20 June 2013
Immigration Update: Accession of Croatia (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2013 and other changes effective 1st July
The UK government has now formally completed ratification of the Croatian Accession Treaty and has published the Regulations which come into force on 1 July 2013.
5 June 2013
Immigration Update: Changes to the Sponsorship Management System for Tiers 2, 4 and 5 Sponsors
The Home Office has announced plans to introduce a wide range of improvements to its IT systems, including the sponsorship management system (SMS). These enhancements are due to come into effect on 1 July 2013.
8 May 2013
Croatian Accession to the European Union - Frequently Asked Questions
The Home Office has announced that it is expected that Croatia will join the European Union (EU) on 1 July 2013. It has stated its commitment to applying transitional restrictions on labour market access to nationals of any future Member States of the EU as a matter of course and therefore restrictions will be applied to nationals of Croatia. This update looks at some of the frequently asked questions, which cover the proposed transitional arrangements governing Croatian nationals’ access to the labour market.
11 April 2013
Immigration Update: Premium Service Appointments, New Statement of Intent and Capita to run reminder pilot
Following the introduction of a £100 appointment booking fee from 6 April 2013 for all premium service appointments at the Public Enquiry Office (PEO), the Home Office has just announced the new booking process. When booking the premium appointment online applicants will then need to call the immigration enquiry bureau between 9.00 and 15.00 on 0870 606 7766 by 3pm on the next working day to pay the appointment fee of £100 per applicant in order to confirm the appointment. If the payment is not made within this timescale, the appointment will be cancelled.
9 April 2013
Couples torn apart by UK family migration rules
It has been almost a year since the introduction of new draconian immigration rules relating to family migration. We shared some of our concerns about the changes in a previous blog, ‘New rules for family migration – unrealistic specified documents’, and evidence would now suggest that these rules continue to result in partners being split up.
