Unpredictable UK Immigration Journey !!!!!

[coolguy9]

The way the Home Office/UKBA are trying to toughen up the rules every now can be explained as follows:

You (Immigrant) boarded a train (Initial entry UK visa) and the destination is Settlement(ILR/Naturalisation) with Home office acting as the Ticket Inspector (Authority). Periodically this ticket inspector is giving updates such as the abrupt rise in train Fare (Visa fee) in the middle of the journey (Visa Extensions) due to Inflation(!!!) and if you want to continue your journey pay the increased fare or quit the train (Go back to your home country!!), Also the ticket inspector introduces the rules on the type of people who can still continue the journey to destination (changing the visa eligibility rules).

On top of this the politicians (train company bosses) say the passengers (Immigrants) are responsible for the operational problems (recession), so orders the ticket inspector to punish the passengers through introducing the tougher eligibility rules and abrupt fare increases. This is the present scenario of the Unpredictable Immigration Journey in the UK !!!

Why do these rule changers / policy makers ignore the Human Rights issues when introducing the tough immigration rules that could have drastic impact on the immigrants lives ?????

The way the rules have to be introduced is, "The following rules will be applicable to those who will be entering the country from Tomorrow"

But not like this, "The following new rules/Updates will be applicable to all the immigrants in the UK irrespective of their arrival dates / situation", this is how the current updates from the UKBA are looking like !!!

Folks share your thoughts and experiences about the current immigration rules in the UK and their impact on the immigrants lives !!!!!

[mulderpf]

I don't completely agree with your analogy nor with what you are saying with the way that rules are being introduced.

Firstly, the increasing fees issue. Increasing prices is not something which is limited only to the visa application process. I cannot tell you what the price of milk will be in a year's time and I cannot tell you what the price of petrol will be in a year's time. From your post, it seems that you have expected fees to remain exactly the same over the 5 year process?

Look around you, austerity is the word of the day. Do you really expect the government to continue subsidising the immigration process when there are cuts left right and centre to benefits, government spending and subsidies? Why should the immigration process be excluded from all this?

We'd all like to save a buck, and I'm not saying that I'm necessarily happy to just pay all this money, but come on, the fees are not completely excessive and unaffordable based on the categories they represent.

As for the changing rules, well, the only rules which have changed retrospectively are the ones for settlement, which firstly is actually in most people's favour and secondly isn't really being applied retrospectively, because you are not in a settlement category until the day that you apply by those rules.

I don't know about you, but I never expected immigration to be cheap, easy nor predictable.

[coolguy9]

@mulderpf, Thanks for your post.

Regarding prices you said you cant tell whats the price of milk in few years time..... Yes in few years if it increases beyond your affordability, you can limit the usage or stop using that for a while until the price has come down. But this is not commodity which I am talking about, this is a service and its not a free market, its a government service and they made it a monopoly..... you don't have an option rather than accepting the change (apart from going back to home country).....

Previously for ILR joint application in PEO used to cost around £2000, now from 06/April its increased to £2600, that's an increase of £600, the reason given by the Home Office is inflation !!!!! This is whats called peak of monopoly.

I don't know your background as well. Weather you are a settled person or a citizen already. If you are in my situation as many other immigrants awaiting for ILR then you will know the agony caused by the rule changes every week or month. I am among the many hard working and tax paying skilled immigrants came to this country in the hope of better opportunities and international exposure.

[mulderpf]

@mulderpf, Thanks for your post.

Regarding prices you said you cant tell whats the price of milk in few years time..... Yes in few years if it increases beyond your affordability, you can limit the usage or stop using that for a while until the price has come down. But this is not commodity which I am talking about, this is a service and its not a free market, its a government service and they made it a monopoly..... you don't have an option rather than accepting the change (apart from going back to home country).....

If you can't afford to settle, then you can go back home and wait for the price to come down. Same as the milk. If you can't pay for the service, then don't use it.

Previously for ILR joint application in PEO used to cost around £2000, now from 06/April its increased to £2600, that's an increase of £600, the reason given by the Home Office is inflation !!!!! This is whats called peak of monopoly.

No, the Home Office never gave inflation as a reason for the increases. The increases were directly attributed to the current climate of austerity and the increases were to improve efficiency of the application process as well as making sure that in line with the rest of government cuts, the people who use the service (the immigrants) pay the bulk of of the cost. The only mention of inflation is that they tried to limit most increases to inflation. In fact, I'm sure that the statement even says that the people who end up benefiting the most will end up paying significantly more (value in vs value out).

I don't know your background as well. Weather you are a settled person or a citizen already. If you are in my situation as many other immigrants awaiting for ILR then you will know the agony caused by the rule changes every week or month. I am among the many hard working and tax paying skilled immigrants came to this country in the hope of better opportunities and international exposure.

I was one of the very last Tier 1 General applicants - I applied the day before the closed the route for good. So I am well aware of the changes and I still have to apply for settlement for myself and a dependent.

The bottom line is this: fees will go up and they are likely to go up significantly - so start saving. If you don't want to pay the money to settle, you definitely have a choice. It's all about supply and demand and what it's worth to you.

As for the "rule changes", they are immaterial and inconsequential to people who have used their visas as they were supposed to. The rule changes made things easier, not harder and the rule introductions simply sought to clear up issues which everyone were complaining was ambiguous (so they are, in my mind, clarifications, not changes).

[Konaine]

coolguy9

I somehow want to agree with mulderpf.

i may be wrong but i also think that part of the reason, may be a very small part for the fee increase is that ukba have noticed that people working in petty jobs have highly skilled visa. Also people show that they earn so much money in order to secure a visa, surely its not a big deal for them to pay.
What is £2600 for a person on £40k
might I also add that that settling in the UK has always been privilege for immigrants and never a right.

Thanks,