21 September 2012
Immigration Alert: Delays at Immigration Control When Travelling Without a Biometric Residence Card
Where migrants have recently obtained a visa or visa extension in the UK, the new visa will be endorsed on a Biometric Residence Card (BRP). This has been the case since BRPs were introduced in early 2010. It is not advisable for migrants to undertake travel following the visa approval until they have received their BRP, which usually follows within 5 days of confirmation of the visa approval. Unfortunately, systems used by immigration officials at the ports are not immediately synchronised with those in use by the BRP team. This has led to migrants being delayed at immigration control for up to 2 hours if they travel without the BRP, so that checks can be undertaken.
2 August 2012
Immigration Alert: Sponsor Licence Renewals
Those Sponsors who obtained their Sponsor Licence immediately following the introduction of the Points Based System in November 2008, will now be receiving notifications from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) regarding the renewal process. The emails will come from no-reply@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk and will be addressed to the Level 1 user. Occasionally these emails go into the spam folder and so this should be checked regularly. A further notification will be sent to Sponsors 3 months prior to the expiry date when the renewal function will be activated on the Sponsor Management System (SMS). No documentation will need to be submitted with the application but Sponsors should be prepared to submit any documents which are subsequently requested by the UKBA within 7 days and they may undertake a compliance visit.
26 July 2012
Immigration Update: British Nationality Applications, Interviews for Students, and Sponsor Circumstance Changes
Changes to British Nationality Applications
From 16 July, it will no longer be possible to submit British Nationality applications to the British High Commission or British Consulate in the home country of the applicant. Instead, with the exception of Hong Kong, all applications will need to be submitted to the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in the UK. Where possible, original documents should be submitted, including passports. However, it has long been the practice to submit certified or notarised copies of passports with these applications, and the UKBA has confirmed that certified copies will continue to be acceptable, particularly in the case of applicants whose country’s rules forbid the sending of passports across borders. If a copy is submitted, the applicant may be asked to present the original passport to embassy staff in the applicant’s home country.
25 July 2012
Has Britain closed its doors to elderly dependant relatives?
Yes, the elderly dependant relative immigration category is now closed. Well, that is not strictly true, but it may as well be as the threshold to make an application under the new rules has been set so high that it is difficult to imagine circumstances where it would still apply in practice.
20 July 2012
New rules for family migration – unrealistic specified documents
A few of us from the immigration team recently attended the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and Migrants’ Rights Network (MRN) event on “The new family migration rules: dividing families, disrupting integration”, which was hosted at the Houses of Parliament. The event was well attended but the discussion was unfortunately somewhat unfocussed, and the issue of how practitioners and applicants will deal with the changes to the family rules (which came into force on 9 July 2012) in practice, was not discussed.
