On 20 July 2021, Free Movement published an article about the UK’s new Displaced Talent Mobility Programme, which concluded that it constituted “a new complementary pathway” for refugees to reach […]
Since the announcement of the new High Potential Individual route as part of the UK Innovation Strategy, there’s been considerable buzz about what it will mean for graduates around the […]
It’s been a very long time since most UK live music and theatre “sponsors” have had to issue paperwork for overseas artists to come into the UK. For most, it’s […]
“High potential individuals” will in future be able to come to the UK to work without a job offer, the government has announced. The move, building on previous promises to […]
I am announcing that those displaced by conflict and violence will now also be able to benefit from access to our global points-based immigration system. To enable skilled displaced people […]
International students are worth billions to the UK economy in higher education fees and indirect expenditure, benefitting local communities financially as well as enriching them in non-economic terms. Being able […]
All being well, the government’s advice to work from home should be lifted from 21 June. With offices filling up, and city streets bustling, normal working life is already starting […]
The Home Office published a New Plan for Immigration “strategy statement” earlier today. It is mostly about legal immigration and economic migrants, as opposed to the New Plan for Immigration […]
A £100 million scheme for loaning migrants the money for an Investor visa was legal after all, the Court of Appeal has ruled. The case is R (Wang & Anor) […]
The UK and India signed a non-binding agreement on migration this week. The basic ingredients are to beef up cooperation on removing unauthorised migrants in exchange for a minor liberalisation […]
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has confirmed that with lockdown easing, it is resuming sponsor licence compliance visits. Initial visits will be focused on organisations that have a pending sponsor […]
The Home Office published a new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules today. It is 108 pages long and the changes take effect on 6 April 2021 unless otherwise […]
Among the key points highlighted by the Treasury from today’s Budget is “reforms to the immigration system [to] help ambitious UK businesses attract the brightest and best international talent”. As […]
The UK’s Global Talent visa went live in February 2020, replacing the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route. Far more flexible than its predecessor, and with no cap on the number […]
No doubt you will have read about the mudslinging between the UK and EU over the lack of a visa-free deal for touring musicians and entertainers. This has been retweeted […]
The Court of Appeal has held that there is no right based on procedural fairness for a migrant to be offered a chance to cure deficiencies in his or her […]
Building on CJ’s briefing on the Tier 1 (Investor) route last year, this article contains five top tips for the preparation of an Investor application. Before we begin, it is […]
The end of free movement has, for better or worse, given rise to a number of new visa routes catering for workers looking to establish themselves in the UK. Joining […]
A new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules was published on 31 December 2020 and took effect at 11pm that night. (We weren’t working at the time, for some […]
The Home Office recently introduced a set of new validity requirements for visa applications under the Points Based Immigration System, such as the Skilled Worker route. This is significant because […]
Since 1 December 2020, migrants who would previously have applied for settlement in the UK (aka “indefinite leave to remain”) under the Tier 2 (General) route now need to apply […]
The Skilled Worker visa is the main work route under the Points Based Immigration System. It was introduced on 1 December 2020, replacing a visa called Tier 2 (General). Joanna […]
The new Points Based Immigration System — replacing the old Points Based System that was introduced in 2008 — went live yesterday. The government is hailing it as a “simple, […]
The English language requirement can be generously viewed as the Home Office’s response to the biblical Tower of Babel story: society is undermined by its people’s inability to speak the […]
The UK’s new immigration system is hurtling towards us at a rate of knots. As of 1 January 2021, newly arrived EU citizens coming to work in the UK are […]
In the recent case of Topadar v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 1525 the Court of Appeal considered two questions: At what point is an […]
The Home Office has decided not to take forward the recommendations for a new Shortage Occupation List made by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in September. This has caused concern […]
The Immigration Rules covering student visas were substantially revised in early September 2020, with the changes coming into force on 5 October. As Nath has noted, this means that the […]
For work-based immigration, last week’s statement of changes to the Immigration Rules was in many ways rather anticlimactic. The last two years have seen a series of reports and policy […]
The Supreme Court held today in R (Pathan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 41 that the Home Office’s treatment of a Tier 2 skilled worker, Mr […]
Many years ago, when I planned to come to the UK for higher education, I never imagined that I would be falsely labelled as a fraud. My whole world fell […]
Under the government’s new Points-Based Immigration System, the minimum salary required to sponsor an overseas worker will be £25,600, unless the worker has a PhD — or is being hired […]
Whilst we are all awaiting new Immigration Rules for the Skilled Worker route, which will replace Tier 2 (General) in the new Points-Based Immigration System, some good news is starting […]
Is a statement of changes even a statement of changes nowadays if it doesn’t introduce a new appendix to the Immigration Rules? On 10 September 2020, the government laid the […]
People from Commonwealth countries often ask whether they can get a British visa on the basis of their country’s historical ties to the UK. The answer is, generally speaking, “no”. […]
There is something reassuringly self-explanatory about the representative of an overseas business visa. Compared to the crop of new visas that have emerged over the last year, with their irritatingly […]
Immigration lawyers up and down the land leapt out of bed this Monday morning, eager to glut out on the promised detail of the UK’s new points-based immigration system. How […]
A science and research plan published today suggests increased central government scrutiny on Home Office work visa rules and operations. The plan promises a new “Office for Talent” operating out […]
On 19 May 2020, a number of media outlets reported that there will be no face-to-face lectures at Cambridge University until summer 2021. The university issued a statement the next […]
With the UK still reeling from COVID-19, a mega recession looms. The statistics are sobering; 8 million workers on the government furlough scheme, 2.6 million claims for Universal Credit since […]
