The Home Office has announced that as of 18 December 2024, time spent in the UK under one of the Ukraine Schemes will no longer be permission that can be counted towards the 10 years of continuous residence necessary to settle on the basis of long residence.
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In the recent Statement of Changes, the government has added Colombians to the list of nationalities who require a visit visa when visiting the UK. This change is effective from 26 November 2024.
The Immigration Health Surcharge (“IHS”) is a fee which most visa applicants will need to pay when apply for a UK visa. The healthcare charge has been controversial since it was first introduced in 2015 as many argue that it is a form of double taxation since migrants already contribute to the NHS through taxes in the same way as British citizens do. Alongside other immigration costs, IHS has risen steeply over the years from £200 per year of visa in 2015 to £1,035 per year today. Application fees and IHS are paid upfront for the duration of a visa which means that a large sum has to be paid regardless of the visa outcome – so what happens when an application is refused or withdrawn, or an applicant leaves the UK early or switches visa category?
Following the recent election, there has been a sharp uptick in queries from US citizens about their options for immigrating to the UK. Although there are no US-specific immigration categories, there are a number of options that American citizens can use to move to the UK.
The Home Office second quarterly statistics of 2024 reveal that 524 Skilled Worker sponsors received suspension letters and 499 sponsors have had their licences revoked since the first quarter. This marks a significant rise in both suspensions and revocations. The Home Office has also announced an intention to conduct more investigation visits. Visits will normally be unannounced and will include interviews with key personnel, sponsored workers and requests for documents.
Due to some of the issues cropping up with the eVisa rollout, the Home Office has introduced a new form for reporting eVisa errors.
The new list of top universities that qualify graduates for the UK’s High Potential Individual (“HPI”) visa has been published. The HPI visa route provides a unique opportunity for eligible graduates to move to the UK without a job offer.
The Home Office announced in September that people applying for settlement as a Bereaved Partner, following the death of their partner, will now be able to apply for a fee waiver to avoid the £2,885 fee.
We are delighted to be ranked by the Chambers UK directory in the Human Rights, Asylum and Deportation UK-wide category again this year, with Tom Giles and Alex Piletska given individual rankings. We are one of only 15 law firms across the UK ranked in this category. Laura Coyle is also ranked in Social Housing.
We are delighted to be top-ranked for Immigration in this year’s Legal 500 rankings. Tom Giles, Jo Renshaw and Philip Turpin have been ranked as leading lawyers in the Legal 500 2025 guide and the Immigration team has been ranked in Tier 1 (South East – Employment – Immigration).
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