Post
by mulderpf » Fri Nov 12, 2010 9:20 am
Any response to your question will be pure speculation, unless of course Damian Green or Theresa May responds to your question.
Generally though, changes are phased in. So they would generally not cut existing visa holders off completely. E.g. if you applied on visa x and this could lead to settlement and the government decides to change the rules for visa x that it doesn't lead to settlement anymore - it would usually only apply on new applications. Existing people on visa x in the UK would then still be able to apply for settlement, but holders of visa x who received it after the rules came in, would not.
That said, the new government has been much harsher than before and therefore this cannot be guaranteed. Nothing stops them from implementing a rule and letting it apply to all existing visa holders. The only thing is that past experience has shown it to be different. (E.g. look at HSMP rules which are still applied in certain circumstances versus Tier 1 (General) rules - the rules were phases in to generally let people on HSMP fulfill their expectation when they applied initially).
