There aren’t any really major immigration policy amendments in the Statement of Changes published yesterday, but there are still a number of developments that you
The Bill announced in the King’s Speech on 13 May 2026 has now been published and is beginning its slow passage through Parliament. It is
The latest quarterly immigration statistics show immigration into the United Kingdom falling across the board. Fewer migrants generally, fewer asylum claims, fewer small boat crossings,
As a result of the statement of changes to the immigration rules (HC 1691) laid on 5 March 2026, the minimum duration of leave granted
We now have the latest quarterly trafficking statistics for January to March 2026. A few new records have been set, including UK national referrals which
In an unprecedented intersection between immigration law and the Scottish Parliament, a foreign-national Student visa holder has been returned as a member of the Scottish
It was the King’s Speech this morning, which sets out the government’s legislative agenda for the next year. The speech itself just covers the headlines.
As the UK moves further towards a fully digital immigration system, most people with UK visas now hold eVisas instead of physical immigration documents. The
A new statement of changes was published yesterday spanning a whole range of changes big and small across many different categories, including refugees, skilled workers,
The quarterly immigration and asylum statistics covering the period to December 2025 have been published by the Home Office, giving us a full picture for 2025. The
The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has disclosed some further details on the new immigration and asylum appeal body. The plans are contained in a letter
The Home Office has published an updated country policy and information note known as a ‘CPIN’ on Pakistan and sexual orientation and gender identity claims.
The consultation on extending the period people in certain immigration routes will need to wait before being able to apply for settlement (also referred to
The Home Office can impose a mandatory refusal period, also known as a re-entry ban, on people who have previously breached immigration law or used
Last weekend’s reshuffle saw Yvette Cooper replaced as Home Secretary by Shabana Mahmood, who was previously the Lord Chancellor. In addition, Angela Eagle, previously the
In this article we look at how foreign Esports (competitive video gaming) competitors can use the visitor route to participate in UK competitions and what
The latest quarterly immigration and asylum statistics have been published, covering the period January to March 2025. The asylum backlog is down, but that is
The immigration white paper contains broad changes affecting swathes of UK immigration policy, including workers, students, family, settlement, citizenship and asylum. Here I look at the
The foreword to the white paper contained little affirmation of the legitimate reasons employers have for recruiting from overseas, or of the contribution many skilled
The immigration white paper has been published containing proposals for future legislation. The summarised proposals from the paper are set out in full below. We
The latest quarterly immigration and asylum statistics have been published and nothing in them felt like much of a surprise really. We know that the
Sometimes a migrant here in the UK unlawfully will want to apply for immigration status. Lawyers and the Home Office often call this “regularising” their
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill has landed, along with a written statement from the Home Secretary. The Bill weighs in at 57 clauses
Following reports of planned concessions around the 31 December 2024 deadline for people to get their eVisas, today Seema Malhotra MP the Minister for Migration
As promised, I have taken the Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum senior caseworker reaccreditation exam. I passed but definitely have some notes on where a
Biometric residence permits (BRPs), all issued with expiry dates no later than the end of December 2024, are being replaced with “eVisas“. To get their
As someone who is in the UK with leave to remain, I recently tried the new eVisa system for myself and thought it would be
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has published two reviews as part of their ongoing work in the sector, one is a review of asylum legal services
In R (SM) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 1683 (Admin), the High Court found a reasonable grounds (first stage)
This post is for those who are new to the area of Windrush compensation claims, or who would like to submit their own claim, and
Currently a comfortable 23 points ahead in opinion polls with just under three weeks to the general election, the Labour Party has published its election
The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) citizens immigration route opened on 31 January 2021. This article sets out the rules for the BNO visa scheme,
There was a notable omissions from last year’s immigration application fee increase, namely limited leave to remain applications (i.e. under Appendix FM). The Immigration, Nationality
An appellant did not act dishonestly when he applied for British citizenship and answered ‘no’ when asked whether there was anything that might cast into
The latest immigration and asylum statistics have been published today. We have highlighted some of the interesting data below on asylum, EU Settlement Scheme, fee
As trailed previously, a statement of changes has been published today removing the rights of care workers to bring dependants to the UK. What was
The government has launched a formal and anodyne-sounding “Consultation on reforms to social housing allocations“. It proposed a new series of bars to being allocated
The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is a fee levied on the majority of UK visa applications. The Immigration Health Surcharge is on top of other
With the news that the immigration health surcharge will be going up dramatically, potentially in the next few weeks, it makes sense for people already
The Senior President of Tribunals has published his 2023 annual report which includes updates from the Immigration and Asylum Chambers of both the First-tier Tribunal
There aren’t any really major immigration policy amendments in the Statement of Changes published yesterday, but there are still a number of developments that you probably need to know about and at least one change that I’m very happy about. I’ll kick off with the good news. Exception to immigration...
The Bill announced in the King’s Speech on 13 May 2026 has now been published and is beginning its slow passage through Parliament. It is the fifth immigration-related Act across five sessions of Parliament, no less. It seeks to fulfil the commitments made in the White Paper a year prior,...
The latest quarterly immigration statistics show immigration into the United Kingdom falling across the board. Fewer migrants generally, fewer asylum claims, fewer small boat crossings, fewer students, fewer family members and fewer workers. Net migration stood at 171,000 for the year 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics, continuing...
As a result of the statement of changes to the immigration rules (HC 1691) laid on 5 March 2026, the minimum duration of leave granted to refugees or those with humanitarian protection has been reduced from five years to 30 months. This change applies to anyone whose protection claim was...
We now have the latest quarterly trafficking statistics for January to March 2026. A few new records have been set, including UK national referrals which are at their highest ever for a single quarter. Reconsideration requests have also hit a record high, and the rate at which those reconsiderations succeed...
In an unprecedented intersection between immigration law and the Scottish Parliament, a foreign-national Student visa holder has been returned as a member of the Scottish Parliament in the May 2026 Scottish Parliamentary election. Q Manivannan, an Indian citizen, has been formally declared as a member of the Scottish Parliament for...
It was the King’s Speech this morning, which sets out the government’s legislative agenda for the next year. The speech itself just covers the headlines. In the case of immigration legislation, this was all we got: Legislation will be introduced to increase confidence in the security of the immigration and...
As the UK moves further towards a fully digital immigration system, most people with UK visas now hold eVisas instead of physical immigration documents. The majority of UK visa holders can now prove their immigration status online. A central part of this modernised system is the use of a share...
A new statement of changes was published yesterday spanning a whole range of changes big and small across many different categories, including refugees, skilled workers, children settling under Part 8, Part Suitability, BN(O) and English language for settlement applications. Many of our readers, both practitioners and migrants, will have been...
The quarterly immigration and asylum statistics covering the period to December 2025 have been published by the Home Office, giving us a full picture for 2025. The Home Office issued a record number of asylum decisions, but also a record number of refusals, raising familiar questions about decision quality and whether the...
The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has disclosed some further details on the new immigration and asylum appeal body. The plans are contained in a letter to the chair of the Justice Committee. Some further hints at the process behind the scenes separately emerged in live questions to Sarah Sackman, Minister...
The Home Office has published an updated country policy and information note known as a ‘CPIN’ on Pakistan and sexual orientation and gender identity claims. A new version of the note was published in May 2025, replacing the earlier version from April 2022 and making significant changes to the 2022...
The consultation on extending the period people in certain immigration routes will need to wait before being able to apply for settlement (also referred to as indefinite leave to remain) has been opened. The Home Secretary also made a statement in the House of Commons. The changes were first trailed...
The Home Office can impose a mandatory refusal period, also known as a re-entry ban, on people who have previously breached immigration law or used deception in their application for leave. Refusal periods can last one year, two years, five years or ten years. Generally speaking, and except for some...
Last weekend’s reshuffle saw Yvette Cooper replaced as Home Secretary by Shabana Mahmood, who was previously the Lord Chancellor. In addition, Angela Eagle, previously the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, and Seema Malhotra, previously the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Migration and Citizenship, have both been moved...
In this article we look at how foreign Esports (competitive video gaming) competitors can use the visitor route to participate in UK competitions and what the rules say about earning prize money. We also look at options for gamers looking to apply their trade in the UK on a long-term...
The latest quarterly immigration and asylum statistics have been published, covering the period January to March 2025. The asylum backlog is down, but that is fairly meaningless given how atrocious decision making is at the moment, those cases are now the First-tier Tribunal’s problem. Syrians seeking asylum in the UK...
The immigration white paper contains broad changes affecting swathes of UK immigration policy, including workers, students, family, settlement, citizenship and asylum. Here I look at the changes affecting higher education and the student’s journey. Why they are making changes The government is concerned about certain recent trends in student migration. These include...
The foreword to the white paper contained little affirmation of the legitimate reasons employers have for recruiting from overseas, or of the contribution many skilled migrants have made to the UK. The Prime Minister made a decision to refer to high levels of inward migration as causing ‘incalculable damage’, and the...
The immigration white paper has been published containing proposals for future legislation. The summarised proposals from the paper are set out in full below. We have also published a more detailed look at the proposals affecting work and student routes and a separate look at the rest of the proposals,...
The latest quarterly immigration and asylum statistics have been published and nothing in them felt like much of a surprise really. We know that the asylum grant rate has been dropping, the number of health and care visas dropping, student numbers dropping and we have seen these trends continue in...
Sometimes a migrant here in the UK unlawfully will want to apply for immigration status. Lawyers and the Home Office often call this “regularising” their status, because the person becomes a “regular” migrant within the rules rather than an “irregular” one outside the rules. One of the ways to do...
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill has landed, along with a written statement from the Home Secretary. The Bill weighs in at 57 clauses (“sections” once it is an Act), two schedules and 74 pages. Let’s take a look. You can also read the Explanatory Notes for yourself if...
Following reports of planned concessions around the 31 December 2024 deadline for people to get their eVisas, today Seema Malhotra MP the Minister for Migration and Citizenship has made a written statement. A new media factsheet was also published as well as statistics on the number of eVisa accounts created...
As promised, I have taken the Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum senior caseworker reaccreditation exam. I passed but definitely have some notes on where a couple of questions could be improved (Law Society – call me!). Below I explained a bit more about how it works and have set out...
Biometric residence permits (BRPs), all issued with expiry dates no later than the end of December 2024, are being replaced with “eVisas“. To get their eVisa, people need to register and set up an online account (see our step by step guide for help with this) so that they can...
As someone who is in the UK with leave to remain, I recently tried the new eVisa system for myself and thought it would be useful to share my experience. Biometric residence permits produced in the past few years have “31 December 2024” as the expiry date. This reflects the...
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has published two reviews as part of their ongoing work in the sector, one is a review of asylum legal services and the second a review of training records. These reviews contain some important points and should be read carefully by solicitors working in immigration and...
In R (SM) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 1683 (Admin), the High Court found a reasonable grounds (first stage) trafficking decision to be unlawful as it failed to consider all the relevant evidence and context in the claimant’s case. This is an interesting and...
This post is for those who are new to the area of Windrush compensation claims, or who would like to submit their own claim, and is designed to be a beginner’s guide to the application process. Background to the scheme In April 2018, the news that long-term lawful residents, including...
Currently a comfortable 23 points ahead in opinion polls with just under three weeks to the general election, the Labour Party has published its election manifesto. Sectors of the economy hit by a massive recent hike in salary thresholds for sponsoring skilled workers will be poring over the manifesto for...
The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) citizens immigration route opened on 31 January 2021. This article sets out the rules for the BNO visa scheme, including recent changes. The Home Office abbreviation is “BN(O)”, which we will use where it forms part of the official title of a route, but...
There was a notable omissions from last year’s immigration application fee increase, namely limited leave to remain applications (i.e. under Appendix FM). The Immigration, Nationality and Passport (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 will bring in increases to those applications from 24 July 2024 and several others, including some that were increased...
An appellant did not act dishonestly when he applied for British citizenship and answered ‘no’ when asked whether there was anything that might cast into doubt his good character. This was despite him being arrested four weeks after citizenship was granted and later pleading guilty to an offence that took...
The latest immigration and asylum statistics have been published today. We have highlighted some of the interesting data below on asylum, EU Settlement Scheme, fee waivers and student and work routes. Asylum As many have been predicting for a while now, the asylum grant rate has dropped substantially in the...
As trailed previously, a statement of changes has been published today removing the rights of care workers to bring dependants to the UK. What was not mentioned in advance was that this statement of changes would also close the Ukraine Family Scheme with immediate effect (from 3pm 19 February 2024),...
The government has launched a formal and anodyne-sounding “Consultation on reforms to social housing allocations“. It proposed a new series of bars to being allocated certain types of social housing, including a “UK connection test” which would be passed by being a British citizen, EEA citizen with equal treatment rights,...
The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is a fee levied on the majority of UK visa applications. The Immigration Health Surcharge is on top of other Home Office immigration fees and designed to land in a different government pocket. Also sometimes known as the NHS surcharge, it essentially adds £1,035 per...
With the news that the immigration health surcharge will be going up dramatically, potentially in the next few weeks, it makes sense for people already in the UK or looking to move here soon to look at whether an early application is possible. As a reminder, the increase is from...
The Senior President of Tribunals has published his 2023 annual report which includes updates from the Immigration and Asylum Chambers of both the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal. Apart from reporting on the extensive preparation work that has been required for both the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the...
