3 November 2016
Immigration update - statement of changes to the immigration rules published today
As widely anticipated, the latest statement of changes to the Immigration Rules incorporates the Tier 2 changes announced by the government in March, following the Tier 2 review conducted by the Migration Advisory Committee last year. A summary of the main changes are set out below, which will come into effect on 24 November 2016.
6 October 2016
Has ‘immigration’ become the political trump card?
Rising inequality? A lack of affordable homes? Dissatisfaction with a political class seen as increasingly out of touch? Fears about an ever more unstable world?
With such a range of complex issues facing them, politicians are increasingly seeking to simultaneously explain the growing sense of unease felt by their constituents and present simple solutions to these woes. Across Europe and the US, one issue which appears to address all of these concerns is being utilised by a growing number of politicians – and that issue is ‘immigration’.
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.
