5 May 2014
Home Office ends requirement for 12 month checks to be carried out by employers
In July 2013, the Home Office launched the illegal working consultation where the Home Office proposals included the removal of the requirement for employers to carry out annual right to work checks on all employees who had limited permission to reside in the UK and instead only requiring them to check at the end of their visa. The Home Office has since published a Code of Practice on preventing illegal working which updates the one issued in February 2008.
16 April 2014
Update on Illegal Working in the UK
On 9 April 2014, the government announced tougher enforcement action to tackle illegal working in the UK. Employers now face more stringent measures and further compliance requirements from the government to stop the UK becoming an attractive place for illegal migrants.
14 April 2014
No more extensions for Tier 1 (General) migrants
The changes to the Immigration Rules mean that Tier 1 (General) migrants can no longer extend their leave to remain after 5 April 2015 or apply for indefinite leave to remain (“ILR”) in the UK after 5 April 2018.
9 April 2014
Latest Home Office announcement of measures to tackle illegal working
On 9th April 2014 the government announced its latest plans to tackle a number of additional illegal working practices. The plan to increase the civil penalty for employing illegal migrants from £10,000 to £20,000 came into effect at the beginning of May 2014.
5 March 2014
Immigration Update: Salary rates for Tier 2 to be updated on 6 April
On 4 March the Home Office announced that they intend to update the salary rates set out in the codes of practiced for skilled employees on 6 April 2014. At the same time they will replace the following Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) codes with multiple options to correspond with the various job levels within those occupations, as set out in the codes of practice