News
24.07.2024 - On 24 July official visa fees rose by 20 percent for family visas and those on discretionary or human rights grounds
Family visa applicants are among those affected by the latest application fee hike, with UKVI fees jumping from £1,048 to £1,258.
23rd July marked the final day of a £1048 visa application fee, ahead of a £250 increase that took effect on 24 July 2024.
The largest groups impacted by the 20% hike are those extending their stay as partners, the parents of British citizen children and those applying on the basis of their private life.
However, the new £1258 fee also affects a smaller group of people making non-standard applications, including those on discretionary or human rights grounds.
This ...
15.07.2024 - Electronic visas (eVisas): who is affected and what steps to take now
Please note that we have previously written about this topic on our web-site on 17 April 2024, the news article available here.
However, there is still a lot that remains unclear about the Home Office’s introduction of eVisas, and therefore below we shed light on what we know so far about the roll out and use of eVisas. In line with its ‘digital by design’ strategy, the Home Office has been gradually introducing a number of measures with the ultimate aim of an end-to-end digitalised immigration system. As part of this strategy, from 2025 eVisas are set to replace biometric residence permits (B...
11.07.2024 - UK government launches new Border Security Command to fight illegal immigration
The British government announced a new Border Security Command this Wednesday to strengthen its border security and “smash the criminal (people) smuggling gangs making millions out of small boat crossings.”
The move, as promised by the Labour Party during its election campaign, came only days after its election victory and after new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper took office.
The border security commander, who will be appointed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, will provide strategic direction to work across agencies, drawing together the work of the National Crime Agency (NCA), intelligence agen...
Unexpected news of 08 July 2024 - the Home Office guidance on the long residence was updated to include the new additional requirement about calculation of absences.
This new requirement is as follows:
- any part of a 10-year qualifying period before 11 April 2024 must not have total absences of more than 548 days
We would like to remind that on 11 April this year, the Home Office guidance was already amended, whereby new rules on calculation of absences were introduced and the 548-day limit was abolished.
Now with the latest amendments of 08 July, the 548-day limit has been essentially reinst...
08.07.2024 - Labour Party’s immigration law policy as per their Party Manifesto 2024
Since the Labour Party has recently won the country’s general elections and are going to rule the country for the next five years, we would like to draw your attention to the key policies announced by the Labour Party to-date on legal migration and focuses on the policies most likely to be of interest to individual applicants, as well as UK businesses and employers.
We understand that the below immigration policy matters may or may not necessarily come into force and become reality, however, it remains quite likely.
Reduction in overall net migration figures
The Labour Party have stated they w...
08.07.2024 - The approach to taxation of the Labour government: manifesto promises and key themes
The approach to taxation of the incoming Labour government has attracted attention due to the lack of detailed information in its manifesto pledges. During the election campaign, several key themes have emerged, including a renewed focus on tax avoidance, modernisation of HMRC, and a commitment to increase registration and reporting requirements. The government aims to raise an additional £5 billion annually from measures to counter tax avoidance by the end of its first term, building on the "plan to close the tax gap" report published by Labour in April 2024.
The Labour party's manifesto pro...
07.06.2024 - Partner and family visa minimum income requirement faces High Court challenge
Reunite Families UK applies for judicial review of policy it says discriminates against women and minorities.
One of Rishi Sunak’s measures for cutting net migration is being challenged in the high court on the grounds that it is separating children from their parents and discriminates against women and minorities.
The Home Office has raised the minimum income requirement (MIR) so that anyone applying for a visa to bring a loved one from overseas must earn £29,000 a year, which will increase to £38,700 next year.
An application for judicial review has been filed this week by the pressure group...
04.06.2024 - British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 to make it easier for Irish citizens to become British
The British Nationality (Irish Citizens) Act 2024 is one of the final pieces of legislation passed by the government before dissolution and when brought into force it will provide an entitlement to registration as a British citizen to Irish citizens who meet the requirements.
Under the new law, there will be the following requirements to meet for Irish citizens:
- the person was in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the period of five years ending with the date of their application;
- the person was absent from the United Kingdom for—
(i) no more than 450 days in the period of fiv...
24.05.2024 - ONS confirmed that net migration to UK fell 10% last year
Net migration to the UK fell 10% last year after hitting a record high in 2022, official figures show.
The number – the difference between the number of people arriving in the UK and leaving – was 685,000 in the year to December 2023, says the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This represents a fall from 764,000 for the year to December 2022 - a figure revised upwards by 19,000 from an initial estimate now more complete data for the year is available.
The ONS said it is “too early to say if this is the start of a new downward trend”.
Despite the fall, net migration is more than three times...
21.05.2024 - Home Office confirms changes to the EU Settlement Scheme
The Home Office have changed the duration of pre-settled status extensions from 2 to 5 years. Previously, initially issued pre-settled status for five years, could be automatically extended for 2 more years.
The Home Office have also removed the pre-settled status expiry date from the digital profiles shown to third parties in the online checking services for Right to Work, Right to Rent and View and Prove. Preivously, when shown in the digital profiles, the expiry date was clearly provided and stipulated.
Alongside this change, employers, landlords and letting agents will not be required to c...
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