5 October 2016
Roll out of online application process for EEA nationals
Following the conclusion of the pilot to trial online applications for EEA nationals wishing to apply to register their status or apply for Permanent Residence, the online application process has now been rolled out nationally as of 1 October 2016.
24 August 2016
New digital visa application service for visitor visas
In 2014 the Home Office introduced a new digital application service for applicants in China to apply for visitor visas online, known as Access UK.
Following its successful launch, Access UK is now available for applicants applying to visit the UK in over 180 countries and 10 languages.
27 July 2016
Brexit and British Citizens living in other Member States
When the British electorate voted in the referendum on 23 June whether to stay in or leave the European Union few of us in the legal profession thought we would need to become experts on a rather arcane provision of the Treaty on European Union (Article 50) about the mechanisms which need to be applied to the departure of a Member State from the EU. However, now this is the case and there is much rumination about the constitutional requirements for both the UK to trigger the departure procedure and the EU institutions to negotiate that event.
13 July 2016
Reflections on the impact of the UK’s recent and future hostile migration environment
At a faster pace than any had imagined, we are today welcoming a new Prime Minister. A Prime Minister who made a forceful case for significantly cutting immigration when given a platform at last year’s party conference. A Prime Minister who has headed up the department which oversees the design and implementation of immigration policy in the UK over the last six years. A Prime Minister who will need to grapple with, amongst other issues, the position of current and future European migrants to the UK in any upcoming negotiations on the implementation of a ‘Brexit’. It seems prudent, therefore, to reflect on her last six years at the Home Office and consider what her department’s past actions and particularly that speech at last year’s party conference may portend for us who work in immigration or who avail ourselves of the immigration system moving forward.
Many of the developments over the last six years can be seen in the context of a Government striving to meet the arbitrary target of reducing immigration to the tens of thousands. In this quest, no immigration category has been left untouched.
8 July 2016
Biometric Residence Permits and National Insurance numbers
The Home Office is currently rolling out the issuance of National Insurance (NI) numbers for all applicants applying to enter the UK under the Tier 2 General, Minister of Religion or Sportsperson categories. Once an application under these categories has been submitted overseas, this triggers an application to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for an NI number to be issued. This NI number is then included on the Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). At least that is what is supposed to happen.