?britain to scrap ILR for WP holder?

as report by News of the World today,
britain is to stop granting ILR for WP holder after 5 years as well as for Student Visa after 10years.
any truth in this story??
its really scrary if the government is to move its goal-post once again..............
worry worry

9588 wrote:as report by News of the World today,
britain is to stop granting ILR for WP holder after 5 years as well as for Student Visa after 10years.
any truth in this story??
its really scrary if the government is to move its goal-post once again..............
worry worry

Do you have a link to the story?

I found this on google: http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/article58443.ece

I've just had a look on their website and could not find anything relating to the story so I too would be interested to see a link.

My opinion of TNOTW is to particularly high so I have my doubts as to the validity of the report. Probably some BNP shouting off again about his plans or something.

uuuuuuuuuhhhhhm... look at the post above yours - it has the link.

Stories from News of the World have always been somewhat dubious but I have to wonder if they have guessed the intention of the Homeoffice.

Apologies, I was obviously writing my post at the same time that was uploaded.

I just read the article, and if possible my opinion of that paper just lowered.

"but NONE went on booting out foreigners"......

Well, I'm going to wait until I hear anything official before I start worrying too much about this as "A Westminster source said: “We want to abolish indefinite leave to remain." is not particularly a lot to base a entire conclusion on.

Vanadil wrote:Apologies, I was obviously writing my post at the same time that was uploaded.

I just read the article, and if possible my opinion of that paper just lowered.

"but NONE went on booting out foreigners"......

Well, I'm going to wait until I hear anything official before I start worrying too much about this as "A Westminster source said: “We want to abolish indefinite leave to remain." is not particularly a lot to base a entire conclusion on.

Try reading "The path to citizenship: next steps in reforming the immigration system" on the BIA website. ILR is going to be replaced, and students will not be eligible for it's replacement.

Hi Vanadil,

No, it's not but the general rhetoric of our new immigration minister has not been good at all.

I'm not going to start worrying unduly because as you say, News of the World is not exactly a reputable source (thank goodness!)

djb123 has understood it correctly.

So, where would it leave people with ILR?

Shan12 wrote:So, where would it leave people with ILR?

Don't think they plan to take it away from anyone. But I guess that if they wanted they could make it easier to take away and remove access to benefits to persuade people to apply for British Citizenshp/permanent residency.

djb123 wrote:

Shan12 wrote:So, where would it leave people with ILR?

Don't think they plan to take it away from anyone. But I guess that if they wanted they could make it easier to take away and remove access to benefits to persuade people to apply for British Citizenshp/permanent residency.

It is highly unlikely that anyone's ILR will be revoked. But with mass unemployment likely to return, don't be surprised if it gets a lot harder (very soon) to obtain ILR.

Those who have ILR but are not British citizens may see a variety of changes including:

- no access to benefits
- no right to sponsor relatives (including spouses) for settlement in Britain
- children born in Britain no longer automatically British citizens.

The waiting time for British citizenship could easily increase from 5 years to 7 or maybe 10 years.

Having read the Governments Response to the Path to Citizenship Consultation, I get the impression that ILR will be kept as an alternative to citizenship. The reasoning seems to be that they 'understand' that some people can not hold dual citizenship. It also implies on page 14 (the diagram) that those on ILR "Can switch to Citizenship at a later date". Unfortunately, there seems to be no detail.

Another interesting point is that the Ancestral route is being kept and being classed as the 'Family' route. So, Mr Shan and I have been caught coming and going. In terms of the new arrangement, we could have had citizenship in 3 years, unfortunately, we had been forced to extend our 4 year ancestral visa to Limited Leave to remain and then to get ILR - makes you want to scream!

Joy of joys (cynical I know) but the fact that immigrants from non EEC countries are net contributors, is apparantly irrelevant. We will be expected to contribute to a 'Transitional Fund' with each new Visa application we make. Fees have not yet been published. The worrying part: "We will therefore create a fund to manage the transitional impact of migration. The fund will be tens of millions of pounds and will operate from
April 2009." pg 23

and: "How will the contributions be collected?
The contributions will be collected through increases to certain immigration fees, and as such will not apply to EEA nationals or refugees. We will finalise the precise charging arrangements for the fund shortly.
We want to ensure that the charging system for the fund is easy to explain, understand and administer. Therefore we will require migrants
to make a contribution each time they make an immigration application. This will spread the contribution out over several payments over a
period of years, and at the same time ensure that all contributing migrants, whether they progress on the path to citizenship or not, will pay in to the fund.

Migrants who bring dependants will pay an additional fee per dependant. This recognises the fact that those who bring dependants to the UK tend to
consume more in public services than those who do not."

So you thought they could not get blood from a stone? You thought they had squeezed you enough? Apparently they have not squeezed us hard enough!

What happens to the Long Residence category?

For example, I have been resident here for just over 9 years now, initially as a student, then under permit-free training and more recently on the HSMP/Tier 1 system. I could not find anything in the document detailing what happens to this category...

It looks as though the HSMP Tier 1 & 2 will be classified as 'Economic Migrants'. How they will manage your situation, I don't know. There is not enough detail about how they plan to deal with people already in the system.

drjabberwocky23 wrote:What happens to the Long Residence category?

Could well be abolished or restricted in some way, for example, student visas excluded from the 10 years.

JAJ wrote:

drjabberwocky23 wrote:What happens to the Long Residence category?

Could well be abolished or restricted in some way, for example, student visas excluded from the 10 years.

Damn...

When is all of this supposed to be implemented? I noticed the date of April 2009 as when the "fund" becomes operational, but are there any clues as to when the rest of this comes into effect?

It does appear as though students will be exempt from this category - i.e. anyone arriving as a student and then switching into Tier 1 or 2 will need to complete 5 years in Tier 1 or 2 in their own right, and the prior term of residence will be excluded.

As shan12 says above though - it isn't entirely clear if the rules will be imposed retrospectively, though it wouldn't surprise me if it did. Time to start worrying again, I think...

Shan12 wrote:Having read the Governments Response to the Path to Citizenship Consultation, I get the impression that ILR will be kept as an alternative to citizenship. The reasoning seems to be that they 'understand' that some people can not hold dual citizenship. It also implies on page 14 (the diagram) that those on ILR "Can switch to Citizenship at a later date". Unfortunately, there seems to be no detail.

That's not exactly the way I read it.

My understanding is that where now you could apply for ILR, in the future you would have to apply for probationary citizenship which would only be valid for 5 years. Then before that expired if you wanted to stay in the UK you would have to apply for either permanent residency or full citizenship.

JAJ wrote:
The waiting time for British citizenship could easily increase from 5 years to 7 or maybe 10 years.

I'm very suprised that you have passed such a silly and unquailfied statment- this is just scare mongaring,JAJ.

It appears the ILR will be scrapped to an extent and you will technically only be a temporary resident for up to 6 years. Then after that you will be eligible for permanent residency or citizenship. One or the other and it is at this point that you will be able to access public funds.

There will be a few options;

1) If you enter the UK as a skilled worker you will receive visa. After 5 years on your skilled working visa you will receive temporary residency for up to 5 years. However, after a year you may be eligible for British citizenship. If, however, you prefer permanent residency then you will need to wait for 3 years to lapse, rather than 1 as is the case for citizenship. If you do not apply for either at the end of your 5 year temporary residency you will then need to leave the UK.

2) If you enter through the family route you will need to remain in the UK on this visa for 2 years. After this you will receive temporary residency and will be eligible to apply for British citizenship upon lapse of a year. Or you may apply for permanent residency after 3 years as above.

3) Refugees and people seeking Humanitarian protection will fall under path 1) the same as skilled workers as described.


The link is below;

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... tizenship/

Siggi wrote:JAJ wrote:
The waiting time for British citizenship could easily increase from 5 years to 7 or maybe 10 years.

I'm very suprised that you have passed such a silly and unquailfied statment- this is just scare mongaring,JAJ.

Other countries - notably Australia and New Zealand - have increased the waiting period for citizenship in recent times.

Another critical issue that shouldn't be overlooked regarding routes to settlement:

If companies refuse to buy into PBS (as Curry's has done), then they will only employ British or EEA citizens, those already holding ILR or certain others with limited leave to remain.

The Tiers and current work permit holders are not even going to get a look in with them. In fact some companies will be looking to get rid of those work permit holders they currently employ.

A stressful time for all going into 2009.

jei2 wrote:Another critical issue that shouldn't be overlooked regarding routes to settlement:

If companies refuse to buy into PBS (as Curry's has done), then they will only employ British or EEA citizens, those already holding ILR or certain others with limited leave to remain.

The Tiers and current work permit holders are not even going to get a look in with them. In fact some companies will be looking to get rid of those work permit holders they currently employ.

A stressful time for all going into 2009.

Ok. Unless it is a very high level high management job in the organisation where a UK/EU citizen can't do the job. Then why should Curry's employ someone from outside the UK/EU!

This type of policy is created to ensure people come to the UK with skills that the UK is in demand of or where a UK/EU national is not available and a right UK/EU nationals have - to get a first look.

If curry's decide not to register with the UKBA as a sponsor then they must believe that they will find suitable people for their higher level positions within the UK/EU and they probably will. So, therefore don't need the licence to bring in non UK/EU nationals. They shouldn't be giving lower level and sales jobs to non UK/EU nationals. Now they are barred from doing so.

In fact some companies will be looking to get rid of those work permit holders they currently employ.

They can't just get ride of people. We have laws in the UK to protect employees. However, when employees on current WP's expire then they will not be able to renew them under T2 with curry's if they do not register as a sponsor.

Unless the workers can apply for T1 or are eligible for ILR at that time, then they will need to find a new employer for T2.

Curry's was simply an example.

If other companies opt out of PBS, they too could look to the UK/EU to fill all high level management spaces as Curry's are doing. And no doubt at other levels...which might mean getting rid of both legal and illegal workers.

The rights and wrongs of it don't detract from the issue at hand.

If companies decide to revise their recruitment procedures and employees aren't aware of (or don't exercise their rights) the effect is much of the same. Another obstacle towards gaining settlement.

Something the government will have to deal with (if it cares that is) for PBS to work fairly.