Changes to the payment system for the Immigration Health Surcharge for Tier 4 applicants
On the 5 July 2015, the IHS payment will be incorporated as part of the Tier 4 application form. If you have already paid the IHS but are unable to submit your Tier 4 application form by 5:59pm on the 4 July 2015, you will need to:
complete a new Tier 4 application form;
re-pay the Immigration Health Surcharge as part of your application - failure to do so may result in your application being refused.
Click here for further details.
Comprehensive Sickness Insurance for family members of EEA students
From the 22 June 2015, all family members of EEA students residing in the UK will be required to hold Comprehensive Sickness Insurance(CSI). When applying for immigration permission as a family member of an EEA student, you will need to show that you have held CSI from the 22 June 2015 or the date of entry to the UK, whichever is later.
You can find more information for EU/EEA students on the UKCISA website.
Nationality checking service (NCS): England
A list of local authorities in England that offer a checking service for UK nationality applications has been complied. See here (click)
Nationality checking service: Greater London
A list of local authorities in Greater London that offer a checking service for UK nationality applications has been complied. See here (click).
Rehabilitation of Offenders and deportation
The Court of Appeal in Danso v Secretary of State for the Home Department discusses the importance of balancing the ex-offenders rehabilitation with the likelihood of re-offending. If an ex-offender can show that the have successfully rehabilitated themselves then this may be enough to show the “very compelling circumstances required to outweigh the public interest in deportation”. Although, this is perhaps at odds with what the government believes and the current legislation considering that the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act is specifically excluded from applying in deportation (see section 140 of LASPO Act 2012).
Automatic detaining of “fast track” asylum cases suspended
Given the recent Court of Appeal ruling that detaining of asylum seekers during a fast-track application should be suspended, the Minister for Immigration, James Broken-shire has decided to “temporarily suspend the operation of the detained fast track policy”.
No more automatic extensions for late Home Office appeals?
It has been suggested that the Home Office have little difficulty asking the Upper Tribunal for a late appeal to be accepted. However, the case of RK (Allowed appeals – service on respondent) Albania, indicates that careful considerations of the reasons for late appeals should be given and only where there are genuine and compelling reasons for the late appeal, should that late appeal be granted.
No new evidence to be considered in Point Based System (PBS) appeals
The Court of Appeal in Olatunde v Secretary of State for the Home Department has decided that new evidence cannot be considered by the tribunal in a Points Based System appeal.
Human Rights and a child’s best interest should be considered in all cases
The High Court in Granovski v Secretary of State for the Home Department has confirmed that Human Rights and best interest considerations are relevant factors to be considered in all applications, not just those paid Human Rights applications.
Home Office cannot expect asylum seekers to change their profession
The UT case of MSM (Somalia) has held that the Asylum Seekers cannot be expected to change their profession to avoid persecution.
Tier 2 Visa Immigrants must earn £35,000 to settle from April 2016
From 6 April 2016 most Tier 2 visa immigrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) must be earning £35,000 or more to qualify for UK indefinite leave to remain (also known as permanent residence), says the Home Office.
Landlords to check UK immigration status of tenants
Immigrants coming to the UK may face additional administration fees from landlords and letting agents when renting property from September, as a controversial 'right to rent' scheme is rolled out across the country.
Tier 2 Visa Limit Reached for First Time
The monthly limit on Tier 2 visas was reached for the first time this month, prompting harsh criticism of the visa cap from business and immigration experts.
EU President: UK spreads 'hatred' and 'lies' on immigration
Britain's debate on EU membership is fuelled by hatred, lies, and fearmongering about eastern European immigrants, according to European Parliament president Martin Schulz.
Reports into problem UK immigration removal centres to be released
Self-audit reports on the running of two private immigration detention centres are to be released by the Home Office next month, after a landmark ruling by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
APR 2015
Calculating Adequate Maintenance 2015/16 - How To
I have created a brief How To Guide (click) in order to calculate adequate maintenance for those who have transitional protection (applied for spouse leave before 09 July 2012) or for those who are exempt from the financial requirement under Appendix FM. The Guide includes the benefit up-rating for 2015/16 and also the new Immigration directorate instructions Appendix FM Section 1.7A - Adequate Maintenance And Accommodation (click) released in April 2015. This new immigration directorate also offers guidance as to what proof (documents) are required to evidence adequate maintenance (Paragraph 5).
Secure English Language Tests
Anyone taking an English Language test on or after 6th April 2015 must take one of the new listed tests at one of the approved centres if they wish to use it in a UK Immigration application. The new list from 6th April 2015 can be found here (click).
NOTE: Anyone who has taken a previously approved test on or before 5th April 2015 may still use it in a UK immigration application until 5th November 2015 providing the test is one of those detailed in the Transitional Approved Tests list (click).
Bio-metric Registration Extended
From 06 April 2015 anyone registering or naturalising as a British Citizen will need to provide their biometrics as part of their application. Non-EEA nationals applying for a residence card, derivative residence card or permanent residence card will also need to submit their biometrics.
See here (click) for further details
Biometric Residence Permits from outside the UK
Starting from 06 April 2015 in Pakistan, for those entering the UK for more than 6 months, you will be granted a 30-day vignette (sticker) in your passport and you will be issued with a BRP that must be collected within ten days of your arrival in the UK. The pilot in Pakistan will be quickly extended on the 14 April 2015, the 31 May 2015 and by 31 July 2015 all persons entering the UK from non-EEA countries will have to follow the new BRP process.
New Rules for Visitors
A new set of rules for visitors to the United Kingdom will affect all visit visa applications made on or after the 24 April 2015. The changes are brought about by the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC 1025. The new rules aim to simplify the process of obtaining a visitor visa. When the new rules come into force, anyone entering the UK in the ‘standard visitor’ category will be able to carry out some ‘business activities’ and also take a holiday. The separate category of “business visitor” will disappear.
See here (click) for further information
Registering as a British Citizen
On 6 April 2015 section 65 of the Immigration Act 2014 comes into force. It amends the British Nationality Act 1981. The changes correct some of the present day effects of the discriminatory nature against those who were born “illegitimate” or “out of wedlock” prior to 01 July 2006 by allowing many persons born before that date who were unable to acquire British citizenship through their British fathers because their British fathers were not married to their mothers to register as British citizens now.
The new form UKF can be found here (click).
Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons
Following channel 4’s undercover documentary based at Yarls Wood, Stephen Shaw CBE has been appointed to investigate the allegations of mistreatment. If you have any information to submit for Mr Shaw’s investigation regarding the treatment of those in UK detention centres. Written evidence can be contributed to the review by email: IRWD@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk. The deadline for contributions is 15 May 2015.
MAR 2015
CHANGES TO APPEAL RIGHTS
From 2 March 2015 – full appeal rights under the Points Based System are being ended.
From 6 April 2015 – full rights of appeal for all ‘legitimate’ migrants (under the immigration rules) will end.
The appeal rights of overstayers have increased and the appeal rights for those relying on the Refugee Convention or ECHR (human rights) will be preserved.
Administrative review will be available for new decisions made overseas. Leave to enter applications based on Appendix FM, Appendix AF, Part 8 and Asylum decision under Part 8 of the immigration rules should attract rights of appeal under section 82 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (though based on human rights or refugee grounds only).
IHS (Immigration Health Surcharge)
From 6 April 2015 there will be an IH surcharge (click) levied on immigration applications for temporary migrants (not those applying for ILR). Basically, you’ll have to pay the additional IH Surcharge (on top of the application cost) if:
• you’re a national of a country outside the European Economic Area and
• you’re applying for a visa to work, study or join your family in the UK for more than 6 months (but you’re not applying to permanently remain in the UK)
You will be given an IHS reference number which you will need to make your immigration application successfully. There are some exemptions for those who do not have to pay the surcharge but will still have to get an IHS reference number. The exemptions are T2 (ICT) applicants (including deps), those under 18 and in the care of the local authority, those who are nationals of Australia and New Zealand, those deps of members of the UK’s armed forces and a few others.
You’ll have to pay:
• £150 per year as a student
• £200 per year for all other visa and immigration applications
If you have any dependants, they will usually need to pay the same amount as you.
EXIT BORDER CHECKS
From 08 April 2015 the Border Force will be conducting checks (click) on person leaving the UK at sea ports, airports and tunnels. The checks will start at 25% of people leaving the UK, by Mid May 2015 the checks will be at 50% of those leaving the UK and by Mid June 2015 100% of those leaving the UK. The only people who are exempt from exit border checks are EU nationals under the age of 18.
PREMIUM SERVICE CENTRE APPLICATIONS EXTENDED
For an additional fee of £400 per applicant, certain immigration applications can be made at a Premium Service Centre (PSC) in the UK (click). A PSC application will usually be decided on the same day. The applications which can made at PSCs have just been significantly increased and now include applications for ILR based on long-residence, applications for ILR based on 6 years discretionary leave and extensions of 3 years discretionary leave under the transitional arrangements. You can also use the PSC at Croydon to apply for a registration certificate to work in the UK as a Croatian national.
You can’t use the premium or super premium service if you’re:
• a business person, innovator, sole representative or investor
• a Turkish business person
• a self-employed lawyer
• applying under Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur)
• applying under Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)
• applying under Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent)
• a seaman
• a Gurkha
• a retired person of independent means
• an elderly dependant
• someone whose case is complex because of personal circumstances
• someone whose case isn’t covered by the Immigration Rules
• sponsored by a staff member of the Home Office or UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)
• applying for a Home Office travel document
• applying for naturalisation or registration as a UK national
• applying as a victim of domestic violence
• applying for an EEA residence card or permanent residence card
• applying for proof of a right of abode
Remember that to use the PSC you application should not be complex (i.e. you should not be relying on excess discretion) as you’re unlikely to get a same day decision and your application will be added to the postal queue.
NEW VISIT VISA RULES
From 24 April 2015 a new set of rules for visitors shall take effect. This is by virtue of the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC 1025 (click). Amongst the change is the insertion of a new Appendix V. Appendix V itself begins at page 183 of the Statement of Changes. I have yet to fully read the new rules, but they appear to offer more clarity. However, I will be doing a more in-depth analysis of the new rules for 24 April 2015 so that we are prepared.
NEW CASE LAW
Dube (ss.117A-117D) [2015] UKUT 90 (IAC) [click] - the UT has considered the new Part 5A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, as introduced by the Immigration Act 2014.
ASYLUM CHANGES
From 27 February 2015 the circumstances in which an asylum claim may be treated as being abandoned has taken another turn for the worse. Again the dreaded Statement of Changes HC 1025 (click) has inserted new wording into paragraph 333C of the Immigration Rules, in that:
“An application may be treated as impliedly withdrawn if an applicant leaves the United Kingdom without authorisation at any time prior to the conclusion of his or her asylum claim, or fails to complete an asylum questionnaire as requested by the Secretary of State…”
This is another step in the wrong direction, an asylum seeker who may not be able to read or write English will now be sent a questionnaire and if s(he) fails to respond (or fails to get an appointment to see an advisor in time) then that persons claim for Asylum can be seen by the Home Office as having been abandoned. There are further changes which include a longer route to settlement.
NATIONALITY & GOOD CHARACTER
If you see the FAQ for Good Character (click) in the British Citizenship section of the forum, you shall see that I have updated the FAQ to reflect the more restrictive guidance issued by the Home Office in December 2014. We are now starting to see a number of naturalisation refusals for those who have a history of either illegal entry into the UK and/or overstaying, including those who were children when they entered the UK illegally and were subsequently granted Refugee Status! However, it appears that the residence guidance has changed and Refugees should not be refused solely because of a period of being in the UK unlawfully prior to a successful Asylum claim. If you are a Refugee and have been refused due to a period of being in the UK unlawfully prior to a successful Asylum claim then you may ask for a reconsideration on form NR (£80 fee). I have created a letter to assist you (click).
IMMIGRATION LITIGATION COSTS
The Home Office have released (click) their litigation costs for immigration cases since 2011:
2011-12 = £35.7 Million
2012-13 = £44.15 Million
2013-14 = £51.42 Million
Total for the 3 years, in excess of £130 million!
NEW CASES
R (on the application of Idris) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department (IJR) [2015] UKUT 95 (IAC) [click] and R (on the application of Thakral) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department (IJR) [2015] UKUT 96 (IAC)] have again looked at Chikwamba v SSHD [2008] UKHL 40 [2008] 1 WLR 1420 and decided:
“The Chikwamba v SSHD [2008] UKHL 40 [2008] 1 WLR 1420 principle is only engaged if, in the terms of [30] (a) of SSHD v Hayat (Pakistan) [2012] EWCA Civ 1054, the SSHD has refused the application in question “on the procedural ground that the policy requires that the applicant should have made the application from his home state”.
COURT OF APPEAL STRICTLY INTERPRETS T1 – ENTREPRENEUR RULES
Iqbal & Tank v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 169 (click) has seen the CoA strictly interpret T1 – E rules when concerning 3rd Party Funding.
VISIT VISA APPEAL ON HUMAN RIGHTS GROUNDS – SUCCESS
It seems a long time now since we announced the abolition of full rights of appeal for visitors (2 years!). However, I bring some good news. A successful appeal on the grounds of human rights (family visit visa). See, Mostafa (Article 8 in entry clearance) [2015] UKUT 00112 (IAC) [click].
NEW IMMIGRATION FEES FROM 6 April 2015
The new immigration fees have been published here (click). Of course, the only way is up with the Home Office; remember to factor in the IH Surcharge as above. You could put a good deposit on a new home for the price of a family immigration application.
JAN/FEB 2015
HC1025 has been released
HC1025 has been released (click). - New Rules for visitors, PBS changes and some potentially cunning tricks in Asylum. More analysis perhaps.
**Sri Lanka** - New country guidance:
case from the UT on the risk of persecution in Sri Lanka for LGBT Asylum applicants can be found here (click). The case is LH and IP (gay men: risk) Sri Lanka CG [2015] UKUT 00073 (IAC). Main points:
Clarity for applicants who applied before 9 July 2012.(1) Having regard to the provisions of articles 365 and 365A of the Sri Lankan Penal Code, gay men in Sri Lanka constitute a particular social group.
(2) ‘Gay men in civil partnerships’ in Sri Lanka do not constitute a particular social group for the purposes of the Refugee Convention. The Sri Lankan authorities’ failure to recognise alternative marital and quasi-marital statuses such as civil partnership or homosexual marriage which are available in other countries of the world does not, without more, amount to a flagrant breach of core human rights.
(3) Applying the test set out by Lord Rodger in the Supreme Court judgment in HJ (Iran) & HT (Cameroon) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] UKSC 31, in general the treatment of gay men in Sri Lanka does not reach the standard of persecution or serious harm.
(4) There is a significant population of homosexuals and other LGBT individuals in Sri Lanka, in particular in Colombo. While there is more risk for lesbian and bisexual women in rural areas, because of the control exercised by families on unmarried women, and for transgender individuals and sex workers in the cities, it will be a question of fact whether for a particular individual the risk reaches the international protection standard, and in particular, whether it extends beyond their home area.
(5) Where a risk of persecution or serious harm exists in an appellant’s home area, there may be an internal relocation option, particularly for individuals returning via Colombo from the United Kingdom.
Question: Where an application for leave to remain is made before 09 July 2012 but decided after that date, which Immigration Rules should apply to it? Answer: The "old" rules in force before 09 July 2012. The Court of Appeal have confirmed this in Singh v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 74 (click). There had been confusion resulting from Edgehill v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 402 and Haleemudeen v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 558.