Fairness and the Points-Based System: A contradiction in terms?
22 June 2012
1 Comment
Kezia Tobin and Sarah Pinder recently broached this topic at a seminar given by Renaissance Chambers on 13 June 2012 digesting the procedural issues and
Kezia Tobin and Sarah Pinder recently broached this topic at a seminar given by Renaissance Chambers on 13 June 2012 digesting the procedural issues and
Theresa May announced substantive changes to the immigration rules, which would limit the number of immigrants entering the UK on the basis of marriage or
The trend is continuing with the fairly recent Upper Tribunal decision of Basnet (validity of application – respondent) [2012] UKUT 00113 (IAC). This concerns applications
Far too late to be of use to anyone, the Upper Tribunal has held that the controversial commencement of section 85A did not affect appeals
I recently acted in an appeal concerning a Tier 4 Student application in which the sole reason for refusal concerned the appellant’s English language ability.
In a slew of new documents published today the Government has heralded the end of quasi-automatic settlement for skilled foreign workers under Tier 2 of
The latest case on fairness and the Secretary of State’s duty within the Points-Based System was published earlier last month. Naved (Student – fairness –
A plethora of immigration tweaks were announced yesterday, mainly of a technical nature. There is still no sign of the introduction of a minimum income
A new decision from the President of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Upper Tribunal offers relief to work permit holders caught out by
What is the psychological effect upon employers of the increasing stringency of their obligations under the Points Based System? The civil penalties under section 15
A new case from the High Court offers an interpretation of Pankina that might give hope to work permit holders applying for Indefinite Leave to
Back on 6 April 2011 the UK Border Agency made a change to the settlement rules for work permit holders who had entered the UK
Perhaps not breaking news for some of you but I suspect not everyone has come across the references to the UKBA’s policy of “evidential flexibility”
The Upper Tribunal has reported a decision on the effect of the new section 85A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002: Alam (s
The Exceptional Talent route attracted a lot of attention and comment when it was announced way back in November 2010. Questions were starting to be
The legal luggage carousel of the tribunal’s reporting committee has deposited a large batch of new cases in the arrivals hall of BAILII. Some of
I’m full of good news today! The rumours were true and section 19 of the UK Borders Act 2007 is being brought into force as
I have had to redraft this post, which had been intended to be a good news story about a positive development at the UK Border
The Government would like students to come to the UK, pay their overseas tuition fees (and a few immigration fees along the way) and then,
The Home Office have published the results of a survey on the Points Based System (full report, summary, both as pdfs). It makes interesting reading.
There have been a few quite interesting tribunal determinations recently, which I have overlooked for various reasons. I thought it was high time for a
There have been two big developments in the last week or so: the ‘ending’ of child detention and the successful challenge to the temporary mad
The tribunal has allowed two appeals on the basis that Pankina does not only apply to the three month rule and that all an applicant
Following Pankina, UKBA laid Statement of Changes HC 382, different parts of which came into effect on 23 July and 12 August 2010. The main
I still use this blog as my own personal note book of developments I might well want to look up later. I’m currently updating and
The Government has laid a new Statement of Changes (HC 382) that incorporates the parts of the Points Based System policy guidance ruled unlawful in
The Points Based System test case, Pankina, is not being appealed by UKBA. This has been confirmed by Treasury Solicitors. Interim guidance has apparently been
Firstly, I am well aware that this blog is seriously behind with a lot of the developments that have taken place in the last fortnight.
The appeal against the Home Office interpretation of the Points Based System has succeeded in the Court of Appeal. Regular readers may remember I went
UPDATE: challenge successful. Penningtons have dropped me a line with some interesting information about a challenge to the new English language requirements for foreign Tier
[UPDATE: read about result here] I dropped into court this afternoon to see how the PBS challenge was going. Unfortunately I missed what sounds like
I’ve just been drafting a skeleton argument for yet another Points Based System student refusal where there is no doubt the applicant has plenty of
Permission has finally been granted for an appeal to the Court of Appeal on the current approach of the tribunal to the Points Based System
I’ve been following with some interest the establishment of the snappily-entitled Office of the Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency (OCIUKBA to its friends).
This is a question many immigrants and immigration lawyers are asking themselves about the so-called Points Based System. Genuine highly skilled immigrants and foreign students
No time for a proper post on this new case from the tribunal, NA & Others (Tier 1 Post-Study Work-funds) [2009] UKAIT 00025, so I’ll
Wending my way north on the train at an ungodly hour this morning, I found my reserved seat was opposite a fellow immigration lawyer I
The determination concerns the award of a qualification for the purposes of Tier 1: Post Study Work rather than the bigger issue of the silly
The Home Office have today announced some changes to the Points Based System for Tier 4 students. In summary, the main changes are: 1. Transitional
There are reports that the Home Office just conceded a judicial review against the maintenance requirements under the Points Based System (PBS). This could be
Kezia Tobin and Sarah Pinder recently broached this topic at a seminar given by Renaissance Chambers on 13 June 2012 digesting the procedural issues and most recent case-law involved and this post has been put together by them both to highlight some of the issues covered. The notes highlight the...
Theresa May announced substantive changes to the immigration rules, which would limit the number of immigrants entering the UK on the basis of marriage or having family members here. Some of the changes, coming into force on the 9th July 2012, were covered by Samina Iqbal and Nishan Paramjorthy, at...
The trend is continuing with the fairly recent Upper Tribunal decision of Basnet (validity of application – respondent) [2012] UKUT 00113 (IAC). This concerns applications rejected as invalid specifically due to a non-payment of the application fee. We’ve waited too long for some sensible guidance in this area and this...
Far too late to be of use to anyone, the Upper Tribunal has held that the controversial commencement of section 85A did not affect appeals that had already been lodged. The case is Shahzad (s. 85A: commencement) Pakistan [2012] UKUT 81 (IAC). It was heard by a panel including the...
I recently acted in an appeal concerning a Tier 4 Student application in which the sole reason for refusal concerned the appellant’s English language ability. Since April 2011 all degree–level students have been required to show knowledge of English equivalent to the “B2” level of the Council of Europe’s Common...
In a slew of new documents published today the Government has heralded the end of quasi-automatic settlement for skilled foreign workers under Tier 2 of the Points Based System, the evisceration of the Overseas Domestic Worker scheme, some tinkering with the Tier 5 temporary worker routes and the creation of...
The latest case on fairness and the Secretary of State’s duty within the Points-Based System was published earlier last month. Naved (Student – fairness – notice of points) [2012] UKUT 14(IAC) concerned a student applying for further leave to remain within Tier 4. The SSHD’s sole reason for refusal was...
A plethora of immigration tweaks were announced yesterday, mainly of a technical nature. There is still no sign of the introduction of a minimum income level nor the ending of Tier 2 settlement applications. It is beginning to seem likely that these will be announced at short notice, probably to...
A new decision from the President of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Upper Tribunal offers relief to work permit holders caught out by a sneaky change to the Immigration Rules in April last year. This topic has been covered here on the blog before, here and here. Before...
What is the psychological effect upon employers of the increasing stringency of their obligations under the Points Based System? The civil penalties under section 15 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 2006, which, in February of 2008, created the possibility of a £10,000 penalty to be paid by an employer...
A new case from the High Court offers an interpretation of Pankina that might give hope to work permit holders applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). Singh J in R (Ahmed) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWHC 2855 (Admin) clarifies the application of Pankina and...
Back on 6 April 2011 the UK Border Agency made a change to the settlement rules for work permit holders who had entered the UK before the Points Based System was introduced. The change required a work permit holder to be paid a certain salary in order to qualify for...
Perhaps not breaking news for some of you but I suspect not everyone has come across the references to the UKBA’s policy of “evidential flexibility” in the context of Points Based System applications. Over the last few months, various documents have been doing the rounds which clearly set out that...
The Upper Tribunal has reported a decision on the effect of the new section 85A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002: Alam (s 85A – commencement – Article 8) Bangladesh [2011] UKUT 00424 (IAC). The official headnote reads as follows: (1) Where it applies, s. 85A of the...
The Exceptional Talent route attracted a lot of attention and comment when it was announced way back in November 2010. Questions were starting to be asked about what had happened to it and whether arts and science organisations were really willing to be the determinants of who is a suitably...
The legal luggage carousel of the tribunal’s reporting committee has deposited a large batch of new cases in the arrivals hall of BAILII. Some of these cases are interesting, others perhaps a little less so. The more interesting include a couple of cases on the availability of funds in Tier...
The Government would like students to come to the UK, pay their overseas tuition fees (and a few immigration fees along the way) and then, as the great Meatloaf would put it, be gone when the morning comes. Despite the general reputation of students for promiscuity (ill deserved, I found...
The Home Office have published the results of a survey on the Points Based System (full report, summary, both as pdfs). It makes interesting reading. Well, I say “interesting”, I actually mean “terribly dull unless you are freakishly interested in such things”. Like me. The report does not address Tier...
There have been a few quite interesting tribunal determinations recently, which I have overlooked for various reasons. I thought it was high time for a catch up, otherwise I’ll never force myself to sit down and digest them. MJB (Inability to provide protection, JAM) Trinidad & Tobago CG [2010] UKUT...
There have been two big developments in the last week or so: the ‘ending’ of child detention and the successful challenge to the temporary mad cap (as I link to think of it). On child detention, Alan Travis of The Guardian was clearly well briefed as he managed to publish...
The tribunal has allowed two appeals on the basis that Pankina does not only apply to the three month rule and that all an applicant need do is comply with the requirements of the Immigration Rules themselves. See FA and AA (PBS effect of Pankina) Nigeria [2010] UKUT 304 (IAC)...
Following Pankina, UKBA laid Statement of Changes HC 382, different parts of which came into effect on 23 July and 12 August 2010. The main changes were to incorporate into the main Immigration Rules some provisions that had previously featured only in the policy guidance and which were declared unlawful...
I still use this blog as my own personal note book of developments I might well want to look up later. I’m currently updating and re-writing the HJT Immigration Manual (ready first week of September in time for the next round of accreditation, available now for a reduced price if...
The Government has laid a new Statement of Changes (HC 382) that incorporates the parts of the Points Based System policy guidance ruled unlawful in the Pankina and English UK cases. This reinstitutes the three month £800 requirement and the minimum of level of English language qualification required by foreign...
Firstly, I am well aware that this blog is seriously behind with a lot of the developments that have taken place in the last fortnight. And a lot has happened. I’ve actually read more or less everything now (iPad + public transport to far flung courts = well-read but pretentious...
The appeal against the Home Office interpretation of the Points Based System has succeeded in the Court of Appeal. Regular readers may remember I went along to and reported on part of the hearing. The case is Secretary of State for the Home Department v Pankina [2010] EWCA Civ 719....
UPDATE: challenge successful. Penningtons have dropped me a line with some interesting information about a challenge to the new English language requirements for foreign Tier 4 students. The challenge is being brought by English UK, a national association of over 400 English language centres. The hearing is listed for 29-30...
[UPDATE: read about result here] I dropped into court this afternoon to see how the PBS challenge was going. Unfortunately I missed what sounds like a masterclass in the morning from Michael Fordham QC, who led the assault on the vires of the entire PBS scheme, which is enacted through...
I’ve just been drafting a skeleton argument for yet another Points Based System student refusal where there is no doubt the applicant has plenty of money, it is just that the evidence is not quite in the required form. This application was made in the summer, before the rules changed...
Permission has finally been granted for an appeal to the Court of Appeal on the current approach of the tribunal to the Points Based System and the scheme’s lawfulness. Six cases have been joined. Oddly, two of the parties are litigants in person. I don’t know who the solicitors are,...
I’ve been following with some interest the establishment of the snappily-entitled Office of the Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency (OCIUKBA to its friends). Like many initiatives to establish supposedly greater accountability for the Home Office, there has been some scepticism about this new institution. The early signs are...
This is a question many immigrants and immigration lawyers are asking themselves about the so-called Points Based System. Genuine highly skilled immigrants and foreign students are considering heading to other countries and immigration lawyers are conflicted: the points based system is great for business but this is because it is...
No time for a proper post on this new case from the tribunal, NA & Others (Tier 1 Post-Study Work-funds) [2009] UKAIT 00025, so I’ll just paste in the headnote, which speaks for itself: i. The new-style Immigration Rules governing Tier 1 (Post Study Work) contain a Maintenance (Funds) requirement...
The determination concerns the award of a qualification for the purposes of Tier 1: Post Study Work rather than the bigger issue of the silly maintenance requirements. Senior Immigration Judge Spencer finds that a person has not been awarded a qualification until they have received the qualification certificate. My own...
The Home Office have today announced some changes to the Points Based System for Tier 4 students. In summary, the main changes are: 1. Transitional arrangements on maintenance are extended to 30 September 2009, meaning the applicant need only show the necessary money in their bank account at the date...
There are reports that the Home Office just conceded a judicial review against the maintenance requirements under the Points Based System (PBS). This could be a very important development, and more posts (or comments, below) will follow as details become available. The challenge appears to have been based on the...
