Immigration News

Spouse visa minimum income requirement is to increase to £29,000 in spring 2024, then to £34,500 later this year, and then to £38,700 next year. Immigration lawyers anticipate that people who were granted partner visa under the current rules will be permitted to make their applications for extension of stay and indefinite leave to remain on the basis of the same income threshold. It is not entirely clear if transitional arrangements will protect those who entered the UK on a fiancé visa, although it is expected that their income threshold should also be ringfenced.

Challenged with net migration figures, Mr Cleverly, the Secretary of State for the Home Department, has come up with what was described as a most robust proposal designed to reduce net migration figures by… drastically undercutting legal migration. Immigration lawyers may be perplexed about the efficacy of the proposed measure, but there is no doubt that the measures are strong, if not particularly robust in the conventional sense.  The plan is expected to be implemented in spring 2024 after some further elaboration.

Immigration fees will be going up in September 2023 by at least 15% for work related visas and by at least 20% for other types of visa. The immigration health surcharge will increase from the current £624 per year to £1,035, and for children under 18, students and Youth Mobility applicants – from the current £470 to £776.

From 17 July 2023, international students can only switch into a sponsored work route after they have completed their course of studies. PhD students can switch into the sponsored work route 24 months after the start date of the course. The emphasis in this new rule is not conditional but temporal. There is no requirement to have completed the course of study successfully or to have passed the exams, but you cannot switch mid term or before the end date of your CAS unless you finished the course early.

Sponsor licence application can be eligible for a priority service at a cost of £500. This service can now be requested online when applying for the licence or at any time after before the application is taken for processing by the Home Office.

The government has announced a new set of measures to reduce the number of international students in the UK. From January next year, students will not be allowed to bring their dependants to the UK unless they are studying at PhD level or to switch into a work permitting route before completing their course of studies.

On 12 April 2023 long residence rule will change to exclude from the definition of lawful residence temporary immigration categories, such as visitor visa, short term student visa and temporary admission granted while an application for asylum or humanitarian protection is under consideration. Check out if you or your client may be affected

The recent changes in the Immigration Rules introduced some new work permitting routes in UK immigration. The first change, effective from 11 April 2022, is introduction of the Global Business Mobility Scheme which combines five immigration routes available for workers seconded for temporary assignments to the UK. These routes do not lead to settlement. The…

Full details of visa concessions for the Ukrainian citizens have not yet been announced but some steps have been taken to facilitate the visa application process. Family visas will be granted free of charge for close family members of British citizens or of Ukrainian citizens with indefinite leave to remain in the UK. The UKVI aims to process a family visa application within 24 hours from submission of biometrics at the chosen visa application centre.

The Investor visa closed for new applicants with immediate effect on 17th February 2021. It remains open for extension applications and applications for settlement. There are no changes to the extension or settlement requirements. No prior announcement of the closure was made and the government chose to step aside from its standard policy of giving…