31 October 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
The Court of Appeal in Secretary of State for the Home Department v Christy [2018] EWCA Civ 2378 has comprehensively rejected an argument by the Home Office seeking to limit the obligation to consider “Surinder Singh” applications by extended family members.
The decision seems entirely sensible. It must be an extremely common scenario for a UK citizen to meet and form a relationship with a non-EU national living in the EU with their own independent right of residence. To impose a requirement that the non-EU national was granted a right of residence based on the relationship and invoking the Citizen’s Directive, even when they had their own right to reside under the relevant domestic law, would be unnecessarily obstructive.
This is all the more so given the wide variety of procedures, protocols and statuses in the different EU member states. Indeed in many cases it might not be possible to tell on what basis a right was granted, or whether a domestic right was favoured even if an EU law right existed.
Final thought: despite the Home Office’s willingness in this case to embark upon a complex and legal nuanced argument which seeks to limit the scope of Banger, it is yet to incorporate any reference to this important judgment in the relevant policy guidance.
The Home Affairs Committee has criticised the Government's inadequate response to their migration report into 'Policy options for future migration from the European Economic Area'.
05 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
From Friday, 2nd November, people applying for work or study visas, settlement or citizenship from within the UK will be able to make appointments to use new, modernised and efficient service centres.
The first centre will open in Manchester on Friday 9 November 2018 and will be followed by new centres in Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast and Croydon. In addition, there will be 50 enhanced service centres nationally, which will be available to customers for a charge, and a premium lounge located in London.
The modernised service will mean that most people applying in the UK will be able to submit their biometric information including photos, fingerprints, and signatures as well as their supporting evidence at a single appointment.
The current system requires an individual to make an application, send their documents to UKVI, who retain them until the application is completed, and enrol their biometrics separately.
To help improve peace of mind for customers using the centres, it will now be possible, in the majority of cases, to take digital copies of evidence meaning that people won’t have to hand over important documents, such as passports, while their applications are processed.
The Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said:
We are committed to delivering a modern, convenient and easy to use service for UKVI customers.
These new service centres located across the country are a key part of our vision for a system that supports its customers and provides peace of mind whilst they are making an application.
The majority of people will now complete their applications online via an intuitive and easy to use system before attending one of the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services centres (UKVCAS), which will be delivered by commercial partner Sopra Steria.
Customers will be led through an online application process making it clear what they need to do, what supporting evidence they will need and where they need to go to complete their application.
Free appointments will be available for everyone, however, customers will also have the option to purchase added value services such as same day appointments and On Demand services: https://www.soprasteria.com/docs/librariesprovider41/ukvi/ukvi-app-services.pdf
In addition, there will also be 7 dedicated Service and Support Centres (SSC), which will transform the experience for people who need more support with their applications.
Experienced frontline Home Office staff will help those who need extra support to better understand their circumstances and if necessary, take the appropriate safeguarding action.
These SSCs will be in Belfast, Cardiff, Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield and Solihull, and will open in January 2019.
>>> UKVI Front End Services: New UK Visa and Citizenship Customer Journey
UPDATED Information regarding the new US Visa and Citizenship application process and services, including the forthcoming role of Sopra Steria.
The only changes from the information circulated on the 28th October are as follows:
• the new UK VCAS Centres will start to open from the 9th November 2018 (not the 5th November as previously stated)
• all locations will be open by 30th November 2018 (not the 29th November as previously stated).
The employer toolkit equips employers with the right tools and information to support EU citizens and their families to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
The evidence of UK residence webpage for the purposes of the EU Settlement Scheme has been updated. Evidence of residence lists and guidance on what to do if you do not have enough evidence in your own name have been updated.
06 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
Guidance on considering applications in the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) category of the PBS.
12:15am, 5 November 2018: Replaced document with a new version.
07 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
Guidance for caseworkers considering applications under the EU Settlement Scheme during the pilot.
EU citizens and their family members guidance pdf updated.
09 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
12 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> The new UK BA “improved” application systems is not yet so good
A colleague has just submitted an application for British nationality for the 2 family members. The only service available was the standard service but the problem was that the nearest centre was 40 miles away from the colleague’s client and in London there was only one centre available but there was a fee of £400 and some slots for £520.
Unfortunately this is the problem with the New UK BA application system as they are only offering the Premium Lounge for the new system for Naturalisation – there is no benefit to this as the application is still subject to a 26 week processing time according to the information given by the UK BA !
Unfortunately, one cannot switch back once the one chose the new system which is ridiculous!
The old system is still in place until January 2019. This allows one to submit the old way (on paper and do not pay any “premiums”) and the one does then enrol for the Biometrics at the Post Office. Simples !
This ‘NEW’ system does needs some serious amending (already) !
>>> Timing for application re-submission after a failed Administrative Review
One should remember that the one has only 14 days (under the Para 39E) since the date the Administrative Review was refused (following the previous immigration application refusal when there was a right of the Administrative Review only), to submit a fresh immigration application (provided there a merit in doing so !).
The High Court’s recent decision in R (Shafikul Islam) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 2939 (Admin) is yet another case on the vexed issue of whether appeals against refusals of EEA residence cards are suspensive of removal.
Strangely, Regulation 41 only permits people to be admitted to the UK temporarily for an appeal hearing in deportation cases but not in cases of people who are generally removed e.g. for being illegal entrants or overstayers.
The bottom line is that if a person is removed under Section 10 of the 1999 Act, the law doesn’t provide any mechanism for them to return temporarily to attend their appeal. To expel a person with a pending appeal, who is not a criminal, from giving evidence in person, seems plainly wrong and a huge omission in our immigration law.
>>> UK Ancestry Dependents may not need to be in the UK for a period of 5 years to be eligible for ILR
There is currently no 5 years requirement for ILR under the Para 196E of the Rules for dependents under the UK Ancestry category.
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt has published a new report focusing on border controls at south coast seaports. Parts of the report make worrying reading in light of the increased demands on those ports after Brexit. For one thing, the Border Force reports being understaffed at all the ports visited, including Dover.
13 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> Summary of the Sopra Steria Appointment in the Premium Lounge – the NEW Super Premium Service
A colleague accompanied his client to the new Premium Lounge in Mark Lane, EC3 (Lon-don) recently. The client was for Settlement (SETO) using the Super Priority Service
It turned out that instead of the 15-minute service it ran for almost 5 hours as the Sopra Steria has experienced several technical problems due to the amount of scanning the Sopra Steria needed to do in the morning. Apparently, they expected the applicants to bring far less documents for scanning (although it was possible to upload the documents before attending the Premium Lounge).
No Wi-Fi was currently available.
Despite the documents had been uploaded PRIOR to the appointment the Sopra Steria said that only half of the files were received, therefore the applicant had to hand ALL the docu-ments to the Sopra Steria again, so ALL the documents had to be scanned. Then the Sopra Steria said they needed to verify each document page by page. And they all work off very small laptops with small screens with the caseworker’s face right up against the screen try-ing to read the small screen.
After 5 hours the documents were scanned and the biometric enrolled.
Hopefully the Sopra Steria service will be improved very soon.
14 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
Updated guidance on the registration of a minor as a British citizen by entitlement and discretion: amendment to clarify that DNA evidence cannot be mandated and that no negative inference can be drawn if an applicant chooses not to supply such evidence.
A controversial agreement for the NHS to pass information about hospitalised migrants to the immigration authorities has been shelved, campaigners say. The Migrants’ Right Network and Liberty announced today that a legal challenge to an agreement for patient data to be shared with the Home Office has succeeded.
15 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
The Supreme Court has allowed the appeal in the case of Rhuppiah v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 58. Giving the sole judgment, Lord Wilson holds that a “precarious” immigration status is any status short of Indefinite Leave to Remain but allows the appeal on the basis that “financial independence” means not having recourse to public funds.
The Supreme Court also affirms that human rights cases can succeed outside the statutory scheme introduced by the Immigration Act 2014, which allows judges some flexibility when deciding human rights cases.
16 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
How to provide evidence that you’ve been living here if we can’t confirm this through an automated check of UK tax and benefits records. This has been updated to define P45s and P60s.
Information for applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme during the pilot running from 1 November to 21 December 2018 has been updated to add links to using the EU Exit ID Document Check app, ID document scanner locations and administrative review guidance.
20 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> Immigration Health Service Charge Cost to double from December 2019
The Government announced on 11 October 2018 that Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) will be doubling from December 2018 (subject to Parliamentary approval). For Tier 4 students and Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme) migrants this will increase from £150 to £300 and for all other IHS-related immigration categories, the fee will increase from £200 to £400 per applicant per year.
>>> The new Immigration System – UK BA (Sopra Steria) – file uploads issues
The reports are pouring in that despite applicants uploading all the documents via the dedi-cated web-site before the UK BA appointments, often the UK BA does not receive all the attachments. Therefore the applicants must bring all the original documents with them in case the documents need to be re-scanned.
Otherwise the (Premium Lodge) appointment times can range from 45 mins to 4 hours, as reported by the clients and colleagues.
The November allocation meeting took place on 12 November. All valid applications received by 5 November were successful if they scored at least 21 points.
21 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
In the case of KV v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 2483 the Court of Appeal accepts that future statelessness is a relevant consideration in an appeal against deprivation of British citizenship obtained on the basis of fraud. The court also gives guidance on the nature of an appeal against deprivation of citizenship, holds that the burden of proof for proving future statelessness rests with the appellant and holds that Wikipedia is (just about) an acceptable source for proving foreign law.
The appellant had been a Sri Lankan national and successfully claimed asylum in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. He later naturalised as a British citizen in 2007. But in doing so, KV concealed the fact that he had already successfully applied for settlement and naturalisation in the assumed identity of another Sri Lankan national.
21 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> UK BA answers in relation to the New Front End services aka “the New Immigration System”
1. Existing on-line applications
Q: Will the existing online application system still be offered without using Sopra Steria?
A: Yes, until 29th November. After this, customers who are required to use UKVCAS must do so. Other customers will continue to use existing services until the SSCs open in January 2019.
Q: Can we continue with an application that has already been started online before the new system was set up?
A: Yes, any applications started before the implementation of UKVCAS can still be continued. The customer will just be returned to where they were on the form.
Q: Currently, FLR(M) applications are not included in the new Sopra Steria appointments until January when the Service Support Centres will be open. How are FLR(M) applicants supposed to submit their applications between now and then?
A: For some routes, including FLR(M), the online application form will take account of the customers’ specific circumstances and will guide them to the centre they need to attend to complete their application. It will be made clear during the online application if they will be using the SSC or UKVCAS centres and will only be allowed to book an appointment at the appropriate centre.
From 29 November 2018, when the current PSCs close, until 8 January 2019 there will be limited appointments available in the PSCs for those not able to use UKVCAS applying online for leave based on family life or private life who choose UKVI’s 24- hour decision service. During your application you will be advised about which services you are able to use.
2. On demand service
Q: Can the on-demand service be used with the Super Priority service too (24-hour processing time) or is it only in combination with the Standard and Priority Decision services (5 to 10 working days)?
A: The customer will still have the option to choose a Super Priority Service along with the on-demand service, should they wish to do so.
Q: Can the on-demand service be used for Tier 1 Investor (extension), ILR as Tier 1 Investor (standard route), ILR as Tier 1 Investor (accelerated settlement route), Tier 1 Entrepreneur (extension), ILR as Tier 1 Entrepreneur (standard route), ILR as Tier 1 Entrepreneur (accelerated settlement route)?
A: The on-demand service will be available to all customers who use the UKVCAS route. The on-demand service is a separate offering, delivered by the UKVCAS supplier whereas the Super Priority/Priority services are delivered by UKVI. Where Priority and Super Priority services are available to an application type, they can be purchased for submission at an on-demand service.
A: Is there a set period of time to submit the supporting evidence/documents in advance of the on-demand appointment?
A: The (£10 500, old style) Super Premium Service will be discontinued at the end of the transition period to UKVCAS. Customers who previously used the Super Premium Route will now apply online and choose and pay for their case consideration time (service standard).
Once payment is taken the customer will be directed to book an appointment with our Commercial Partner Sopra Steria. Once in the Sopra Steria booking system customers will have a range of appointment types.
The documents can be uploaded at the time of the submission or ahead of submission via self-upload.
Standard Service – 8 weeks for limited leave applications and 6 months for Indefinite leave applications, Citizenship and EEA. All standard applications are measured from date of application.
Q: Is there a maximum number of applicants that can be included at an on-demand appointment? And also, a maximum number of dependants?
A: On Demand VIP price includes up to 10 applicants. On Demand pop up is to cover more than 10 applicants and single applications.
Q: Can main applicants share the appointment cost (i.e. share the total which is "from £9,100")?
It must be paid in one payment. Can all application types use VIP appointments?
A: Yes as long as under the UKVCAS remit
3. Tier 1 investors and entrepreneurs
Q: Can Tier 1 Investors and Entrepreneurs use the Priority Decision and Super Priority Ser-vices (even when not using the on-demand service)?
A: Tier 1 Investors can be considered for a standard service (8 week) and Priority Service 10 day under the new arrangements. T1 Entrepreneurs can be considered for a standard service (8 week).
4. Naturalisation applications
Q:Quicker decisions for nationality applications. Will the system offer a decision within 10 days or even 24 hours?
A: We have concentrated on delivering the new and innovative service to match existing premium service offerings. We recognise that there is some interest in a premium offering for citizenship applications. We will re-visit this in the new financial year. Any premium service is likely to offer a 10 day turn around. The fee for that service is still to be agreed. We are scoping a citizenship priority offering. We hope to launch an offering during 2019. Whilst this will offer a substantially quicker experience than the current six-month service standard, we do not envisage that this will be a 24-hour offering.
Q: For those applicants who are making an application for British Nationality/Citizenship, will they also need to attend an appointment to submit their original documents and certified copies, such as their passports and referee declaration forms, as is the case with the National-ity Document Return Service?
A: Yes, applicants will still need to attend a UKVCAS appointment with their documents (unless they can self-upload) and to lodge biometrics.
Q: Naturalisation applications – is there a plan for a joint passport/naturalisation application in the near future?
A: The Joint Citizenship and Passport application process is an innovative example of customer service. We are keen to deliver this in the new Service Centres and expect to be able to do so in the first quarter of 2019. As you know as we move through the transition period and launch of our new front-end mechanics across UKVI there will be a brief hiatus for the JCAP offering. We hope to recommence the offering early in 2019.
5. European passport returns service
Q: Can you confirm whether this applies to the European passport return service as well? Permanent Residency applications are listed under the new Front-End Service – will this service replace the European passport return service and whether there will be a Priority Decision service or Super Priority service available for this application ?
A: There have been no decisions to stop the EPRS service and European Casework do not offer Priority or Super Priority services
6. Costs of services
Q: Regarding the Enhanced Service points (e.g. the ones opening in London in w/c 19th Nov – Stratford, Wimbledon, Victoria, Shepherds Bush etc), will there be a cost for using these centres and if yes what will the cost be?
A: Yes, standard non-prime time (10-4) appointments are £60, but out of these hours will be £100. Weekend appointments are £125.
7. Booking appointments
Q: How do we book the Super Priority Service? Can this be done using the new system or do we need to continue call/email the HO.
A: Super Priority is chosen when the customer is completing their application form via Access UK.
8. Application dates
Q1. Is the date of the application the date it is submitted online or the date of attending the appointment?
A1: The date of application is the date the customer submits the application online. There must be an appointment available within 5 working days.
Q2: Given that the date of application for an online application is the date it is submitted using the online process, and an applicant for indefinite leave to remain should not make their application more than 28 days before their qualifying period is completed, what information is the Home Office providing to stop applicants from applying too early?
A2: We allow customers to start filling in their form in advance, so they can have time to gather information and evidence. We encourage customers to read the guidance which ex-plains that they should not submit settlement applications more than 28 says before their qualifying period is completed. We always welcome feedback on how to improve our forms and the information we provide customers. PO and policy are looking in to this issue to see where best to add some additional guidance to customers.
9. Supporting documentation
Q1:. Is it enough for us to scan documents and submit with the application, so the applicant will only need to attend an appointment to enrol biometric and not take any original documents?
Q2: As documents can now be uploaded electronically, does this mean that electronically generated documents (such as utility bills, etc) can also be accepted in this way?
A: The intention of digitising documents is that customers can choose to upload documents ahead of their appointment and electronically generated documents can be used as supporting evidence. Customers will have to continue to bring their original identity document for example passport to the service point however this will be scanned and returned.
10. Travel
Q: What information is the Home Office/Sopra Steria giving applicants given that they can-not travel after their passports have been returned to them, and are there currently any plans for introducing a travel facility during processing?
A: If you are applying for leave to remain, or indefinite leave to remain, you should not leave the UK until you have received a decision on your application. If you travel outside the “Common Travel Area” (CTA) before the decision is made on your application, your application will be treated as withdrawn.
The CTA is:
• UK
• Republic of Ireland
• Channel Islands
• Isle of Man
If the decision is made while you are outside the UK and your current leave has expired, you will not have a right to return to the UK and you may be refused entry at the UK border.
11. Consent
Q: Giving consent to the Home Office to verify documents submitted as part of an application ?
A: The consent declaration is triggered by a block in the form where applicants are given the declaration to print off and submit. The actual declaration (rather than just a tick on the form) can be found via the hyperlink and is what banks will ask for when we need to verify.
12 .Level of service
Q: What are the opening times of each centre ? Will any or all of the centres be open on weekends and, if so, will there be an additional charge for booking an appointment on a day on the weekend?
A: Sites won’t open of a weekend but in the main all Core sites will and some enhanced sites, there will be an additional charge for the weekend as this is classed as an out of hours appointment and is therefore an AVS.
Q: Will there be a Walk-In without an appointment facility as an alternative to next day and same day appointments and, if so, will there be an additional charge for this?
A: We offer customers the opportunity to purchase, for an additional fee, a same-day appointment, subject to appointment slots being available and these can be purchased. There is no facility to directly walk-in without an appointment, but the use a self-service terminal or library workstation or premium lounge reception can be used to complete their same-day appointment purchase, subject to available appointment slots.
Q: Can the additional services, not including the Standard, Priority and Super Priority services be purchased online prior to the date of an appointment or whether they have to be purchased at the respective centre on the day of the appointment?
A: Additional services are either linked to an appointment and are therefore purchased when the customer selects their appointment slot, or can be purchased as extra services either during the appointment booking process or afterwards by logging back in to the UKVCAS web-site. Extra services can be purchased up until the time of an appointment.
13. System issues
Q: When an application is submitted online using the new system there appears to be no facility to withdraw the application and claim a refund. In cases where the application has been submitted incorrectly and an applicant wishes to withdraw the application to submit a new one and claim a refund, there is no way to do this online. Can UKVI please confirm if there is a facility to withdraw and application and request a refund? If yes, please confirm how we can do this.
A: UKVI operations are currently revising the refund/withdrawal process so this is clear un-der the new service, we will share as soon as this is available. You can find further information on how to cancel your application here -https://www.gov.uk/cancel-visa
Q: UKVCAS website explained how appointments could be booked out-of-hours, next day, same day etc, but did not give any indication as to processing times. I still don't know whether a same-day appointment leads to a same-day decision
A: The speed of the appointment has no effect on the decision making. UKVI offer the priority consideration on Access UK if applicable and customers can choose a faster appointment on Sopra Steria’s appointment booking.
14. Appointments and uploading documents
Q: When an application is submitted online and appointment is booked and paid for (e.g. an appointment at a Premium Lounge costs £260) there is no facility to reschedule the appointment should the applicant need to change their appointment date. Instead the applicant has to cancel the appointment and loses the additional fee for the appointment. They then have to book a new appointment and potentially pay a new fee for it. Can UKVI please con-firm whether there should be a facility to reschedule an appointment without losing the fee paid and if yes how do we go about rescheduling if required?
A: Yes, Sopra should allow the customer to reschedule an appointment for no further cost. UKVI will feed this back to Sopra.
Q: Our understanding of the new system is that original documents would not be required to be submitted so unsure why Sopra are insisting on them being taken to the appointment?
A: There is no need for customers to bring their evidence to their appointment if they have self-uploaded. The customer will need to bring their passport of travel document to their appointment as this cannot be self-uploaded.
We have now done a couple of cases under the new system and having spoken to clients as to what has happened at the appointments, it would appear that the client should take a hard copy application bundle to the appointment with them (in the traditional sense). My clients are feeding back that the officers seem to go through the bundle whilst looking at their computer screen.
Q: It would appear that the clients should take a hard copy application bundle to the ap-pointment with them (in the traditional sense) as the officers seem to go through the bundle whilst looking at their computer screens
A: We are requesting that documents scanned and uploaded at home are brought to the ser-vice point in case there is an issue with any of the uploaded documents, to avoid inconvenience to the applicant of re submission. We will be keeping this policy under review.
There is no requirement for staff to cross-check hardcopy documents against digital copies and this messaging will be reinforced in operational update bulletins.
NB: A couple of issues to be aware of:
Q: Uploading documents must be split up into different categories (Passports, finance etc).
A: Correct
Q: Dependants docs are loaded to the same account as the principal applicant but under their own specific names.
A: Correct
Q Some have reported that at this end documents are showing as uploaded but at their end they are saying that they do not have them.
A: As part of continuous improvement UKVI will work with Sopra to ensure customers can view their uploaded evidence to enable them to check the quality and quantity.
Q: Once you have uploaded the document you don’t seem to be able to open the uploaded to check that you have indeed uploaded the correct document so you have to label very carefully before uploading. You can however remove an upload if you need to.
A: As above.
There is currently no functionality to view documents once you have uploaded them but will be added in the future.
Q: When my ILR clients attended the appointment with the ILR application, the applicants had a number of documents to be scanned as part of the application. The staff at the centre specifically said they would not accept his EDF energy bills and stated that certain items brought to the appointment were not mandatory documents and therefore did not need to be scanned. They went further to say that only the Police Registration Certificate was mandatory for the ILR application (which is not correct).
We are concerned that there may be an issue with the processing of this application in particular given that the centre staff would not scan the documents the applicant wished to submit.
A: Service point staff are not allowed to determine what documents can and cannot be scanned.
Q: Do you envisage that Sopra Steria will make sufficient numbers of free biometric appointment slots available to avoid applicants having to pay an additional fee, on top of the Home Office Priority and Super Priority fees?
A: No the customer pays for biometrics but if biometrics are not required then they will not be charged £19.20 for this service.
A: Sopra are required to offer an appointment at a core site within 5 working days of sub-mission.
15. BRP cards
Q: Will these be returned to applicants at the biometrics appointment?
A: Yes, they will be, no documents will be retained by Sopra Steria. However, applicants will be asked to return their BRP for secure destruction if a new BRP is issued or when their current BRP expires.
Detailed illustration which immigration application types can be lodged via the UK BA New Application System via the Premium (10 days) or Super Premium (24 hours) options or only via Standard Service (8 weeks/6 months).
22 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
R (Lucas) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 2541 is about re-detention following the grant of immigration bail by the First-tier Tribunal under the now repealed provisions of the Immigration Act 1971. The Court of Appeal ruled that tribunal bail finishes once the person has appeared before an immigration officer, at which point the immigration officer may grant a further period of bail or re-detain them. There is no requirement to bring the person back to the First-tier Tribunal to ask for permission to re-detain.
It is important to note that the instances of bail and re-detention in this appeal occurred be-fore the changes to the bail system under the Immigration Act 2016 came into force. The 2016 Act stipulates that bail comes to an end if the person is no longer liable to be detained, granted leave to remain, detained or removed from the UK. It also explicitly states that the grant of bail does not prevent the Secretary of State from re-detaining the person, so the is-sue in this appeal will no longer arise in practice.
In HKK (Article 3: burden/standard of proof) [2018] UKUT 386 (IAC), counsel rather ambitiously attempted to reopen the question of where lies the burden of proof in Article 3 appeals.
23 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
The Home Office has published guidance on “paragraph 322(5)” cases following a review of settlement refusals under the controversial rule. The takeaway is that no refusals should be issued without interviewing the applicant first.
Migrants on a Tier 1 (General) visa who want to settle in the UK have been refused because of discrepancies between tax information provided to HMRC and the earnings information given to the Home Office as part of earlier visa applications. The Home Office thinks that these applicants inflated their income in order to secure their Tier 1 visas.
The Home Office review says that since January 2015, almost 1,700 indefinite leave to remain applications from Tier 1 (General) migrants have been refused. In 88% of cases, the tax discrepancies amounted to more than £10,000 and so were not considered likely to be an innocent mistake. Most applicants changed their tax returns years after filing them and not long before an ILR application.
Of the 1,700 cases examined, the Home Office says that it has reversed its decision in 37 and is reconsidering another 19. But it has also lost two thirds of the appeals that have so far gone to the First-tier Tribunal.
UK and EU negotiators have just published a declaration setting out their ambitions for the future relationship between this country and the remainder of the EU after Brexit.
Of particular interest is the section on “mobility” (i.e. migration) after Brexit, which is much longer than the couple of lines given over to this subject in an earlier draft published last week. It starts by acknowledging that free movement will end, aims for visa-free travel for short trips and notes that the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland is a separate consideration. The relevant section in full:
“IX. MOBILITY
50. Noting that the United Kingdom has decided that the principle of free movement of persons between the Union and the United Kingdom will no longer apply, the Parties should establish mobility arrangements, as set out below.
51. The mobility arrangements will be based on non-discrimination between the Union’s Member States and full reciprocity.
52. In this context, the Parties aim to provide, through their domestic laws, for visa-free travel for short-term visits.
53. The Parties agree to consider conditions for entry and stay for purposes such as research, study, training and youth exchanges.
54. The Parties also agree to consider addressing social security coordination in the light of future movement of persons.
55. In line with their applicable laws, the Parties will explore the possibility to facilitate the crossing of their respective borders for legitimate travel.
56. Any provisions will be without prejudice to the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements as they apply between the United Kingdom and Ireland.
57. To support mobility, the Parties confirm their commitment to the effective application of the existing international family law instruments to which they are parties. The Union notes the United Kingdom’s intention to accede to the 2007 Hague Maintenance Convention to which it is currently bound through its Union membership.
58. The Parties will explore options for judicial cooperation in matrimonial, parental responsibility and other related matters.
59. These arrangements would be in addition to commitments on temporary entry and stay of natural persons for business purposes in defined areas as referred to in Section III of this Part. Those commitments should not be nullified by the right of either Party to apply their respective laws, regulations and requirements regarding entry, stay and work.”
The political declaration, like the draft Withdrawal Agreement on the arrangements for divorce, still has to be ratified. Unlike the Withdrawal Agreement, it would not be legally binding.
24 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
A v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] CSIH 38 is an important 2016 decision from the Court of Session in Scotland, the full impact of which has still to be felt. It concerns the Immigration Rules, as they apply to spouses of refugees, where the spouse has experienced domestic violence.
Section DVILR of Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules sets out criteria for the granting of indefinite leave to remain (settlement) to victims of domestic violence. While this allows settlement to be granted to spouses of British citizens or persons settled in the UK if the relationship has broken down due to domestic violence while the spouse of the British citizen or settled person has temporary leave, these rules do not apply where the initial applicant (usually the husband) had still to be granted settlement.
This means that the immigration rules treat non-national spouses of persons with refugee leave less favourably than the spouses of British citizens and persons with settled status.
The consequences of this discrimination were potentially dire; women in this situation would potentially face deportation if their relationship broke down, and this gave rise to concern that some victims of domestic violence might be compelled to stay in abusive relationships to prevent return to their home country.
Although this decision was hailed at the time as a victory by campaign groups, the Home Office has still to amend the Immigration Rules to reflect the court’s decision.
In Joined Cases C 47/17 and C 48/17 X and X v Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that failure to respond to a re-examination request under the Dublin III procedure does not mean that the defaulting member state takes over the asylum claim. The court refused to remedy an apparent deficiency in EU asylum legislation by imposing a sanction for failing to respond. Instead it emphasised that countries must endeavour to meet the deadline in a “spirit of sincere cooperation” even though there are no consequences for failure.
This issue arises where one member state requests that another “take back” or “take charge” of an asylum seeker, usually because of a fingerprint match which proves they claimed asylum in that other country first. If that member state refuses to accept responsibility, the requesting government can submit a re-examination request with additional evidence.
The Dublin III system is based on member states complying with strict time limits, so failure to meet a deadline normally means that the defaulting country becomes responsible for dealing with the asylum claim. However, the implementing regulation merely states re-examination requests should be dealt with in two weeks and does not impose any sanction for missing the deadline.
This anomaly in the legislation creates an incentive for member states to initially refuse to accept responsibility and then ignore re-examination requests. The Court of Justice refused to address this loophole by interpreting the implementing regulation to have implied sanctions for missing the deadline.
27 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> The Derivative residence does not lead to Permanent Residence – Chen, Zambrano etc (the primary carers of EU children) cases under the EU law
It is worth remembering that under the Regulation 15 the Derivative residence does not lead to Permanent Residence:
Reg15(2):
“Residence in the United Kingdom as a result of a derivative right to reside does not constitute residence for the purpose of this regulation”
30 November 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> UKVI update on FLR(M) and FLR(FP) applications
The FLR(M) and the FLR(FP) applications can, until the 9th January 2019, be submitted via some of the PSCs, still:
“…here is an outline of the customer choices for those applying through the FLR(M) and FLR (FP) routes between the closure of the Premium Service Centres (PSC’s) on the 29th November until the introduction of the Service Support Centres (SSC’s) in January
Any customer making a FLR(M) or an FLR(FP) application online from the 29th November will have full access to the choice of a standard or a super priority decision. From then, any customers making an online application will be presented with the option to select;
- UKVCAS or
- existing services which are the post office or PSC routes.
If a customer opts for the post office/PSC route and finds they are unable to obtain a PSC appointment they will be able to navigate back and choose to use UKVCAS. This will allow customers who are navigated back to UKVCAS to take advantage of Sopra’s full service offering by paying an additional fee to attend enhanced service points that Sopra Steria offer in local libraries offering them a greater choice of location. We anticipate this will result in an increased take up of SPV applications and to mitigate any impact we are exploring using some existing caseworking capacity within the PSC sites to support operations and meet potential demand.
Customers applying on paper based routes will not have the option to access super priority decisions as we will be encourage customers to apply online to both support our channel shift to a more seamless online customer journey and also ensure the PSC’s can close on time to allow a smooth transition to SSC’s and to mitigate any risks to the SSC’s being introduced in January.”
>>> UKVI correspondence: The EEA nationals are currently NOT able to use the New Front End Services
“With regards to EEA/Swiss Nationals using the new service:
UKVI plan to include EEA and Swiss Nationals in this service, however we cannot currently confirm the date this will become available.
EEA and Swiss Nationals should continue to use the existing online or postal process at the current time.
Please continue to check our website for any updates.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
With regards to the European Passport Return Service (EPRS):
As the service arrangement for the EU settlement scheme is still to be announced, EPRS will continue to operate until the new service arrangements have been confirmed.
03 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
In Oksuzoglu (EEA appeal – “new matter”) [2018] UKUT 00385 (IAC), the appellant was a Ukrainian national and the sponsor was a British national. They had spent some seven months in Cyprus and on their return to the UK, the appellant applied for a residence card invoking the Surinder Singh principle.
The official headnote:
"(1) By virtue of schedule 2(1) of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016 (‘the 2016 Regs’) a “new matter” in section 85(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 includes not only a ground of appeal of a kind listed in section 84 but also an EEA ground of appeal.
(2) The effect of the transitory and transitional provisions at schedules 5 and 6 of the 2016 Regs is as follows:
(a) All decisions made on or after 1 February 2017 are to be treated as having been made under the 2016 Regs, whatever the date of the application;
(b) Regulation 9 of the 2016 Regs applies (through the medium of the transitory provisions) to all decisions made on or after 25 November 2016 whatever the date of the application;
(c) In all other respects the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006 apply if (i) the application was made before 25 November 2016 and (ii) the decision was made before 1 February 2017.".
In MM (Malawi) [2018] EWCA Civ 2482 the Court of Appeal has again confirmed that there is indeed a discrepancy between the domestic law on Article 3 medical cases as set out in the House of Lords case of N v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2005] UKHL 31 and the recent European Court of Human Rights judgment in Paposhvili v Belgium (application no. 41738/10). The court also conceded that it is arguable that Paposhvili extends Article 3 protection to anyone who would suffer a significant reduction in life expectancy, though it did not
R (Basir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 2612 is about section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971. Section 3C works as follows: where a person makes a valid application to extend his or her leave to enter or remain and the application is refused, that person’s immigration status is extended during any waiting time for the application to be decided or for an appeal to be decided. (Except the exception to the general rule when the application is decided before the original visa expires.)
If you are on section 3C leave, you can’t use that breathing space to make a new application for leave. It is only really intended to keep your stay in the UK legal while the extension application is being considered/appealed — not to try your luck with a different application entirely while that is going on.
05 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
A top legal adviser to the Court of Justice of the European Union has recommended that the UK be allowed to cancel its Article 50 notification triggering Brexit and stay in the EU if it wants. Advocate General Sánchez-Bordona writes in an Opinion released recently that the UK has the legal right to withdraw its Article 50 notification, even without the agreement of other EU countries — so long as this happens before the withdrawal agreement is concluded and has parliamentary approval.
07 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> UKVI update: Tier 1 (Investor) visa was suddenly suspended at midnight on the 6th December 2018 (via ILPA)
The suspension only affects new applicants, not extensions, filing after the suspension comes into effect.
The Home Office briefing note should be published today.
Modernised guidance for how UK Visas and Immigration uses evidential flexibility when considering applications.
Updated Points-based system: evidential flexibility document to latest version.
08 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visas to be scrapped in Points Based System shake-up
The immigration minister, Caroline Nokes, gave us a sneak preview of a range of tweaks to the rules that will be laid “shortly”. The changes include:
• Introducing the “Start-up” visa (announced in June)
• Scrapping the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route and replacing it with an “Innovator” visa
• Big changes to the Tier 1 (Investor) route, which is suspended in the meantime
• Allowing architects to get Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visas
• Some “minor, more technical changes” to Tier 1 and Tier 2 (i.e. nasty surprises in the small print)
• Clamping down on the Tier 5 (Temporary Worker – Religious Worker) route, “prohibiting Tier 5 Religious Workers filling roles as Ministers of Religion”
• Introducing a cooling-off period for Tier 5 so that nobody can get a second Religious Worker or Charity Worker visa until a year has passed since their first one expired
• Introducing the pilot scheme for seasonal agricultural workers (announced in September)
More details to follow when the full statement is issued by the Government.
10 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> The UK BA fails to implement the Tier 1 (Investor) suspension
From ILPA:
“ILPA understands from the Home Office that there is no suspension as yet of the Tier 1 (Investor) visa.
The Home Office cannot say if or when any suspension will happen, or how much notice we will get.
Needless to say, ILPA is extremely disappointed by the situation, which makes a mockery of the principles of certainty and stability inherent in the rule of law.”
The Court of Justice of the European Union has found that the UK can cancel Brexit by withdrawing its Article 50 notification, without having to get the permission of other EU countries. The result in case C 621/18 Wightman and Others means that, if political circumstances change soon, the UK could remain in the EU on the same terms as now.
There are conditions. The UK would have to officially change its mind “through a democratic process”, widely interpreted to mean new legislation to reverse the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017. The “unequivocal and unconditional” change of mind would have to be notified in writing to the European Council. If Brexit day (29 March 2019) arrives or the withdrawal agreement drawn up by negotiators comes into force, it will be too late.
11 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> The UK BA online FLR(M) application form is providing wrong information
It has been reported that the UK BA online application form FLR(M) only refers to the need for an A1 CEFR certificate even where a 2nd spouse extension is sought, while the minimum and the correct level for the extension is currently A2 CEFR.
Whilst that is not an issue for lawyers submitting applications (who should know what is needed) it will create real issues for applicant’s given the incorrect information.
You have been warned!
>>> Can a visitor be granted leave to remain in the UK if the visitor’s British spouse dies in the UK ?
Potentially, yes, case to case dependent, via the currently available FLR(HRO) application form.
11 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
•Introduce a new seasonal workers scheme; and
•Expand protection offered to victims of domestic abuse, to include partners of
refugees who have not yet gained indefinite leave to remain, as a result of the
judgment in the case of A v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2017).
Changes relating to Tier 1 of the Points-Based System
Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent)
• The endorsement of arts applicants is being widened to include those in the
field of architecture. These applicants will be assessed by the Royal Institute
for British Architects operating within the endorsement remit of Arts Council
England;
•For consistency, the grant periods for entry clearance applications have been
amended to include an addition 4-month period for each potential grant of
leave. This provides applicants with extra time to meet the qualifying period
for settlement and reduces the likelihood that they would have to apply for
further extension applications. Currently only applicants who request 5 years’
leave qualify for the additional 4-month period;
•Other changes are being made to the criteria for endorsement by each
Designated Competent Body, at those bodies’ requests. These include changes
to the evidential requirements for digital technology applicants who, as a result
of the Tech Nation online application form, are no longer required to supply
paper copies of their specified evidence to the Home Office; and amendments
within Arts Council England rules to ensure consistency across its subendorsers
Changes relating to Tier 2 of the Points-Based System (PBS)
•A change is being made to include the Academic Technology Approval
Scheme (ATAS) requirement for Tier 2 (ICT) applicants extending
leave in the United Kingdom. Applicants in all PBS routes are required
to obtain an ATAS certificate before studying a postgraduate
qualification in certain sensitive subjects, knowledge of which could be
used in programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)
or their means of delivery. The requirement for ICT extension
applications had previously been excluded in error;
•Remove references to ‘Universal Jobmatch’ from the Rules covering
the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT). Universal Jobmatch (UJM)
was replaced by the ‘Find A Job’ service on 14 May 2018, with UJM
permanently closing on 17 June 2018;
•Changes to fix incorrect cross references in paragraph 78C(g) relating
to inward investment requirements, and in table 11B, relating to the
RLMT for creative occupations;
•Including reference to the appropriate salary to be paid to nurses or
midwives who are undertaking the Observed Structured Clinical
Examination (OSCE) to obtain Nursing and Midwifery Council
registration.
Changes relating to Tier 4 of the Points-Based System
• The definitions of “degree level study", “foundation degree” and "post-graduate level
study" are being updated to replace the references to the "National Qualifications
Framework" with "Regulated Qualifications Framework" as the latter is now the
framework used to determine levels of study in the UK.
• A definition of a “higher education provider” is being added to the introduction
section of the rules to reflect the changes to Tier 4 arising from the higher education
reform in England, including the introduction of the Office for Students, and so that
institutions in the Devolved Administration have the same ability to offer privileges to
their students as institutions in England. Accordingly, references to “higher education
institutions”, where appropriate, are being changed to “higher education provider”.
• A definition of a “track record of compliance” is being added to the introduction
section of the rules. Changes are being made to Parts 6A and 8 of the Immigration
Rules, to set out when a student who is sponsored by a higher education provider with
a track record of compliance will receive conditions of leave which entitle them to
work, apply for further Tier 4 leave in the UK, and bring dependants. These changes
will come into effect on 1 August 2019 and are being made in support of the changes
to Tier 4 arising from the higher education reform in England.
• A change is being made to Appendix C to make clear that Tier 4 applicants, who rely
on student loans or funds from official financial sponsors, are not required to
demonstrate that the funds have been held for a period of 28 consecutive days. A
minor change is being made to clarify that a Tier 4 migrant must have the funds
available to them on the date of application, except where the funds are being
provided as a financial loan and the student separately confirms when the funds will
be available to them.
• In Appendix C, a change is being made to clarify that if the applicant is a Tier 4
(Child) Student the specified documents submitted with their application must
confirm who is providing the maintenance funds for their use in studying and living in
the UK and that the funds will remain available to them unless used to pay for course
fees and living costs.
• Amendments are being made to the rules in Appendix C to make them gender neutral
Changes relating to Tier 5 of the Points-Based System
• General quota related changes
• Introduction of a 12-month cooling off period for charity and religious workers
• Introduction of the new seasonal workers pilot scheme - the formal date of implementation for this pilot will be announced in due course
Minor changes to the Visitor, Ancestry and the Electronic Visa Waiver visa routes
Changes to domestic violence provisions
• The case of A v the Secretary of State for the Home Department ruled that the
definition of ‘settled person’ in Appendix FM should be expanded, for the purposes of
domestic abuse policy, to include people with refugee status who have not yet
completed the five-year period required to be granted indefinite leave to remain. The
judge held that because 95% of refugees gain indefinite leave to remain following the
end of the five-year period, indefinite leave to remain can be considered a legitimate
expectation. The effect is that a sponsored partner should have the same expectation
of settlement and therefore of protection under domestic abuse provisions.
• As a result, the eligibility for indefinite leave to remain, as a victim of domestic abuse
under paragraph E-DVILR.1.2 and 1.3, is being clarified to include partners of people
with refugee status who have not yet been granted ILR. E-DVILR.1.2 is also being
amended to include partners granted leave under paragraph 352A where their sponsor
has not yet gained indefinite leave to remain.
• To clarify, only one grant of leave can be made under paragraph 352A. There is
therefore no reference in E-DVILR.1.2.(a) to a subsequent grant of leave being made
under this section.
12 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
The High Court has ruled that the regulations for charging non-residents in advance for non-urgent NHS treatment are lawful. In R (MP) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2018] EWHC 3392 (Admin), decided yesterday, the court rejected a claim that the government had a duty to consult before introducing advance charging and that it had not complied with the public sector equality duty
>>> Can EEA nationals and their family members still be applying for the Residence/Permanent Residence etc during the Brexit transition period ?
Yes, according to the UK BA:
“There will remain scope for applications for documentation under the EEA Regulations while these continue to operate during the implementation period to 31 December 2020, in line with the draft WA.
And such an application should not be treated as withdrawn where the applicant submits an application under the EU Settlement Scheme, as the person can hold a document under the EEA Regulations and UK immigration status under the scheme.
We will continue to keep the gov.uk guidance under review. The need to maintain continuity of residence in order to qualify for settled status is emphasised in the ‘Important information’ enclosed with the decision letter sent to those granted pre-settled status.”
>>> Tier 1 (Investor) Update from the UK BA
“The Tier 1 (Investor) visa is not currently suspended. However, the Government remains committed to reforming the route. A further announcement will be made in due course.
Any suspension would be implemented through changes to the Immigration Rules.
Regards,
Home Office | Migration Policy”
>>> More information on the new UK BA Tier 5 Agricultural Scheme
We saw it some 12-15 years ago, run by Condordia. Now it is back, to be run by Concordia and the Pro Force Limited. Namely:
Seasonal worker pilot
The seasonal worker pilot will be run under the existing Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) category. It will be open to applicants over the age of 18. In addition to making some amendments to Part 8 relating to dependants, and Part 6A of the Immigration Rules (in particular the part under the sub-heading “Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) Migrants), the statement of changes introduces a new appendix into the Rules, Appendix U.
“Edible horticulture sector” (namely vegetable, fruits, vines and mushrooms) and “seasonal work” are defined in the introduction to the Rules. Seasonal work is defined as “employment which fluctuates or is restricted according to the season or time of the year”.
The explanatory memo says that “the formal date of implementation for this pilot will be announced in due course”.
Successful applicants will be issued leave starting 14 days before the beginning of the period of engagement and ending 14 days after the end of that period of engagement, but never for longer than six months in any 12-month period. They will not be allowed to carry on any other work than the work they are being sponsored for. It also seems that they will not be allowed to be accompanied by their family members to the UK.
14 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> Can a child on a Visitor Visa switch into a Settlement Visa in-country ?
Unlike the partner or parent or PBS child or child of non-PBS worker routes, there are no immigration status requirements preventing a child visitor from switching to child settlement within the UK.
However, the UK BA may expect explanations of strong changes in circumstances.
For children, any refusal should be subject to Section 55. But the Section 40 needs to be also taken into consideration.
The Guidance does place the initial onus on the applicant to raise the issue of the best interests of the child involved.
15 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and updates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> Paper forms FLR(HRO); FLR(FP); FLR(LR); FLR(M) are withdrawn and changed to online application only.
18 December 2018 – Just useful and interesting UK & EEA Immigration Law news and up-dates from the Legal Centre – Open 7 days a week - www.legalcentre.org – Mob : +44(0)7791145923
>>> The New Front End Service update – some questions answered
Q: The Sopra Steria’s scanners at the new Visa Application Centres in the UK are rather slow, it takes about 20 seconds for their scanner to scan a single page. Also, Sopra Steria does not issues any receipts to confirm that they (received and) scanned the documents ? Can Sopra Steria issue the receipts upon scanning the documents ?
A: Currently there is not facility whereby the customer receives a confirmation or receipt of doc-uments being scanned but we have sent this onto Sopra Steria to consider.
Q: How much does it cost for the Sopra Steria to scan the documents at the time of the application ?
A: £35
Q: Is it possible to reschedule a booked appointment via the Sopra Steria web-site ?
A: No, currently you cannot reschedule your appointment. You must first cancel your appointment and then book a new appointment (and pay the fee again).
Q: Is there a cancellation charge for cancelling an appointment booked via the Sopra Steria’s web-site ?
A: If an applicant cancels their appointment within 48 hours of their appointment time they will incur a cancellation charge. If an applicant cancels their appointment more than 48 hours in advance of their appointment time they will not incur a cancellation charge.
Q: How much does a VIP appointment cost (a visit by the Sopra Steria on site, for example) ?
A: The VIP service will be £650 per agent per hour.
Q: How much time do I have to enrol for the biometrics upon submission of the online application under the New Front End Service ? The Sopra Steris web-sites says that this needs to be done with-in 5 days from the application submission ?
A: Although it is recommended the applicant attends an appointment within 5 working days of submitting their application it is not a requirement. The applicant can book an appointment more than 5 working days from the date of application and have 45 days to enrol their biometrics from the date of application. We would recommend you check the service standards of the application for the specific visa type before booking the appointment.
Q: What will be the applicant’s position with regard to travel between the application being sub-mitted online and attending a biometric appointment (provided the BRP remains valid)?
A: If someone travels while there is a live application leave to remain or Settlement application (ex-cludes the Naturalization application) this is grounds for an automatic withdrawal as they have to be in the UK when an application is being considered
If you are applying for leave to remain, or indefinite leave to remain, you should not leave the UK until you have received a decision on your application. If you travel outside the “Common Travel Area” (CTA) before the decision is made on your application, your application will be treated as withdrawn.
The CTA is:
• • UK
• • Republic of Ireland
• • Channel Islands
• • Isle of Man
If the decision is made while you are outside the UK and your current leave has expired, you will not have a right to return to the UK and you may be refused entry at the UK border.
Q: What are the costs for the new Front End Services ?
A: The details on fees can be found here; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table but for ease the fees are £610 for super priority, £477 for Priority and the fee for the standard service will depend on visa type.
Q: Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/Promise
Will expedited services be available for T1 (ET/EP) Stage 1 at any time - e.g. to be able to self-scan supporting documents or attend a Sopra office to submit both Stage 1 docs and Stage 2 at the same time?
A: The stage 1 is for the applicant to apply for endorsement from the relevant Designated Compe-tent Body (DCB). They provide evidence to support their claim of their exceptional qualities within their specific field. This evidence is not linked to the case, it is passed through to the DCB for con-sideration.
- The stage 2 is only applied for if the customer receives the endorsement from the relevant DCB, with this they need to provide details of their passport and BRP card, this information is linked to their case as it forms part of the immigration consideration.
- There is a separate application form and payment for each stage and as specific evidence is re-quired for each stage it would not be possible to submit the information at the same time
Q: What options does Tier 1 (Investor) and Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applicants have ?
A: As of the 13 November Tier 1 (Investors) applying for leave to remain can make an online application for a priority 10 day or a standard 8 week consideration. Customers choosing the new UK Visas and Citizenship Application Service have a range of appointment options to choose from including more flexible on-demand, mobile application services extending the beyond the main locations to, for example, university campuses, employers’ offices or individ-ual customers’ homes.
Although the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications can enrol their biometrics via a VIP appoint-ment they are not eligible for priority (10 day) or super priority (24 hour).
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications have an 8 week service standard. Tier 1 (Investors) leave to remain are offered a 10 day priority or 8 week service standard. There are plans to offer priori-ty considerations to Tier 1 investors applying for indefinite leave to remain, these will be avail-able in the new year.
Q: Does the applicant need to scan all the pages of their passports ?
A: The applicant is required to scan the biometrics page and any other page with a stamp or information contained on them.
Q: Does had copy passport sized photos required ?
A: Hardcopy passport-sized photographs are not required.
>>> How not to fall foul of the new application process and ensure a valid Home Office application
Комментарии
>>> Eighty librarians condemn deal between Home Office and SCL: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/library-workers-condemn-home-office-deal-797101
Eighty library professionals have signed an open letter condemning a deal between the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) and UK Visas and Immigration that will see libraries provide biometric visa support services.
>>> Waiver request for the knowledge of language and life in the UK requirement - medical opinion: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751589/Form_Waiver_KOLL_.pdf
This Guidance may be useful to those who cannot meet the KoLL (English language test requirement).
>>> Courts foil Home Office attempt to hamstring Surinder Singh rights: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/2378.html
The Court of Appeal in Secretary of State for the Home Department v Christy [2018] EWCA Civ 2378 has comprehensively rejected an argument by the Home Office seeking to limit the obligation to consider “Surinder Singh” applications by extended family members.
The decision seems entirely sensible. It must be an extremely common scenario for a UK citizen to meet and form a relationship with a non-EU national living in the EU with their own independent right of residence. To impose a requirement that the non-EU national was granted a right of residence based on the relationship and invoking the Citizen’s Directive, even when they had their own right to reside under the relevant domestic law, would be unnecessarily obstructive.
This is all the more so given the wide variety of procedures, protocols and statuses in the different EU member states. Indeed in many cases it might not be possible to tell on what basis a right was granted, or whether a domestic right was favoured even if an EU law right existed.
Final thought: despite the Home Office’s willingness in this case to embark upon a complex and legal nuanced argument which seeks to limit the scope of Banger, it is yet to incorporate any reference to this important judgment in the relevant policy guidance.
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme pilot: applicant information: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-pilot-applicant-information?utm_source=e6b814af-13e0-4587-9884-7fc716337190&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Information for applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme during the pilot running from 1 November to 21 December 2018.
>>> UK Parliament Update: Home Affairs Committee criticises Government's response to migration report: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmhaff/1663/166302.htm
The Home Affairs Committee has criticised the Government's inadequate response to their migration report into 'Policy options for future migration from the European Economic Area'.
>>> New UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services centres open: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-uk-visa-and-citizenship-application-services-centres-open
From Friday, 2nd November, people applying for work or study visas, settlement or citizenship from within the UK will be able to make appointments to use new, modernised and efficient service centres.
The first centre will open in Manchester on Friday 9 November 2018 and will be followed by new centres in Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast and Croydon. In addition, there will be 50 enhanced service centres nationally, which will be available to customers for a charge, and a premium lounge located in London.
The modernised service will mean that most people applying in the UK will be able to submit their biometric information including photos, fingerprints, and signatures as well as their supporting evidence at a single appointment.
The current system requires an individual to make an application, send their documents to UKVI, who retain them until the application is completed, and enrol their biometrics separately.
To help improve peace of mind for customers using the centres, it will now be possible, in the majority of cases, to take digital copies of evidence meaning that people won’t have to hand over important documents, such as passports, while their applications are processed.
The Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said:
We are committed to delivering a modern, convenient and easy to use service for UKVI customers.
These new service centres located across the country are a key part of our vision for a system that supports its customers and provides peace of mind whilst they are making an application.
The majority of people will now complete their applications online via an intuitive and easy to use system before attending one of the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services centres (UKVCAS), which will be delivered by commercial partner Sopra Steria.
Customers will be led through an online application process making it clear what they need to do, what supporting evidence they will need and where they need to go to complete their application.
Free appointments will be available for everyone, however, customers will also have the option to purchase added value services such as same day appointments and On Demand services: https://www.soprasteria.com/docs/librariesprovider41/ukvi/ukvi-app-services.pdf
In addition, there will also be 7 dedicated Service and Support Centres (SSC), which will transform the experience for people who need more support with their applications.
Experienced frontline Home Office staff will help those who need extra support to better understand their circumstances and if necessary, take the appropriate safeguarding action.
These SSCs will be in Belfast, Cardiff, Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield and Solihull, and will open in January 2019.
>>> UKVI Front End Services: New UK Visa and Citizenship Customer Journey
UPDATED Information regarding the new US Visa and Citizenship application process and services, including the forthcoming role of Sopra Steria.
The only changes from the information circulated on the 28th October are as follows:
• the new UK VCAS Centres will start to open from the 9th November 2018 (not the 5th November as previously stated)
• all locations will be open by 30th November 2018 (not the 29th November as previously stated).
>>> UKVI Form: Application for derivative residence card in UK: form DRF1: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-derivative-residence-card-in-uk-form-drf1
Application for a derivative residence card in the UK through a close association with an EEA national.
>>> UKVI Form: Settle in the UK as a victim of domestic violence: form SET(DV): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-to-settle-in-uk-form-setdv
Form to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK if you are a victim of domestic
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme: employer toolkit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-employer-toolkit?utm_source=7057ffdc-5bae-4f45-8db1-a4b98b87fc26&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
The employer toolkit equips employers with the right tools and information to support EU citizens and their families to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
HTML versions of the toolkit materials added.
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme Settlement Scheme pilot: application processing times: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-application-processing-times/eu-settlement-scheme-pilot-current-expected-processing-times-for-applications
Current expected processing times for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme pilot have been published.
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme: evidence of UK residence: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-evidence-of-uk-residence?utm_source=053514df-6adf-4fce-ab24-6720e685357f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
The evidence of UK residence webpage for the purposes of the EU Settlement Scheme has been updated. Evidence of residence lists and guidance on what to do if you do not have enough evidence in your own name have been updated.
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme caseworker guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-caseworker-guidance
New guidance for caseworkers considering applications under the EU Settlement Scheme during the pilot has been published
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme caseworker guidance and Suitability Requirements: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-caseworker-guidance
Guidance for caseworkers considering applications under the EU Settlement Scheme during the pilot.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Points-based system: Tier 1 (Entrepreneur): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-tier-1-entrepreneur?utm_source=40af4095-5a0a-4bd5-bea8-bf9607ab2b50&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Guidance for how UK Visas and Immigration considers applications in the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) category of the points-based system (PBS).
Replaced document with a new version.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Guidance on application for UK visa as Tier 1 Investor: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-application-for-uk-visa-as-tier-1-investor?utm_source=9a61118d-c544-4fce-bc27-3ccff9daf719&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Guidance to apply to come to the UK as a Tier 1 (Investor) or to extend your stay.
Replaced document with a new version.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Points-based system: Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-tier-1-graduate-entrepreneur?utm_source=a1972c56-f543-46e2-9f36-ee58de58a918&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Guidance on considering applications in the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) category of the PBS.
12:15am, 5 November 2018: Replaced document with a new version.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Points-based system: Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-tier-1-exceptional-talent?utm_source=20947902-745c-4d5f-b675-d245a738e18f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Guidance for how UK Visas and Immigration considers applications in the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) category of the PBS.
Replaced the document with a new version.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Guidance for dependants of UK visa applicants (Tiers 1, 2, 4, 5): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-dependants-of-uk-visa-applicants-tiers-1-2-4-5?utm_source=fd2cd195-503b-4310-9fd0-9e1b2a3a4e62&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Full guidance on the policy for applications by the family of people who have UK visas under the points-based system (PBS dependants).
Updated guidance.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Guidance on application for UK visa as Tier 2 worker: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-application-for-uk-visa-as-tier-2-worker?utm_source=e06fd9b3-8a16-4e7d-a49a-01c57b260025&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Guidance to apply to come to the UK as a Tier 2 skilled worker or to extend your stay.
Updated guidance.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Free movement rights: direct family members of EEA nationals: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/direct-family-members-of-european-economic-area-eea-nationals
Guidance on free movement rights of direct family members of European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss nationals has been published.
>>> Applying for a Spouse visa for the Isle of Man ?
The procedures are the same as for the UK Spouse visa and once you get the visa, you can travel to the UK on that visa.
See https://www.gov.im/categories/travel-traffic-and-motoring/immigration/settle/ and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-travel-area
>>> How to request personal information held in the borders, immigration and citizenship system: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/requests-for-personal-data-uk-visas-and-immigration/request-personal-information-held-by-uk-visas-and-immigration#evidence-guidance
>>> Can a Tier 4 Dependent switch in-country into a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa route ?
The answer is “No”. See https://www.gov.uk/tier-1-entrepreneur/switch-to-this-visa. Also, the Para 245DD(e) fails: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-part-6a-the-points-based-system#pt6aentrepreneur
>>> Search Resources UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme caseworker guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-caseworker-guidance?utm_source=bb06a114-9f08-4f79-9063-1fb56b02c8cd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Guidance for caseworkers considering applications under the EU Settlement Scheme during the pilot.
EU citizens and their family members guidance pdf updated.
>>> UKVI update: Immigration Rules archive: 28 August 2018 to 31 October: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-rules-archive-28-august-2018-to-31-october-2018
UKVI update: Immigration Rules archive: 28 August 2018 to 31 October 2018
>>> UKVI Guidance: Children of unmarried parents: nationality policy guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-of-unmarried-parents-nationality-procedure-guidance
Guidance on considering automatic claims to citizenship based on a child’s relationship with their father updated.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Guidance for dependants of UK visa applicants (Tiers 1, 2, 4, 5): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-dependants-of-uk-visa-applicants-tiers-1-2-4-5
Full guidance on the policy for applications by the family of people who have UK visas under the points-based system (PBS dependants).
>>> Steps to take if there is a problem with your 30-day vignette: https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/Information--Advice/Visas-and-Immigration/Passport-visa-and-BRP-problems#30day-vignette-loststolendamagedexpired-outside-the-uk
>>> The UK BA interim notice re: transfer of the Refugee status to the UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/257398/transferofrefugeestatus.pdf
>>> The new UK BA “improved” application systems is not yet so good
A colleague has just submitted an application for British nationality for the 2 family members. The only service available was the standard service but the problem was that the nearest centre was 40 miles away from the colleague’s client and in London there was only one centre available but there was a fee of £400 and some slots for £520.
Unfortunately this is the problem with the New UK BA application system as they are only offering the Premium Lounge for the new system for Naturalisation – there is no benefit to this as the application is still subject to a 26 week processing time according to the information given by the UK BA !
Unfortunately, one cannot switch back once the one chose the new system which is ridiculous!
The old system is still in place until January 2019. This allows one to submit the old way (on paper and do not pay any “premiums”) and the one does then enrol for the Biometrics at the Post Office. Simples !
This ‘NEW’ system does needs some serious amending (already) !
>>> Timing for application re-submission after a failed Administrative Review
One should remember that the one has only 14 days (under the Para 39E) since the date the Administrative Review was refused (following the previous immigration application refusal when there was a right of the Administrative Review only), to submit a fresh immigration application (provided there a merit in doing so !).
>>> Appeal against refusal of EEA residence card does not suspend removal, High Court confirms: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2018/2939.html
The High Court’s recent decision in R (Shafikul Islam) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 2939 (Admin) is yet another case on the vexed issue of whether appeals against refusals of EEA residence cards are suspensive of removal.
Strangely, Regulation 41 only permits people to be admitted to the UK temporarily for an appeal hearing in deportation cases but not in cases of people who are generally removed e.g. for being illegal entrants or overstayers.
The bottom line is that if a person is removed under Section 10 of the 1999 Act, the law doesn’t provide any mechanism for them to return temporarily to attend their appeal. To expel a person with a pending appeal, who is not a criminal, from giving evidence in person, seems plainly wrong and a huge omission in our immigration law.
>>> UK Ancestry Dependents may not need to be in the UK for a period of 5 years to be eligible for ILR
There is currently no 5 years requirement for ILR under the Para 196E of the Rules for dependents under the UK Ancestry category.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Biometric residence permits: applicant and sponsor information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/biometric-residence-permits-applicant-and-sponsor-information?utm_source=58143746-c75d-4371-9e1f-17fde8a42f4e&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Use this information to understand how to apply for a biometric residence permit or learn whether prospective staff can work in the UK.
>>> No Channel ports have enough immigration and customs officers, inspector finds: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chief-inspector-publishes-his-report-on-border-force-operations-at-south-coast-seaports?utm_source=04329874-fd2a-403e-98e8-0f2999126e4e&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt has published a new report focusing on border controls at south coast seaports. Parts of the report make worrying reading in light of the increased demands on those ports after Brexit. For one thing, the Border Force reports being understaffed at all the ports visited, including Dover.
>>> Summary of the Sopra Steria Appointment in the Premium Lounge – the NEW Super Premium Service
A colleague accompanied his client to the new Premium Lounge in Mark Lane, EC3 (Lon-don) recently. The client was for Settlement (SETO) using the Super Priority Service
It turned out that instead of the 15-minute service it ran for almost 5 hours as the Sopra Steria has experienced several technical problems due to the amount of scanning the Sopra Steria needed to do in the morning. Apparently, they expected the applicants to bring far less documents for scanning (although it was possible to upload the documents before attending the Premium Lounge).
No Wi-Fi was currently available.
Despite the documents had been uploaded PRIOR to the appointment the Sopra Steria said that only half of the files were received, therefore the applicant had to hand ALL the docu-ments to the Sopra Steria again, so ALL the documents had to be scanned. Then the Sopra Steria said they needed to verify each document page by page. And they all work off very small laptops with small screens with the caseworker’s face right up against the screen try-ing to read the small screen.
After 5 hours the documents were scanned and the biometric enrolled.
Hopefully the Sopra Steria service will be improved very soon.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Guidance on the registration of a minor as a British citizen by entitlement and discretion: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjdmu6Ou9HeAhVpKcAKHezFCWIQFjAAegQICBAC&url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/755505/Registration-as-a-British-citizen-children-v4.0ext.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3fCThcz4osjPEFZXB8JSgs
Updated guidance on the registration of a minor as a British citizen by entitlement and discretion: amendment to clarify that DNA evidence cannot be mandated and that no negative inference can be drawn if an applicant chooses not to supply such evidence.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Guidance on deciding applications for people to enter or remain in the UK as a Tier 2 migrant: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwiDmKbPu9HeAhVTglwKHUUxAbAQFjAAegQIBRAC&url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/722994/tier-2-v30.0-EXT.PDF&usg=AOvVaw1PXDpkJhrk3DdY6MgdHczA
Updated guidance on deciding applications for people to enter or remain in the UK as a Tier 2 migrant.
NB: An eye watering VERSION 31 (!) of the Guidance. That means that purely this Guid-ance has been changed in the recent years 31 times (!!!).
>>> More on false documents from the Court of Appeal: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/2411.html
Li demonstrate the severe consequences of submitting false documents for both the application in question and future applications.
>>> NHS to stop passing Home Office information about migrants: https://mailchi.mp/68343e2925ba/migrants-rights-network-data-sharing
A controversial agreement for the NHS to pass information about hospitalised migrants to the immigration authorities has been shelved, campaigners say. The Migrants’ Right Network and Liberty announced today that a legal challenge to an agreement for patient data to be shared with the Home Office has succeeded.
>>> The current version of the FLR(M) form can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-extend-stay-in-the-uk-as-a-partner-or-dependent-child-form-flrm
>>> Supreme Court decides meaning of “precarious immigration status” and “financially independent”: https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2018/58.html
The Supreme Court has allowed the appeal in the case of Rhuppiah v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 58. Giving the sole judgment, Lord Wilson holds that a “precarious” immigration status is any status short of Indefinite Leave to Remain but allows the appeal on the basis that “financial independence” means not having recourse to public funds.
The Supreme Court also affirms that human rights cases can succeed outside the statutory scheme introduced by the Immigration Act 2014, which allows judges some flexibility when deciding human rights cases.
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme: evidence of UK residence: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-evidence-of-uk-residence?utm_source=5cf77b59-7644-4c04-93aa-b26970700a5f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
How to provide evidence that you’ve been living here if we can’t confirm this through an automated check of UK tax and benefits records. This has been updated to define P45s and P60s.
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme: apply for an administrative review : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-apply-for-an-administrative-review?utm_source=411fcde2-9d1c-4cab-900f-e39494ea3146&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
How to apply for an administrative review under the EU Settlement Scheme.
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme: ID document scanner locations: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/eu-settlement-scheme-id-document-scanner-locations/locations-offering-chip-checker-services
Locations where you can go to get your biometric ID document scanned if you do not have an Android device with near field communication (NFC).
>>> UKVI Guidance: Using the ‘EU Exit: ID Document Check’ app: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-eu-exit-id-document-check-app?utm_source=5231bec0-2c82-428b-9bb8-ea6f7ea937c7&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Information for EU citizens taking part in the pilot for the EU Settlement Scheme.
>>> UKVI Guidance: EU Settlement Scheme pilot: applicant information: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-settlement-scheme-pilot-applicant-information?utm_source=9f086ca6-b571-40ec-85fd-80d1c5781d5a&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Information for applicants to the EU Settlement Scheme during the pilot running from 1 November to 21 December 2018 has been updated to add links to using the EU Exit ID Document Check app, ID document scanner locations and administrative review guidance.
>>> Immigration Health Service Charge Cost to double from December 2019
The Government announced on 11 October 2018 that Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) will be doubling from December 2018 (subject to Parliamentary approval). For Tier 4 students and Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme) migrants this will increase from £150 to £300 and for all other IHS-related immigration categories, the fee will increase from £200 to £400 per applicant per year.
>>> The new Immigration System – UK BA (Sopra Steria) – file uploads issues
The reports are pouring in that despite applicants uploading all the documents via the dedi-cated web-site before the UK BA appointments, often the UK BA does not receive all the attachments. Therefore the applicants must bring all the original documents with them in case the documents need to be re-scanned.
Otherwise the (Premium Lodge) appointment times can range from 45 mins to 4 hours, as reported by the clients and colleagues.
>>> Allocations of restricted certificates of sponsorship – November 2018: https://www.gov.uk/…/allocations-of-restricted-certificates…
The November allocation meeting took place on 12 November. All valid applications received by 5 November were successful if they scored at least 21 points.
>>> Court of Appeal: Wikipedia can (but shouldn’t) be used to prove foreign law: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/2483.html
In the case of KV v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 2483 the Court of Appeal accepts that future statelessness is a relevant consideration in an appeal against deprivation of British citizenship obtained on the basis of fraud. The court also gives guidance on the nature of an appeal against deprivation of citizenship, holds that the burden of proof for proving future statelessness rests with the appellant and holds that Wikipedia is (just about) an acceptable source for proving foreign law.
The appellant had been a Sri Lankan national and successfully claimed asylum in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. He later naturalised as a British citizen in 2007. But in doing so, KV concealed the fact that he had already successfully applied for settlement and naturalisation in the assumed identity of another Sri Lankan national.
>>> UKVI Guidance: EEA nationals qualified persons: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/european-economic-area-nationals-qualified-persons?utm_source=35a737a0-90aa-4f39-981f-b6455ae94fcf&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Guidance on European Economic Area (EEA) national qualified persons.
Changes made to clarify the policy and required caseworker process in relation to assessing continuous residence of a qualified person.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Apply to become a permit-free art or music festival: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-be-on-the-list-of-permit-free-festivals?utm_source=a23930f8-bdd6-4ffb-977a-ab7d1072bb48&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
How to apply to get on the list of permit-free art and music festivals.
Updated contact information and evidence list
>>> UK BA answers in relation to the New Front End services aka “the New Immigration System”
1. Existing on-line applications
Q: Will the existing online application system still be offered without using Sopra Steria?
A: Yes, until 29th November. After this, customers who are required to use UKVCAS must do so. Other customers will continue to use existing services until the SSCs open in January 2019.
Q: Can we continue with an application that has already been started online before the new system was set up?
A: Yes, any applications started before the implementation of UKVCAS can still be continued. The customer will just be returned to where they were on the form.
Q: Currently, FLR(M) applications are not included in the new Sopra Steria appointments until January when the Service Support Centres will be open. How are FLR(M) applicants supposed to submit their applications between now and then?
A: For some routes, including FLR(M), the online application form will take account of the customers’ specific circumstances and will guide them to the centre they need to attend to complete their application. It will be made clear during the online application if they will be using the SSC or UKVCAS centres and will only be allowed to book an appointment at the appropriate centre.
From 29 November 2018, when the current PSCs close, until 8 January 2019 there will be limited appointments available in the PSCs for those not able to use UKVCAS applying online for leave based on family life or private life who choose UKVI’s 24- hour decision service. During your application you will be advised about which services you are able to use.
2. On demand service
Q: Can the on-demand service be used with the Super Priority service too (24-hour processing time) or is it only in combination with the Standard and Priority Decision services (5 to 10 working days)?
A: The customer will still have the option to choose a Super Priority Service along with the on-demand service, should they wish to do so.
Q: Can the on-demand service be used for Tier 1 Investor (extension), ILR as Tier 1 Investor (standard route), ILR as Tier 1 Investor (accelerated settlement route), Tier 1 Entrepreneur (extension), ILR as Tier 1 Entrepreneur (standard route), ILR as Tier 1 Entrepreneur (accelerated settlement route)?
A: The on-demand service will be available to all customers who use the UKVCAS route. The on-demand service is a separate offering, delivered by the UKVCAS supplier whereas the Super Priority/Priority services are delivered by UKVI. Where Priority and Super Priority services are available to an application type, they can be purchased for submission at an on-demand service.
A: Is there a set period of time to submit the supporting evidence/documents in advance of the on-demand appointment?
A: The (£10 500, old style) Super Premium Service will be discontinued at the end of the transition period to UKVCAS. Customers who previously used the Super Premium Route will now apply online and choose and pay for their case consideration time (service standard).
Once payment is taken the customer will be directed to book an appointment with our Commercial Partner Sopra Steria. Once in the Sopra Steria booking system customers will have a range of appointment types.
The documents can be uploaded at the time of the submission or ahead of submission via self-upload.
Standard Service – 8 weeks for limited leave applications and 6 months for Indefinite leave applications, Citizenship and EEA. All standard applications are measured from date of application.
Q: Is there a maximum number of applicants that can be included at an on-demand appointment? And also, a maximum number of dependants?
A: On Demand VIP price includes up to 10 applicants. On Demand pop up is to cover more than 10 applicants and single applications.
Q: Can main applicants share the appointment cost (i.e. share the total which is "from £9,100")?
It must be paid in one payment. Can all application types use VIP appointments?
A: Yes as long as under the UKVCAS remit
3. Tier 1 investors and entrepreneurs
Q: Can Tier 1 Investors and Entrepreneurs use the Priority Decision and Super Priority Ser-vices (even when not using the on-demand service)?
A: Tier 1 Investors can be considered for a standard service (8 week) and Priority Service 10 day under the new arrangements. T1 Entrepreneurs can be considered for a standard service (8 week).
4. Naturalisation applications
Q:Quicker decisions for nationality applications. Will the system offer a decision within 10 days or even 24 hours?
A: We have concentrated on delivering the new and innovative service to match existing premium service offerings. We recognise that there is some interest in a premium offering for citizenship applications. We will re-visit this in the new financial year. Any premium service is likely to offer a 10 day turn around. The fee for that service is still to be agreed. We are scoping a citizenship priority offering. We hope to launch an offering during 2019. Whilst this will offer a substantially quicker experience than the current six-month service standard, we do not envisage that this will be a 24-hour offering.
Q: For those applicants who are making an application for British Nationality/Citizenship, will they also need to attend an appointment to submit their original documents and certified copies, such as their passports and referee declaration forms, as is the case with the National-ity Document Return Service?
A: Yes, applicants will still need to attend a UKVCAS appointment with their documents (unless they can self-upload) and to lodge biometrics.
Q: Naturalisation applications – is there a plan for a joint passport/naturalisation application in the near future?
A: The Joint Citizenship and Passport application process is an innovative example of customer service. We are keen to deliver this in the new Service Centres and expect to be able to do so in the first quarter of 2019. As you know as we move through the transition period and launch of our new front-end mechanics across UKVI there will be a brief hiatus for the JCAP offering. We hope to recommence the offering early in 2019.
5. European passport returns service
Q: Can you confirm whether this applies to the European passport return service as well? Permanent Residency applications are listed under the new Front-End Service – will this service replace the European passport return service and whether there will be a Priority Decision service or Super Priority service available for this application ?
A: There have been no decisions to stop the EPRS service and European Casework do not offer Priority or Super Priority services
6. Costs of services
Q: Regarding the Enhanced Service points (e.g. the ones opening in London in w/c 19th Nov – Stratford, Wimbledon, Victoria, Shepherds Bush etc), will there be a cost for using these centres and if yes what will the cost be?
A: Yes, standard non-prime time (10-4) appointments are £60, but out of these hours will be £100. Weekend appointments are £125.
7. Booking appointments
Q: How do we book the Super Priority Service? Can this be done using the new system or do we need to continue call/email the HO.
A: Super Priority is chosen when the customer is completing their application form via Access UK.
8. Application dates
Q1. Is the date of the application the date it is submitted online or the date of attending the appointment?
A1: The date of application is the date the customer submits the application online. There must be an appointment available within 5 working days.
Q2: Given that the date of application for an online application is the date it is submitted using the online process, and an applicant for indefinite leave to remain should not make their application more than 28 days before their qualifying period is completed, what information is the Home Office providing to stop applicants from applying too early?
A2: We allow customers to start filling in their form in advance, so they can have time to gather information and evidence. We encourage customers to read the guidance which ex-plains that they should not submit settlement applications more than 28 says before their qualifying period is completed. We always welcome feedback on how to improve our forms and the information we provide customers. PO and policy are looking in to this issue to see where best to add some additional guidance to customers.
9. Supporting documentation
Q1:. Is it enough for us to scan documents and submit with the application, so the applicant will only need to attend an appointment to enrol biometric and not take any original documents?
Q2: As documents can now be uploaded electronically, does this mean that electronically generated documents (such as utility bills, etc) can also be accepted in this way?
A: The intention of digitising documents is that customers can choose to upload documents ahead of their appointment and electronically generated documents can be used as supporting evidence. Customers will have to continue to bring their original identity document for example passport to the service point however this will be scanned and returned.
10. Travel
Q: What information is the Home Office/Sopra Steria giving applicants given that they can-not travel after their passports have been returned to them, and are there currently any plans for introducing a travel facility during processing?
A: If you are applying for leave to remain, or indefinite leave to remain, you should not leave the UK until you have received a decision on your application. If you travel outside the “Common Travel Area” (CTA) before the decision is made on your application, your application will be treated as withdrawn.
The CTA is:
• UK
• Republic of Ireland
• Channel Islands
• Isle of Man
If the decision is made while you are outside the UK and your current leave has expired, you will not have a right to return to the UK and you may be refused entry at the UK border.
11. Consent
Q: Giving consent to the Home Office to verify documents submitted as part of an application ?
A: The consent declaration is triggered by a block in the form where applicants are given the declaration to print off and submit. The actual declaration (rather than just a tick on the form) can be found via the hyperlink and is what banks will ask for when we need to verify.
12 .Level of service
Q: What are the opening times of each centre ? Will any or all of the centres be open on weekends and, if so, will there be an additional charge for booking an appointment on a day on the weekend?
A: Sites won’t open of a weekend but in the main all Core sites will and some enhanced sites, there will be an additional charge for the weekend as this is classed as an out of hours appointment and is therefore an AVS.
Q: Will there be a Walk-In without an appointment facility as an alternative to next day and same day appointments and, if so, will there be an additional charge for this?
A: We offer customers the opportunity to purchase, for an additional fee, a same-day appointment, subject to appointment slots being available and these can be purchased. There is no facility to directly walk-in without an appointment, but the use a self-service terminal or library workstation or premium lounge reception can be used to complete their same-day appointment purchase, subject to available appointment slots.
Q: Can the additional services, not including the Standard, Priority and Super Priority services be purchased online prior to the date of an appointment or whether they have to be purchased at the respective centre on the day of the appointment?
A: Additional services are either linked to an appointment and are therefore purchased when the customer selects their appointment slot, or can be purchased as extra services either during the appointment booking process or afterwards by logging back in to the UKVCAS web-site. Extra services can be purchased up until the time of an appointment.
13. System issues
Q: When an application is submitted online using the new system there appears to be no facility to withdraw the application and claim a refund. In cases where the application has been submitted incorrectly and an applicant wishes to withdraw the application to submit a new one and claim a refund, there is no way to do this online. Can UKVI please confirm if there is a facility to withdraw and application and request a refund? If yes, please confirm how we can do this.
A: UKVI operations are currently revising the refund/withdrawal process so this is clear un-der the new service, we will share as soon as this is available. You can find further information on how to cancel your application here -https://www.gov.uk/cancel-visa
Q: UKVCAS website explained how appointments could be booked out-of-hours, next day, same day etc, but did not give any indication as to processing times. I still don't know whether a same-day appointment leads to a same-day decision
A: The speed of the appointment has no effect on the decision making. UKVI offer the priority consideration on Access UK if applicable and customers can choose a faster appointment on Sopra Steria’s appointment booking.
14. Appointments and uploading documents
Q: When an application is submitted online and appointment is booked and paid for (e.g. an appointment at a Premium Lounge costs £260) there is no facility to reschedule the appointment should the applicant need to change their appointment date. Instead the applicant has to cancel the appointment and loses the additional fee for the appointment. They then have to book a new appointment and potentially pay a new fee for it. Can UKVI please con-firm whether there should be a facility to reschedule an appointment without losing the fee paid and if yes how do we go about rescheduling if required?
A: Yes, Sopra should allow the customer to reschedule an appointment for no further cost. UKVI will feed this back to Sopra.
Q: Our understanding of the new system is that original documents would not be required to be submitted so unsure why Sopra are insisting on them being taken to the appointment?
A: There is no need for customers to bring their evidence to their appointment if they have self-uploaded. The customer will need to bring their passport of travel document to their appointment as this cannot be self-uploaded.
We have now done a couple of cases under the new system and having spoken to clients as to what has happened at the appointments, it would appear that the client should take a hard copy application bundle to the appointment with them (in the traditional sense). My clients are feeding back that the officers seem to go through the bundle whilst looking at their computer screen.
Q: It would appear that the clients should take a hard copy application bundle to the ap-pointment with them (in the traditional sense) as the officers seem to go through the bundle whilst looking at their computer screens
A: We are requesting that documents scanned and uploaded at home are brought to the ser-vice point in case there is an issue with any of the uploaded documents, to avoid inconvenience to the applicant of re submission. We will be keeping this policy under review.
There is no requirement for staff to cross-check hardcopy documents against digital copies and this messaging will be reinforced in operational update bulletins.
NB: A couple of issues to be aware of:
Q: Uploading documents must be split up into different categories (Passports, finance etc).
A: Correct
Q: Dependants docs are loaded to the same account as the principal applicant but under their own specific names.
A: Correct
Q Some have reported that at this end documents are showing as uploaded but at their end they are saying that they do not have them.
A: As part of continuous improvement UKVI will work with Sopra to ensure customers can view their uploaded evidence to enable them to check the quality and quantity.
Q: Once you have uploaded the document you don’t seem to be able to open the uploaded to check that you have indeed uploaded the correct document so you have to label very carefully before uploading. You can however remove an upload if you need to.
A: As above.
There is currently no functionality to view documents once you have uploaded them but will be added in the future.
Q: When my ILR clients attended the appointment with the ILR application, the applicants had a number of documents to be scanned as part of the application. The staff at the centre specifically said they would not accept his EDF energy bills and stated that certain items brought to the appointment were not mandatory documents and therefore did not need to be scanned. They went further to say that only the Police Registration Certificate was mandatory for the ILR application (which is not correct).
We are concerned that there may be an issue with the processing of this application in particular given that the centre staff would not scan the documents the applicant wished to submit.
A: Service point staff are not allowed to determine what documents can and cannot be scanned.
Q: Do you envisage that Sopra Steria will make sufficient numbers of free biometric appointment slots available to avoid applicants having to pay an additional fee, on top of the Home Office Priority and Super Priority fees?
A: No the customer pays for biometrics but if biometrics are not required then they will not be charged £19.20 for this service.
A: Sopra are required to offer an appointment at a core site within 5 working days of sub-mission.
15. BRP cards
Q: Will these be returned to applicants at the biometrics appointment?
A: Yes, they will be, no documents will be retained by Sopra Steria. However, applicants will be asked to return their BRP for secure destruction if a new BRP is issued or when their current BRP expires.
The New UK Application System Service Standards: http://legalcentre.org/files/UK_BA_New_Application_Service_Types_Standards 2018_2019.pdf
Detailed illustration which immigration application types can be lodged via the UK BA New Application System via the Premium (10 days) or Super Premium (24 hours) options or only via Standard Service (8 weeks/6 months).
>>> Pre-Immigration Act 2016 bail ends after an appearance before an immigration officer: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/2541.html
R (Lucas) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 2541 is about re-detention following the grant of immigration bail by the First-tier Tribunal under the now repealed provisions of the Immigration Act 1971. The Court of Appeal ruled that tribunal bail finishes once the person has appeared before an immigration officer, at which point the immigration officer may grant a further period of bail or re-detain them. There is no requirement to bring the person back to the First-tier Tribunal to ask for permission to re-detain.
It is important to note that the instances of bail and re-detention in this appeal occurred be-fore the changes to the bail system under the Immigration Act 2016 came into force. The 2016 Act stipulates that bail comes to an end if the person is no longer liable to be detained, granted leave to remain, detained or removed from the UK. It also explicitly states that the grant of bail does not prevent the Secretary of State from re-detaining the person, so the is-sue in this appeal will no longer arise in practice.
>>> Burden of proof rests with appellants in Article 3 appeals: https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/IAC/2018/386.html
In HKK (Article 3: burden/standard of proof) [2018] UKUT 386 (IAC), counsel rather ambitiously attempted to reopen the question of where lies the burden of proof in Article 3 appeals.
>>> Home Office publishes paragraph 322(5) guidance but stands firm on controversial refusals (Tier 1 (General)): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tier-1-general-operational-instruction
The Home Office has published guidance on “paragraph 322(5)” cases following a review of settlement refusals under the controversial rule. The takeaway is that no refusals should be issued without interviewing the applicant first.
Migrants on a Tier 1 (General) visa who want to settle in the UK have been refused because of discrepancies between tax information provided to HMRC and the earnings information given to the Home Office as part of earlier visa applications. The Home Office thinks that these applicants inflated their income in order to secure their Tier 1 visas.
The Home Office review says that since January 2015, almost 1,700 indefinite leave to remain applications from Tier 1 (General) migrants have been refused. In 88% of cases, the tax discrepancies amounted to more than £10,000 and so were not considered likely to be an innocent mistake. Most applicants changed their tax returns years after filing them and not long before an ILR application.
Of the 1,700 cases examined, the Home Office says that it has reversed its decision in 37 and is reconsidering another 19. But it has also lost two thirds of the appeals that have so far gone to the First-tier Tribunal.
>>> UK and EU agree basics of post-Brexit relationship: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-political-declaration-setting-out-the-framework-for-the-future-relationship-between-the-european-union-and-the-united-kingdom-agreed-at-negotia?utm_source=1cf3983a-aca4-40b3-a144-95b33905df33&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
UK and EU negotiators have just published a declaration setting out their ambitions for the future relationship between this country and the remainder of the EU after Brexit.
Of particular interest is the section on “mobility” (i.e. migration) after Brexit, which is much longer than the couple of lines given over to this subject in an earlier draft published last week. It starts by acknowledging that free movement will end, aims for visa-free travel for short trips and notes that the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland is a separate consideration. The relevant section in full:
“IX. MOBILITY
50. Noting that the United Kingdom has decided that the principle of free movement of persons between the Union and the United Kingdom will no longer apply, the Parties should establish mobility arrangements, as set out below.
51. The mobility arrangements will be based on non-discrimination between the Union’s Member States and full reciprocity.
52. In this context, the Parties aim to provide, through their domestic laws, for visa-free travel for short-term visits.
53. The Parties agree to consider conditions for entry and stay for purposes such as research, study, training and youth exchanges.
54. The Parties also agree to consider addressing social security coordination in the light of future movement of persons.
55. In line with their applicable laws, the Parties will explore the possibility to facilitate the crossing of their respective borders for legitimate travel.
56. Any provisions will be without prejudice to the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements as they apply between the United Kingdom and Ireland.
57. To support mobility, the Parties confirm their commitment to the effective application of the existing international family law instruments to which they are parties. The Union notes the United Kingdom’s intention to accede to the 2007 Hague Maintenance Convention to which it is currently bound through its Union membership.
58. The Parties will explore options for judicial cooperation in matrimonial, parental responsibility and other related matters.
59. These arrangements would be in addition to commitments on temporary entry and stay of natural persons for business purposes in defined areas as referred to in Section III of this Part. Those commitments should not be nullified by the right of either Party to apply their respective laws, regulations and requirements regarding entry, stay and work.”
The political declaration, like the draft Withdrawal Agreement on the arrangements for divorce, still has to be ratified. Unlike the Withdrawal Agreement, it would not be legally binding.
>>> Refugee families suffering domestic violence must get equal treatment: https://www.bailii.org/scot/cases/ScotCS/2016/[2016]CSIH38.html
A v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] CSIH 38 is an important 2016 decision from the Court of Session in Scotland, the full impact of which has still to be felt. It concerns the Immigration Rules, as they apply to spouses of refugees, where the spouse has experienced domestic violence.
Section DVILR of Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules sets out criteria for the granting of indefinite leave to remain (settlement) to victims of domestic violence. While this allows settlement to be granted to spouses of British citizens or persons settled in the UK if the relationship has broken down due to domestic violence while the spouse of the British citizen or settled person has temporary leave, these rules do not apply where the initial applicant (usually the husband) had still to be granted settlement.
This means that the immigration rules treat non-national spouses of persons with refugee leave less favourably than the spouses of British citizens and persons with settled status.
The consequences of this discrimination were potentially dire; women in this situation would potentially face deportation if their relationship broke down, and this gave rise to concern that some victims of domestic violence might be compelled to stay in abusive relationships to prevent return to their home country.
Although this decision was hailed at the time as a victory by campaign groups, the Home Office has still to amend the Immigration Rules to reflect the court’s decision.
>>> Court of Justice says no real time limit for Dublin III re-examinations: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=5AC7F47A39846BF6AEE5D2BD52F64B13?text=&docid=207681&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=4421787
In Joined Cases C 47/17 and C 48/17 X and X v Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that failure to respond to a re-examination request under the Dublin III procedure does not mean that the defaulting member state takes over the asylum claim. The court refused to remedy an apparent deficiency in EU asylum legislation by imposing a sanction for failing to respond. Instead it emphasised that countries must endeavour to meet the deadline in a “spirit of sincere cooperation” even though there are no consequences for failure.
This issue arises where one member state requests that another “take back” or “take charge” of an asylum seeker, usually because of a fingerprint match which proves they claimed asylum in that other country first. If that member state refuses to accept responsibility, the requesting government can submit a re-examination request with additional evidence.
The Dublin III system is based on member states complying with strict time limits, so failure to meet a deadline normally means that the defaulting country becomes responsible for dealing with the asylum claim. However, the implementing regulation merely states re-examination requests should be dealt with in two weeks and does not impose any sanction for missing the deadline.
This anomaly in the legislation creates an incentive for member states to initially refuse to accept responsibility and then ignore re-examination requests. The Court of Justice refused to address this loophole by interpreting the implementing regulation to have implied sanctions for missing the deadline.
>>> The Derivative residence does not lead to Permanent Residence – Chen, Zambrano etc (the primary carers of EU children) cases under the EU law
It is worth remembering that under the Regulation 15 the Derivative residence does not lead to Permanent Residence:
Reg15(2):
“Residence in the United Kingdom as a result of a derivative right to reside does not constitute residence for the purpose of this regulation”
>>> UKVI update on FLR(M) and FLR(FP) applications
The FLR(M) and the FLR(FP) applications can, until the 9th January 2019, be submitted via some of the PSCs, still:
“…here is an outline of the customer choices for those applying through the FLR(M) and FLR (FP) routes between the closure of the Premium Service Centres (PSC’s) on the 29th November until the introduction of the Service Support Centres (SSC’s) in January
Any customer making a FLR(M) or an FLR(FP) application online from the 29th November will have full access to the choice of a standard or a super priority decision. From then, any customers making an online application will be presented with the option to select;
- UKVCAS or
- existing services which are the post office or PSC routes.
If a customer opts for the post office/PSC route and finds they are unable to obtain a PSC appointment they will be able to navigate back and choose to use UKVCAS. This will allow customers who are navigated back to UKVCAS to take advantage of Sopra’s full service offering by paying an additional fee to attend enhanced service points that Sopra Steria offer in local libraries offering them a greater choice of location. We anticipate this will result in an increased take up of SPV applications and to mitigate any impact we are exploring using some existing caseworking capacity within the PSC sites to support operations and meet potential demand.
Customers applying on paper based routes will not have the option to access super priority decisions as we will be encourage customers to apply online to both support our channel shift to a more seamless online customer journey and also ensure the PSC’s can close on time to allow a smooth transition to SSC’s and to mitigate any risks to the SSC’s being introduced in January.”
>>> UKVI correspondence: The EEA nationals are currently NOT able to use the New Front End Services
“With regards to EEA/Swiss Nationals using the new service:
UKVI plan to include EEA and Swiss Nationals in this service, however we cannot currently confirm the date this will become available.
EEA and Swiss Nationals should continue to use the existing online or postal process at the current time.
Please continue to check our website for any updates.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
With regards to the European Passport Return Service (EPRS):
As the service arrangement for the EU settlement scheme is still to be announced, EPRS will continue to operate until the new service arrangements have been confirmed.
Many Thanks
Front End Services Team”
>>> UKVI Guidance: UKVI’s new front end services: what you need to know: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ukvis-new-front-end-services-what-you-need-to-know?utm_source=caddefe0-e422-44e4-89ab-793d5d784339&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
>>> UKVI Guidance: Level of decision making: nationality procedure guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/level-of-decision-making-nationality-procedure-guidance?utm_source=e8ddef99-505f-4574-9d41-082a7b5f4ff0&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Guidance on authority levels for decisions on nationality applications.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Applications for leave to remain: validation, variation and withdrawal: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/specified-application-forms-and-procedures?utm_source=980f9883-ab40-4d14-908d-63051025a805&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Guidance on application forms and procedures for immigration applications and claims.
>>> Latest immigration stats: EU residence document applications back on the rise: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration
>>> Appeals law: a “new matter” includes EU law arguments: https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/IAC/2018/385.html
In Oksuzoglu (EEA appeal – “new matter”) [2018] UKUT 00385 (IAC), the appellant was a Ukrainian national and the sponsor was a British national. They had spent some seven months in Cyprus and on their return to the UK, the appellant applied for a residence card invoking the Surinder Singh principle.
The official headnote:
"(1) By virtue of schedule 2(1) of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016 (‘the 2016 Regs’) a “new matter” in section 85(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 includes not only a ground of appeal of a kind listed in section 84 but also an EEA ground of appeal.
(2) The effect of the transitory and transitional provisions at schedules 5 and 6 of the 2016 Regs is as follows:
(a) All decisions made on or after 1 February 2017 are to be treated as having been made under the 2016 Regs, whatever the date of the application;
(b) Regulation 9 of the 2016 Regs applies (through the medium of the transitory provisions) to all decisions made on or after 25 November 2016 whatever the date of the application;
(c) In all other respects the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006 apply if (i) the application was made before 25 November 2016 and (ii) the decision was made before 1 February 2017.".
>>> More Article 3 appeals rejected as Court of Appeal stands firm on Paposhvili: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/2482.html
In MM (Malawi) [2018] EWCA Civ 2482 the Court of Appeal has again confirmed that there is indeed a discrepancy between the domestic law on Article 3 medical cases as set out in the House of Lords case of N v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2005] UKHL 31 and the recent European Court of Human Rights judgment in Paposhvili v Belgium (application no. 41738/10). The court also conceded that it is arguable that Paposhvili extends Article 3 protection to anyone who would suffer a significant reduction in life expectancy, though it did not
>>> Children (asylum policy guidance): https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/children-asylum-instructions?utm_source=f5766198-3040-4acb-843d-652b67e4cac8&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Asylum policy guidance for asylum applications involving children.
This collection contains asylum policy guidance used by UK Visas and Immigration to make decisions on asylum applications involving children.
>>> Home Office can’t accidentally grant section 3C leave by deciding an invalid application: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/2612.html
R (Basir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 2612 is about section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971. Section 3C works as follows: where a person makes a valid application to extend his or her leave to enter or remain and the application is refused, that person’s immigration status is extended during any waiting time for the application to be decided or for an appeal to be decided. (Except the exception to the general rule when the application is decided before the original visa expires.)
If you are on section 3C leave, you can’t use that breathing space to make a new application for leave. It is only really intended to keep your stay in the UK legal while the extension application is being considered/appealed — not to try your luck with a different application entirely while that is going on.
>>> EU Advocate General: the United Kingdom CAN cancel Brexit if it wants to: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=208385&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=184123
A top legal adviser to the Court of Justice of the European Union has recommended that the UK be allowed to cancel its Article 50 notification triggering Brexit and stay in the EU if it wants. Advocate General Sánchez-Bordona writes in an Opinion released recently that the UK has the legal right to withdraw its Article 50 notification, even without the agreement of other EU countries — so long as this happens before the withdrawal agreement is concluded and has parliamentary approval.
>>> UKVI update: Tier 1 (Investor) visa was suddenly suspended at midnight on the 6th December 2018 (via ILPA)
The suspension only affects new applicants, not extensions, filing after the suspension comes into effect.
The Home Office briefing note should be published today.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Points-based system: evidential flexibility: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-evidential-flexibility?utm_source=7e0632e8-239c-454f-850c-eb8c1facec7f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Modernised guidance for how UK Visas and Immigration uses evidential flexibility when considering applications.
Updated Points-based system: evidential flexibility document to latest version.
>>> Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visas to be scrapped in Points Based System shake-up
The immigration minister, Caroline Nokes, gave us a sneak preview of a range of tweaks to the rules that will be laid “shortly”. The changes include:
• Introducing the “Start-up” visa (announced in June)
• Scrapping the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route and replacing it with an “Innovator” visa
• Big changes to the Tier 1 (Investor) route, which is suspended in the meantime
• Allowing architects to get Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visas
• Some “minor, more technical changes” to Tier 1 and Tier 2 (i.e. nasty surprises in the small print)
• Clamping down on the Tier 5 (Temporary Worker – Religious Worker) route, “prohibiting Tier 5 Religious Workers filling roles as Ministers of Religion”
• Introducing a cooling-off period for Tier 5 so that nobody can get a second Religious Worker or Charity Worker visa until a year has passed since their first one expired
• Introducing the pilot scheme for seasonal agricultural workers (announced in September)
More details to follow when the full statement is issued by the Government.
>>> Court of Appeal guidance on costs in ETS cases: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2018/1572.html
>>> The UK BA fails to implement the Tier 1 (Investor) suspension
From ILPA:
“ILPA understands from the Home Office that there is no suspension as yet of the Tier 1 (Investor) visa.
The Home Office cannot say if or when any suspension will happen, or how much notice we will get.
Needless to say, ILPA is extremely disappointed by the situation, which makes a mockery of the principles of certainty and stability inherent in the rule of law.”
>>> Court of Justice of the European Union holds that Brexit can be unilaterally cancelled: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=07BB62261AD026372290BCC58221C3CF?text=&docid=208636&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=1195903
The Court of Justice of the European Union has found that the UK can cancel Brexit by withdrawing its Article 50 notification, without having to get the permission of other EU countries. The result in case C 621/18 Wightman and Others means that, if political circumstances change soon, the UK could remain in the EU on the same terms as now.
There are conditions. The UK would have to officially change its mind “through a democratic process”, widely interpreted to mean new legislation to reverse the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017. The “unequivocal and unconditional” change of mind would have to be notified in writing to the European Council. If Brexit day (29 March 2019) arrives or the withdrawal agreement drawn up by negotiators comes into force, it will be too late.
>>> The UK BA online FLR(M) application form is providing wrong information
It has been reported that the UK BA online application form FLR(M) only refers to the need for an A1 CEFR certificate even where a 2nd spouse extension is sought, while the minimum and the correct level for the extension is currently A2 CEFR.
Whilst that is not an issue for lawyers submitting applications (who should know what is needed) it will create real issues for applicant’s given the incorrect information.
You have been warned!
>>> Can a visitor be granted leave to remain in the UK if the visitor’s British spouse dies in the UK ?
Potentially, yes, case to case dependent, via the currently available FLR(HRO) application form.
>>> Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 1779, 11 December 2018 (11 December 2018): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-changes-to-the-immigration-rules-hc-1779-11-december-2018?utm_source=fba24dd8-3e3b-4e9d-a166-02c7dee5486b&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
The main changes:
•Introduce a new seasonal workers scheme; and
•Expand protection offered to victims of domestic abuse, to include partners of
refugees who have not yet gained indefinite leave to remain, as a result of the
judgment in the case of A v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2017).
Changes relating to Tier 1 of the Points-Based System
Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent)
• The endorsement of arts applicants is being widened to include those in the
field of architecture. These applicants will be assessed by the Royal Institute
for British Architects operating within the endorsement remit of Arts Council
England;
•For consistency, the grant periods for entry clearance applications have been
amended to include an addition 4-month period for each potential grant of
leave. This provides applicants with extra time to meet the qualifying period
for settlement and reduces the likelihood that they would have to apply for
further extension applications. Currently only applicants who request 5 years’
leave qualify for the additional 4-month period;
•Other changes are being made to the criteria for endorsement by each
Designated Competent Body, at those bodies’ requests. These include changes
to the evidential requirements for digital technology applicants who, as a result
of the Tech Nation online application form, are no longer required to supply
paper copies of their specified evidence to the Home Office; and amendments
within Arts Council England rules to ensure consistency across its subendorsers
Changes relating to Tier 2 of the Points-Based System (PBS)
•A change is being made to include the Academic Technology Approval
Scheme (ATAS) requirement for Tier 2 (ICT) applicants extending
leave in the United Kingdom. Applicants in all PBS routes are required
to obtain an ATAS certificate before studying a postgraduate
qualification in certain sensitive subjects, knowledge of which could be
used in programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)
or their means of delivery. The requirement for ICT extension
applications had previously been excluded in error;
•Remove references to ‘Universal Jobmatch’ from the Rules covering
the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT). Universal Jobmatch (UJM)
was replaced by the ‘Find A Job’ service on 14 May 2018, with UJM
permanently closing on 17 June 2018;
•Changes to fix incorrect cross references in paragraph 78C(g) relating
to inward investment requirements, and in table 11B, relating to the
RLMT for creative occupations;
•Including reference to the appropriate salary to be paid to nurses or
midwives who are undertaking the Observed Structured Clinical
Examination (OSCE) to obtain Nursing and Midwifery Council
registration.
Changes relating to Tier 4 of the Points-Based System
• The definitions of “degree level study", “foundation degree” and "post-graduate level
study" are being updated to replace the references to the "National Qualifications
Framework" with "Regulated Qualifications Framework" as the latter is now the
framework used to determine levels of study in the UK.
• A definition of a “higher education provider” is being added to the introduction
section of the rules to reflect the changes to Tier 4 arising from the higher education
reform in England, including the introduction of the Office for Students, and so that
institutions in the Devolved Administration have the same ability to offer privileges to
their students as institutions in England. Accordingly, references to “higher education
institutions”, where appropriate, are being changed to “higher education provider”.
• A definition of a “track record of compliance” is being added to the introduction
section of the rules. Changes are being made to Parts 6A and 8 of the Immigration
Rules, to set out when a student who is sponsored by a higher education provider with
a track record of compliance will receive conditions of leave which entitle them to
work, apply for further Tier 4 leave in the UK, and bring dependants. These changes
will come into effect on 1 August 2019 and are being made in support of the changes
to Tier 4 arising from the higher education reform in England.
• A change is being made to Appendix C to make clear that Tier 4 applicants, who rely
on student loans or funds from official financial sponsors, are not required to
demonstrate that the funds have been held for a period of 28 consecutive days. A
minor change is being made to clarify that a Tier 4 migrant must have the funds
available to them on the date of application, except where the funds are being
provided as a financial loan and the student separately confirms when the funds will
be available to them.
• In Appendix C, a change is being made to clarify that if the applicant is a Tier 4
(Child) Student the specified documents submitted with their application must
confirm who is providing the maintenance funds for their use in studying and living in
the UK and that the funds will remain available to them unless used to pay for course
fees and living costs.
• Amendments are being made to the rules in Appendix C to make them gender neutral
Changes relating to Tier 5 of the Points-Based System
• General quota related changes
• Introduction of a 12-month cooling off period for charity and religious workers
• Introduction of the new seasonal workers pilot scheme - the formal date of implementation for this pilot will be announced in due course
Minor changes to the Visitor, Ancestry and the Electronic Visa Waiver visa routes
Changes to domestic violence provisions
• The case of A v the Secretary of State for the Home Department ruled that the
definition of ‘settled person’ in Appendix FM should be expanded, for the purposes of
domestic abuse policy, to include people with refugee status who have not yet
completed the five-year period required to be granted indefinite leave to remain. The
judge held that because 95% of refugees gain indefinite leave to remain following the
end of the five-year period, indefinite leave to remain can be considered a legitimate
expectation. The effect is that a sponsored partner should have the same expectation
of settlement and therefore of protection under domestic abuse provisions.
• As a result, the eligibility for indefinite leave to remain, as a victim of domestic abuse
under paragraph E-DVILR.1.2 and 1.3, is being clarified to include partners of people
with refugee status who have not yet been granted ILR. E-DVILR.1.2 is also being
amended to include partners granted leave under paragraph 352A where their sponsor
has not yet gained indefinite leave to remain.
• To clarify, only one grant of leave can be made under paragraph 352A. There is
therefore no reference in E-DVILR.1.2.(a) to a subsequent grant of leave being made
under this section.
>>> Advance NHS charges for overseas visitors comply with the Equality Act: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2018/3392.html
The High Court has ruled that the regulations for charging non-residents in advance for non-urgent NHS treatment are lawful. In R (MP) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2018] EWHC 3392 (Admin), decided yesterday, the court rejected a claim that the government had a duty to consult before introducing advance charging and that it had not complied with the public sector equality duty
>>> Can EEA nationals and their family members still be applying for the Residence/Permanent Residence etc during the Brexit transition period ?
Yes, according to the UK BA:
“There will remain scope for applications for documentation under the EEA Regulations while these continue to operate during the implementation period to 31 December 2020, in line with the draft WA.
And such an application should not be treated as withdrawn where the applicant submits an application under the EU Settlement Scheme, as the person can hold a document under the EEA Regulations and UK immigration status under the scheme.
We will continue to keep the gov.uk guidance under review. The need to maintain continuity of residence in order to qualify for settled status is emphasised in the ‘Important information’ enclosed with the decision letter sent to those granted pre-settled status.”
>>> Tier 1 (Investor) Update from the UK BA
“The Tier 1 (Investor) visa is not currently suspended. However, the Government remains committed to reforming the route. A further announcement will be made in due course.
Any suspension would be implemented through changes to the Immigration Rules.
Regards,
Home Office | Migration Policy”
>>> More information on the new UK BA Tier 5 Agricultural Scheme
We saw it some 12-15 years ago, run by Condordia. Now it is back, to be run by Concordia and the Pro Force Limited. Namely:
Seasonal worker pilot
The seasonal worker pilot will be run under the existing Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) category. It will be open to applicants over the age of 18. In addition to making some amendments to Part 8 relating to dependants, and Part 6A of the Immigration Rules (in particular the part under the sub-heading “Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) Migrants), the statement of changes introduces a new appendix into the Rules, Appendix U.
“Edible horticulture sector” (namely vegetable, fruits, vines and mushrooms) and “seasonal work” are defined in the introduction to the Rules. Seasonal work is defined as “employment which fluctuates or is restricted according to the season or time of the year”.
The explanatory memo says that “the formal date of implementation for this pilot will be announced in due course”.
Successful applicants will be issued leave starting 14 days before the beginning of the period of engagement and ending 14 days after the end of that period of engagement, but never for longer than six months in any 12-month period. They will not be allowed to carry on any other work than the work they are being sponsored for. It also seems that they will not be allowed to be accompanied by their family members to the UK.
>>> Can a child on a Visitor Visa switch into a Settlement Visa in-country ?
Unlike the partner or parent or PBS child or child of non-PBS worker routes, there are no immigration status requirements preventing a child visitor from switching to child settlement within the UK.
However, the UK BA may expect explanations of strong changes in circumstances.
For children, any refusal should be subject to Section 55. But the Section 40 needs to be also taken into consideration.
The Guidance does place the initial onus on the applicant to raise the issue of the best interests of the child involved.
>>> Paper forms FLR(HRO); FLR(FP); FLR(LR); FLR(M) are withdrawn and changed to online application only.
Applicants must now apply online.
>>> UKVI Guidance: Illegal working penalties: codes of practice for employers: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/illegal-working-penalties-codes-of-practice-for-employers-2018?utm_source=4b36d537-5aa3-4b00-93c8-e9f625bab55a&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
This code of practice sets out the prescribed checks that employers should conduct to avoid a civil penalty in the event of illegal working.
>>> The New Front End Service update – some questions answered
Q: The Sopra Steria’s scanners at the new Visa Application Centres in the UK are rather slow, it takes about 20 seconds for their scanner to scan a single page. Also, Sopra Steria does not issues any receipts to confirm that they (received and) scanned the documents ? Can Sopra Steria issue the receipts upon scanning the documents ?
A: Currently there is not facility whereby the customer receives a confirmation or receipt of doc-uments being scanned but we have sent this onto Sopra Steria to consider.
Q: How much does it cost for the Sopra Steria to scan the documents at the time of the application ?
A: £35
Q: Is it possible to reschedule a booked appointment via the Sopra Steria web-site ?
A: No, currently you cannot reschedule your appointment. You must first cancel your appointment and then book a new appointment (and pay the fee again).
Q: Is there a cancellation charge for cancelling an appointment booked via the Sopra Steria’s web-site ?
A: If an applicant cancels their appointment within 48 hours of their appointment time they will incur a cancellation charge. If an applicant cancels their appointment more than 48 hours in advance of their appointment time they will not incur a cancellation charge.
Q: How much does a VIP appointment cost (a visit by the Sopra Steria on site, for example) ?
A: The VIP service will be £650 per agent per hour.
Q: How much time do I have to enrol for the biometrics upon submission of the online application under the New Front End Service ? The Sopra Steris web-sites says that this needs to be done with-in 5 days from the application submission ?
A: Although it is recommended the applicant attends an appointment within 5 working days of submitting their application it is not a requirement. The applicant can book an appointment more than 5 working days from the date of application and have 45 days to enrol their biometrics from the date of application. We would recommend you check the service standards of the application for the specific visa type before booking the appointment.
Q: What will be the applicant’s position with regard to travel between the application being sub-mitted online and attending a biometric appointment (provided the BRP remains valid)?
A: If someone travels while there is a live application leave to remain or Settlement application (ex-cludes the Naturalization application) this is grounds for an automatic withdrawal as they have to be in the UK when an application is being considered
If you are applying for leave to remain, or indefinite leave to remain, you should not leave the UK until you have received a decision on your application. If you travel outside the “Common Travel Area” (CTA) before the decision is made on your application, your application will be treated as withdrawn.
The CTA is:
• • UK
• • Republic of Ireland
• • Channel Islands
• • Isle of Man
If the decision is made while you are outside the UK and your current leave has expired, you will not have a right to return to the UK and you may be refused entry at the UK border.
Q: What are the costs for the new Front End Services ?
A: The details on fees can be found here; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table but for ease the fees are £610 for super priority, £477 for Priority and the fee for the standard service will depend on visa type.
Q: Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/Promise
Will expedited services be available for T1 (ET/EP) Stage 1 at any time - e.g. to be able to self-scan supporting documents or attend a Sopra office to submit both Stage 1 docs and Stage 2 at the same time?
A: The stage 1 is for the applicant to apply for endorsement from the relevant Designated Compe-tent Body (DCB). They provide evidence to support their claim of their exceptional qualities within their specific field. This evidence is not linked to the case, it is passed through to the DCB for con-sideration.
- The stage 2 is only applied for if the customer receives the endorsement from the relevant DCB, with this they need to provide details of their passport and BRP card, this information is linked to their case as it forms part of the immigration consideration.
- There is a separate application form and payment for each stage and as specific evidence is re-quired for each stage it would not be possible to submit the information at the same time
Q: What options does Tier 1 (Investor) and Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applicants have ?
A: As of the 13 November Tier 1 (Investors) applying for leave to remain can make an online application for a priority 10 day or a standard 8 week consideration. Customers choosing the new UK Visas and Citizenship Application Service have a range of appointment options to choose from including more flexible on-demand, mobile application services extending the beyond the main locations to, for example, university campuses, employers’ offices or individ-ual customers’ homes.
Although the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications can enrol their biometrics via a VIP appoint-ment they are not eligible for priority (10 day) or super priority (24 hour).
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications have an 8 week service standard. Tier 1 (Investors) leave to remain are offered a 10 day priority or 8 week service standard. There are plans to offer priori-ty considerations to Tier 1 investors applying for indefinite leave to remain, these will be avail-able in the new year.
Q: Does the applicant need to scan all the pages of their passports ?
A: The applicant is required to scan the biometrics page and any other page with a stamp or information contained on them.
Q: Does had copy passport sized photos required ?
A: Hardcopy passport-sized photographs are not required.
>>> How not to fall foul of the new application process and ensure a valid Home Office application
- Part1: https://ukimmigrationjusticewatch.com/2018/12/04/part-1-how-not-to-fall-foul-of-the-new-application-process-and-ensure-a-valid-home-office-application/
- Part2: https://ukimmigrationjusticewatch.com/2018/12/04/part-2-how-not-to-fall-foul-of-the-new-application-process-and-ensure-a-valid-home-office-application/