On New Year’s Eve, many were focused on celebrating the arrival of whatever 2025 may bring, but behind the scenes the Home Office introduced some significant changes to immigration policy. These updates have been quietly implemented as part of the government’s ongoing ‘crackdown’ on alleged abuse of the UK immigration system, but some could have far-reaching … Continue Reading
The Home Office has been very busy in 2024, making significant changes to the Immigration Rules almost every month this year. We have published a timeline of the most notable changes that sponsoring employers should be aware of. As the year draws to a close, we expect 2025 to present further immigration law developments and … Continue Reading
As many sponsors will know, the Home Office offers a priority change of circumstances service, allowing sponsors to request by email the prioritisation of certain Home Office sponsor-related actions (many of which are vital to their being able to progress a visa application). Without this service, the standard processing time for these requests of around … Continue Reading
The Home Office has published its latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules, most of which will take effect from 12 April this year. The key changes of interest to employers are likely to be these:… Continue Reading
In March this year, we wrote about the abrupt suspension of UKVI priority services for new applications made from outside the UK here. Today, after a full 5 months, UKVI has reinstated “priority services” for new work visa applications. The suspension was UKVI’s response to the large influx of applications under the Ukraine Family Scheme. … Continue Reading
The Home Office has published its latest Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules taking effect from 6 April 2022 which includes new immigration routes, as well as some changes and rebranding for existing routes. The Home Office is presenting these changes as part of its commitment to simplify the Immigration Rules and provide greater … Continue Reading
UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) has taken the decision without prior warning to suspend priority and super-priority visa processing services for all applications being made from outside the UK. Not only have the services been suspended, but the UKVI update says that “applications for study, work and family visas may take longer to process.” This … Continue Reading
Back in August we reported on proposed additional visa routes slated for launch in Spring 2022 as part of the ‘UK Innovation Strategy’ to help retain the UK’s position as a hub for global business. It’s common for changes to the Immigration Rules to be released each year around March/April, so what can we expect … Continue Reading
Over the last two years, we’ve seen the Home Office try its best to re-boot Tier 1 of the Points Based System. It has introduced the Start-Up visa for those wanting to set up an innovative business in the UK, the Innovator visa (similar to the Start-Up visa but with the possibility of applying for … Continue Reading
Those who have been dealing with immigration matters for some time will remember the old Tier 1 (Post Study Work) visa (PSW). It was a lifeline to overseas students who couldn’t find work right away after finishing their degree/masters/PhD in the UK and so it was an unwelcome change when the Home Office closed the … Continue Reading
