“Technical”, “deeply unattractive”, “disingenuous”, “singularly lacks merit”, “ridiculous”, “inappropriate”, “extraordinary”. All words used by Elias or Vos LLJ to describe the arguments advanced by the
President McCloskey has firmly rejected the Home Office case against students alleged to have fraudulently obtained English language test certificate from ETS (“Educational Testing Services Ltd”) in
In yet another case highlighting the absurdly hostile, bureaucratic and inflexible nature of the UK’s Points Based System the Court of Appeal has held that
A recent report by the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, revealed that the management of curtailment decisions in Tier 4 cases is
A new set of Immigration Rules has been laid in Statement of Changes HC877. The changes take effect on 6 April 2016. You can access
A few snippets from a recent debate in the House of Lords. An amendment to the current Immigration Bill currently wending its way through Parliament
Major changes to the Immigration Rules affecting refugees, Tiers 1, 2 and 5, EEA nationals sponsoring family members under the Immigration Rules, visitors, applications for
A new report by Transparency International, Gold rush: Investment visas and corrupt capital flows into the UK, suggests that substantial amounts of corrupt wealth stolen from China
The Supreme Court has given judgment in the case of Mandalia v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] UKSC 59 about the interpretation
Back in the day, One Direction enjoyed considerable success and dominated the reported charts. Without a picture in the attic, though, good fortune and good
Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC 437 has been published. Most of the changes are fairly minor or technical but not all. From the
The Upper Tribunal has given judgment in a test case on ETS appeals and judicial reviews: R (on the application of Gazi) v Secretary of
Immigration applicants cannot rely on telephone calls with Home Office operators, the Upper Tribunal has held in the case of R (on the application of Zia
Having just finished drafting grounds for judicial review in a case involving a refusal of a Tier 4 study application on the grounds that the
The High Court has found part of the Tier 1 Entrepreneur rules to be irrational in the case of R (on the application of Sabir &
The Court of Appeal condemns the complexity of the Points Based System in the case of Hossain & Ors v Secretary of State for the
The case of Ahmed and Another (PBS: admissible evidence) [2014] UKUT 365 (IAC) concerns the ‘genuineness’ test that was introduced for entrepreneur applications as the final death
Having been overruled by the Court of Appeal in the case of Rodriguez [2014] EWCA Civ 2 (FM post here), Mr Justice McCloskey, President of the
The case of Rodriguez, Mandalia and Patel [2014] EWCA Civ 2 is to be reconsidered by the Supreme Court, this months grants of permission reveals. The
A new Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 198) corrects an earlier botched attempt to change the rules by fiat and remove discredited Educational
This post has been contributed by, Vijay Jagadesham, who represented the College in Global Vision College Ltd v SSHD[2014] EWCA Civ 659. Readers would be forgiven for
Official headnote: The requirement to prove the existence of “contracts” in paragraph 41-SD of Appendix A to the immigration rules does not itself require the
In one of the earliest cases of the year, Secretary of State for the Home Department v Rodriguez [2014] EWCA Civ 2, the Court of Appeal has overturned
The rules governing the PBS are set out in the Immigration Rules and the appendices to those rules. These provisions have now achieved a degree
Comes into force today. Clarifies that Tier 4 students on post graduate courses of 12 months or longer can sponsor family member dependants. TB screening introduced for
The Supreme Court has held the Points Based System’s sponsor licensing scheme is lawful. As Nicola Carter observes, sponsors may be disappointed with the result
In the case of Secretary of State for the Home Department v Raju & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 754 the Court of Appeal has overturned
Short case reiterating that Home Office has to act in accordance with its policies, including that designed to give effect to the earlier Patel case
Rumours as to the death of the ‘evidential flexibility’ policy prove to have been exaggerated. A new version was recently published. Hat tip to Adam
Last month saw the advent of a very useful decision from the High Court concerning the lack of provision in the Immigration Rules to allow
ACCA not a degree says High Court Zane has suggested on Twitter he is appealing but this looks pretty authoritative, at least in cases that
Two Statements of Changes to bring to your attention, HC1038 and HC1039. On Monday 1 April 2013, HC1038 came into effect and can be viewed
A big thank you goes to Jane Heybroek of Bell Yard Chambers for persisting with her Freedom of Information request in relation to further documents
Rodriguez (Flexibility Policy) [2013] UKUT 00042 (IAC). About as good as it could be. Appeals to be allowed where UK Border Agency Points Based System
The very recent reported case of Khatel and others (s85A; effect of continuing application) Nepal [2013] UKUT 44 (IAC) consolidates the on going issues in relation
On 22 November 2012 a new Statement of Changes was laid which brings in quite a few amendments to the Immigration Rules. A large proportion
Yes another Statement of Changes – HC 565 – has been laid and (hold your breath), most of it comes into force… today! I am grateful
Further to Sarah Pinder’s earlier post on this subject, I have been provided with a copy of the infamous “PBS PROCESS INSTRUCTION EVIDENTIAL FLEXIBILITY” document in
[UPDATE: for more analysis see new post The Case of the Lost Prerogative] This is huge news in immigration law: the Supreme Court has dismissed
“Technical”, “deeply unattractive”, “disingenuous”, “singularly lacks merit”, “ridiculous”, “inappropriate”, “extraordinary”. All words used by Elias or Vos LLJ to describe the arguments advanced by the Home Office in the course of their judgments in the remarkable case of R (On the Application Of Ufot) v Secretary of State for the...
President McCloskey has firmly rejected the Home Office case against students alleged to have fraudulently obtained English language test certificate from ETS (“Educational Testing Services Ltd”) in the case of SM and Ihsan Qadir v Secretary of State for the Home Department IA/31380/2014. The President finds that the Home Office...
In yet another case highlighting the absurdly hostile, bureaucratic and inflexible nature of the UK’s Points Based System the Court of Appeal has held that a Tier 1 Entrepreneur might benefit from a policy on evidential flexibility that was “much broader” than the rules themselves. The case is SH (Pakistan)...
A recent report by the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, revealed that the management of curtailment decisions in Tier 4 cases is inconsistent and the Home Office is unable to deal with the thousands of curtailment cases and Sponsors notifications it receives every month. You can see the...
A new set of Immigration Rules has been laid in Statement of Changes HC877. The changes take effect on 6 April 2016. You can access the explanatory notes or the full rules or both together. There are a LOT of changes. Stand out features include: Those with a “litigation debt”...
A few snippets from a recent debate in the House of Lords. An amendment to the current Immigration Bill currently wending its way through Parliament was tabled which would close the Tier 1 Investor route. This type of visa is obtained by making an investment of at least £2 million...
Major changes to the Immigration Rules affecting refugees, Tiers 1, 2 and 5, EEA nationals sponsoring family members under the Immigration Rules, visitors, applications for Administrative Review and knowledge of language and life tests are being introduced with effect from tomorrow, 12 November 2015. The changes are wrought by Statement...
A new report by Transparency International, Gold rush: Investment visas and corrupt capital flows into the UK, suggests that substantial amounts of corrupt wealth stolen from China and Russia are “highly likely” to have been laundered into the UK through the UK’s Tier 1 Investor “golden visa” programme. The report...
The Supreme Court has given judgment in the case of Mandalia v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] UKSC 59 about the interpretation and application of the Home Office’s Points Based System evidential flexibility policy. Regular followers of the blog will be familiar with this policy, which was...
Back in the day, One Direction enjoyed considerable success and dominated the reported charts. Without a picture in the attic, though, good fortune and good looks cannot last forever. Decline is inevitable. It can be embraced with dignity but this eludes some performers, who simply go on playing the same...
Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC 437 has been published. Most of the changes are fairly minor or technical but not all. From the explanatory notes: The purpose of these changes is to: implement section 53(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (“the 2015 Act”) which provides that...
The Upper Tribunal has given judgment in a test case on ETS appeals and judicial reviews: R (on the application of Gazi) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (ETS – judicial review) IJR [2015] UKUT 327 (IAC). It is essential reading for anyone directly affected by the ongoing...
Having just finished drafting grounds for judicial review in a case involving a refusal of a Tier 4 study application on the grounds that the applicant was not a “genuine student” I was interested to see the new case of R (Mushtaq) v Entry Clearance Officer of Islamabad, Pakistan (ECO...
The High Court has found part of the Tier 1 Entrepreneur rules to be irrational in the case of R (on the application of Sabir & Ors) & Anor v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 264 (Admin). Despite succeeding on part of the challenge, though, the case...
The Court of Appeal condemns the complexity of the Points Based System in the case of Hossain & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 207. Lord Justice Beatson says at paragraph 30: The detail, the number of documents that have to be consulted, the...
The case of Ahmed and Another (PBS: admissible evidence) [2014] UKUT 365 (IAC) concerns the ‘genuineness’ test that was introduced for entrepreneur applications as the final death knell for the original concept of the Points Based System as a tool for objective decision making. On appeal, the tribunal holds that s.85A of the Nationality,...
Having been overruled by the Court of Appeal in the case of Rodriguez [2014] EWCA Civ 2 (FM post here), Mr Justice McCloskey, President of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Upper Tribunal, has returned to the vexed issue of ‘evidential flexibility’ in a trio of cases: Durrani (Entrepreneurs:...
The case of Rodriguez, Mandalia and Patel [2014] EWCA Civ 2 is to be reconsidered by the Supreme Court, this months grants of permission reveals. The case concerns the ‘evidential flexibility’ policy that I think was first publicly revealed here on Free Movement. It is a chance for the Supreme...
A new Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 198) corrects an earlier botched attempt to change the rules by fiat and remove discredited Educational Testing Services (ETS) as providers of the English language test needed for many modern immigration applications. ETS was the subject of a BBC Panorama...
This post has been contributed by, Vijay Jagadesham, who represented the College in Global Vision College Ltd v SSHD[2014] EWCA Civ 659. Readers would be forgiven for thinking that this question was clearly answered by the Supreme Court in the case of Alvi v SSHD [2012] 1 WLR 2208, and...
Official headnote: The requirement to prove the existence of “contracts” in paragraph 41-SD of Appendix A to the immigration rules does not itself require the contracts in question to be contained in documents. There is, however, a need for such contracts to be evidenced in documentary form. The Home Office...
In one of the earliest cases of the year, Secretary of State for the Home Department v Rodriguez [2014] EWCA Civ 2, the Court of Appeal has overturned the decision of the Upper Tribunal under the new president McCloskey J, Rodriguez (Flexibility Policy) [2013] UKUT 00042 (IAC).
...Comes into force today. Clarifies that Tier 4 students on post graduate courses of 12 months or longer can sponsor family member dependants. TB screening introduced for those entering from Mauritania for over 6 months and TB screening only required for those entering for settlement from China, Hong Kong and...
The Supreme Court has held the Points Based System’s sponsor licensing scheme is lawful. As Nicola Carter observes, sponsors may be disappointed with the result in R (New London College Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] UKSC 51 but it at least provides welcome clarity for...
In the case of Secretary of State for the Home Department v Raju & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 754 the Court of Appeal has overturned the Upper tribunal’s earlier judgment in Khatel and others (s85A; effect of continuing application) [2013] UKUT 44 (IAC). The outcome is a further setback to...
Short case reiterating that Home Office has to act in accordance with its policies, including that designed to give effect to the earlier Patel case on the situation of students whose college has its sponsor licence suspended or withdrawn. Outgoing President urges Home Office to engage in litigation at an...
Rumours as to the death of the ‘evidential flexibility’ policy prove to have been exaggerated. A new version was recently published. Hat tip to Adam Pipe of No 8 Chambers in Birmingham. The policy covers the circumstances in which a Points Based System application will not be refused because of...
Last month saw the advent of a very useful decision from the High Court concerning the lack of provision in the Immigration Rules to allow migrants in the Points-Based System to switch whilst in-country into a PBS dependent category: Zhang, R (on the application of) v SSHD [2013] EWHC 891...
ACCA not a degree says High Court Zane has suggested on Twitter he is appealing but this looks pretty authoritative, at least in cases that were decided before the Supreme Court decision in Alvi. Note that the claimant in this case, Syed, had to argue that non binding ‘policy guidance’...
Two Statements of Changes to bring to your attention, HC1038 and HC1039. On Monday 1 April 2013, HC1038 came into effect and can be viewed here. Far weightier are the changes contained in HC1039 which will be brought into force on Saturday 6 April 2013 HC1039. These can be viewed...
A big thank you goes to Jane Heybroek of Bell Yard Chambers for persisting with her Freedom of Information request in relation to further documents concerning the Evidential Flexibility policy. You can access the disclosure here. The policy (but not Jane’s FoI instructions) was very recently covered by the Upper...
The very recent reported case of Khatel and others (s85A; effect of continuing application) Nepal [2013] UKUT 44 (IAC) consolidates the on going issues in relation to Points Based System Tier 1 Post Study Work applications: the date of the award and whether or not the Tribunal can consider evidence...
On 22 November 2012 a new Statement of Changes was laid which brings in quite a few amendments to the Immigration Rules. A large proportion of those changes are yet again to clarify, correct and/or put into place what was apparently always intended with the July 2012 changes. Other changes...
Yes another Statement of Changes – HC 565 – has been laid and (hold your breath), most of it comes into force… today! I am grateful to Alison Harvey at ILPA, whose hard-work is truly immeasurable: an e-mail was sent out at 11pm last night alerting members to this following...
Further to Sarah Pinder’s earlier post on this subject, I have been provided with a copy of the infamous “PBS PROCESS INSTRUCTION EVIDENTIAL FLEXIBILITY” document in response to a Freedom of Information Request. I am very grateful to Jane Heybroek [ed. valued occasional blog commenter!] for sharing it. A copy...
[UPDATE: for more analysis see new post The Case of the Lost Prerogative] This is huge news in immigration law: the Supreme Court has dismissed the Home Office appeal in Alvi [2012] UKSC 33, upholding the earlier Court of Appeal judgment in Pankina. The press summary can be found here...
