK observe – the policy began a week after Parliament is expected to dissolve and during a national election campaign… Continue Reading →

Your Protected Right to Family Life

As many of you will know, everyone has the Right to Family, and these rights are protected under the EU Convention on Human Rights. However, and to the great discomfort of many couples,  as any UK Immigration Lawyer will tell you, Right to family is right is a qualified right, and does not necessarily give the couple the right to choose where they would exercise their right to family.

Ordinarily, a British citizen is allowed by law to sponsor their foreign spouse to come to the UK on a Spouse Visa. This type of application, as many of you have seen on  previous blog post here  has recently been severely restricted, with strict income requirements for the sponsoring spouse. In effect, this has resulted in thousands of couples being separated, as they do not meet the government requirements. Continue Reading →

So, most of you would have heard about the Court of Appeal hearing (MM & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2013)) which is challenging the Income Threshold requirements for the family visas. For those who haven’t, please see my previous posts here and here .

Lots of people celebrated the high court’s recommendations that, among other things, the Income Threshold should be reduced to around £13,000, that third party sponsorship should be allowed, and that special consideration should be taken for certain groups who could not relocate and exercise right to family in another country; e.g.. refugees. Continue Reading →

Most of you will have seen my previous post-EU Family Route: what is the Surinder Singh Route (see post here...). Some time has lapsed since then and I apologise for the delay in writing the second part of the post, which I hope to tackle here. For obvious reasons, this route has grown in popularity and as one can imagine, the Government does not like it.

The Current Position:

In a nutshell, this route currently allows UK citizens to LEGALLY circumvent the UK Immigration rules on spouse and family members from non-EU countries. The UK citizen may purposefully travel to another EU country, work for a few weeks and then return to the UK with his or her non-EU spouse. This route has become increasingly popular as one can avoid the stringent requirements of the spouse visa including the income threshold, which is out of the reach of many ordinary citizens. It also avoids the cost of the application, as this route is free, and the time granted under the EU laws on entry is normally longer; a 5-year residence card as opposed to the 2 and a half years on a spouse visa.

Continue Reading →