The Government has recently announced that they will refund the Immigration Health Surcharge to eligible individuals who work in Health and Care.

What is the Immigration Health Surcharge?

Most migrants need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge when they make an application for a UK visa. It is currently £624 per year for most adults, so it is quite a hefty sum when you are paying for a visa that lasts a few years. The government introduced it in 2015 to ‘ensure temporary migrants make a fair contribution to the comprehensive range of NHS services available to them during their stay’.

What is the Graduate Route / Post Study Work Visa?

The Graduate Route is a visa that will be available to students on completion of a higher-level qualification. It was previously referred to as the Post-Study Work Visa (PSW) and will bring back the route that was previously available but stopped in 2012.

In a recently published detailed guide, the Home Office officially opened The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa on the 31st of January 2021, which is a new visa exclusively for Hong Kong nationals with a BNO Passport. This article aims to summarise the main points, but if you have further queries, you may want to contact a qualified UK Immigration Lawyer for details on how it will affect you.

As this unprecedented year is coming to a close, we at Cross Border Legal Solicitors want to reach out and send our best wishes to you and your family. We hope that 2021 holds success and good fortune in all endeavours that you pursue. Despite the difficult circumstances this year, it continues to be a pleasure getting to know you and your families. 

As noted in our previous article in April 2020, the Immigration Health Surcharge was set to increase from £400 to £624 on the 1st of October 2020. However, there is a bit of good news, as the Home Office has not been able to get the new IHS fee increase to go ahead on the 1st of October 2020 as planned, as the legislative process has yet to finalise.

It seemed to come as a surprise to Boris Johnson that NHS workers and their families were also subject to paying the NHS surcharges, which are due to increase from £400 per year to £624 in October of this year. A spokesperson in May said that the Prime Minister had asked the Home Office to remove the IHS surcharge requirements for Health and Care workers and their families, but has any progress been made on this promise?

Life has its ups and downs and sometimes we are faced with how fragile it can be. The recent epidemic has particularly brought this to the forefront, as there are many who have lost their loved ones.

Least of your worries…

At such a trying and emotional time, it is not desirable to be worried about what will happen with your visa, so this article seeks to answer the question: what happens to a migrant’s immigration status if their spouse dies?

The recent highlighting of the country’s reliance on NHS workers and the health care system by the Covid-19 outbreak, which has led to an outpouring of public gratitude, has left the government keen to capitalise politically on the public mood. They have therefore created a “new” category of visa called the Health and Care Visa, which has been available since the 4^th of August 2020.

Yet another update has come in this morning with regards to the Covid-19 concessions (please see our previous article here), clarifying the Home Office’s position, with regards to the deadline of the 31st of July 2020.

Following our previous article, which detailed the impact of Covid-19 on UK immigration and the governments’ temporary changes to the rules, to assist those who were here on temporary visas (please see the article here), the Government has now published a guide for those who are applying for settlement visas or extensions and are struggling with meeting the income threshold.

The Covona Virus situation continues to develop, and there has now been a further update from the government with regards to those migrants affected by the almost universal shutdown of normal business and services, in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. If you have been affected you may find the below information useful.

Unfortunately, the short relief from the government not increasing the visa application fees for 2020/2021 is due to give way to crushing disappointment later this year, after Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget was presented to Parliament on the 11th of March 2020. He has announced a new increase to the Immingration Health Surcharge (IHS) later this year, which will see the overall price of immigration to the UK increase significantly. The government has now drafted legislation – The Immigration (Health Charge) (Amendment) Order 2020 – to pave way for the coming changes.

UK Now under “Lock Down“

UK is now under lockdown for next three weeks from tonight (23th March 2020) with Prime Minister issuing a press conference ordering UK citizens to stay in their homes in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus. measures includes :

Brexit and transition Period

So, on the 31^st of January 2020, Britain formally left the European Union, but no real changes have yet occurred, as the withdrawal agreement guarantees EU (and British citizens who are lawfully resident in other EU member states) broadly the same rights as they had before Brexit Day.

Background

There are different routes to meet the income threshold, and each have their own rules that need to be followed in order to be successful with a visa application. It is common knowledge that we can use cash savings to meet the income threshold, which typically involves cash savings held either in the form of a current account or a savings account e.g. an ISA account.

Intro

So, life has been really good and cupid has found you a match, you have popped the question and she/he has said yes! Or you have been asked and you said yes! Congratulations!

Now you need to not only plan the wedding but also decide where you will hold the wedding; this article is hopefully going to aid you in making that choice if you are a Non-EU citizen living outside of the UK and are engaged to marry a Brit in the UK.

Background

If you are British citizen, or have an Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, and wish to bring your partner or child/children who are not EU-nationals to the UK, then you usually need to meet the income threshold of £18,600.

General Background

The financial requirement of £18,600 generally must be met by anyone applying for entry clearance, leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain in the UK as the non-European Economic Area (non-EEA) national partner or dependent child of a person, who is either a British citizen or has Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. Please note that sometimes the financial requirement might be a bit higher if sponsoring a non-EU partner and child/children.

Since July 2012, when the current rules regarding UK spouse visas came in to effect, the number one issues that many face when sponsoring their family for a UK settlement visa have been relating to the Income Threshold. This issue has been hotly contested in court but calumniated with the UK Supreme court confirming that the new rules were legal, although it did suggest certain exceptional circumstances where alternative incomes source should be considered by the UK Home Office ( see here).

Generally under UK Immigration rules, if you have been living in the UK for 10 years continuously and lawfully, youcan apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain on the basis of your private life andlong residence in the UK.

As a UK immigration lawyer, I wish to highlight several key points that someone making an application for this visa should note; including that the key words for this visa are “lawful” and “continuous residence.”

After many years of practising UK Immigration Law and Human Rights there are some simple mistakes that I often see people making during the application process for a UK visa. I would like to highlight some very simple mistakes and hopefully may be able forewarn someone who is about to do the same. Below are five common mistakes, in no particular order, that applicants are repeatedly making: 

Further to our previous article Brexit Update – Permanent Residence or Settled Status for EU nationals in UK, and as the new scheme has now been fully implemented, we wish to provide you with some general information on the application process under the EU settlement scheme.

Deadline

If you are an EU or EEA national or their family member, and wish to remain in the UK after Brexit, you need to apply for Settled or Pre-Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Under the European Community Association Agreement with Turkey, the “Ankara Agreement”, a Turkish national might extend his leave whilst already legally living and working in the UK.

Who is this visa for?

If you are a Turkish national living and working in the UK it might be good news for you, as there is the possibility to apply to extend your stay in the UK as a Turkish worker.

The new Access UK service has been rolled out in stages throughout 2016, went live initially in India and Turkey and was available to customers applying for visit visa routes.

Access UK has now been rolled out worldwide and should soon be available for all types of entry clearance visa applications.

UK visa and Immigration rules can sometimes be complex and it is  comparatively a very expensive process, therefore any mistake made by the applicant can have serious implications in terms of time, stress and finances. It is for this reason that one is best advised to use a qualified UK immigration lawyer when applying for a visa, which could potentially save them the hassle and cost of when things go wrong. This article is to highlight the process of trying to remedy things if a visa application is rejected.

As another year is coming to a close, we at Cross Border Legal Solcitors want to reach out and send our best wishes to you and your family. We hope that 2019 holds success and good fortune in all endeavours that you pursue. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and your families this year.

When to choose a 5-year route as a partner and when the 10-year route should be considered.

There are two routes to settlement on the basis of family life as a partner, provided by Appendix FM viz 5-year route and a 10-year route. The 5-year route as a partner will be appropriate for those who meet all the suitability and eligibility requirements of the Immigration Rules at every stage. The 10-year route as a partner applies in respect of applications for leave to remain as a partner who meets all the suitability requirements, but only certain eligibility requirements.

For those who have not noticed, on the 3^rd of November the UK Government introduced changes to the UK Immigration rules . These changes come into effect from the 24^th of November. This is due to affect those who are going to be making a UK Immigration visa application on or after the 24^th of November; these rules may affect you application. For those who have pending applications worry not, as these rules do not affect your application. Continue Reading →

Following from my earlier article on the Immigration Act 2016, it has now been confirmed that Section 63 of the Immigration Act 2016 will come into force on the 1^st of December 2016. The new law states that ALL immigration appeals will have to now be made from out of the country. There will be no in country appeals. Continue Reading →

For those who may have missed it (I would not blame you as this kicked in just a few weeks before the EU referendum in the UK), the government has passed yet another legislative Act of Parliament on Immigration in a bid to reduce immigration and especially come down hard on those in the UK without legal status. The Immigration Minister’s statement when the Immigration 2016 bill was introduced last year sets the tone of what the government hopes to achieve with the new immigration legislation. Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said:

“The message is clear — if you are here illegally, you shouldn’t be entitled to receive the everyday benefits and services available to hard-working UK families and people who have come to this country legitimately to contribute.

Whether it is working, renting a flat, having a bank account or driving a car, the new Immigration Bill will help us to take tougher action than ever before on those who flout the law.

This Bill will build on the government’s work since 2010 to crack down on abuse and build an immigration system that truly benefits Britain – by deterring illegal migrants from coming and making it harder for those already here to live and work in the UK.”

Continue Reading →

According to Part I, Chapter 18 of the British Nationality Act 1981, a person is entitled to naturalisation as British citizen if at the time of the consideration meets some requirements, such as being of good character. However, the Act itself does not provide with a definition of good character.

In absence of a statutory definition as to how this requirement should be interpreted or applied, it is the Secretary of State who should be satisfied that an applicant is of good character. In order for the Secretary of State to make an assessment on good character, Annex D of Chapter 18 of BNA contains a guidance with information on how to assess if the applicant is of good character. This guidance also applies to minors above the age of ten. Continue Reading →

Latest Immigration Rules changes:

Anyone who has been keeping an eye on UK immigration law will have now become accustomed to the regular Immigration Rules changes, which seem to always bear bad news for migrants.

The Immigration Rules are published by the Home Office. The last statement of change is from the New Immigration Rules Change, and is no exception to the general tradition. It brings some changes which mainly affect Tier 2 work permit holders. Continue Reading →

Immigration Health Surcharge

The Immigration Health Surcharge is one of the key reforms within the Immigration Act 2014 which both Human Rights Solicitors and migrants must get to grips with. In addition to a new higher fee that has just kicked in, an additional NHS Immigration Health Surcharge is payable as of the 6^th April 2015 by all non-EEA migrants coming to the UK for more than six months.

The UK Government has stated that the purpose of this surcharge is to ensure that non-EEA migrants contribute to the cost of the NHS. However, given the timing it could perhaps appear as an election stunt as some of the best immigration lawyers in the UK observe – the policy began a week after Parliament is expected to dissolve and during a national election campaign… Continue Reading →

Your Protected Right to Family Life

As many of you will know, everyone has the Right to Family, and these rights are protected under the EU Convention on Human Rights. However, and to the great discomfort of many couples,  as any UK Immigration Lawyer will tell you, Right to family is right is a qualified right, and does not necessarily give the couple the right to choose where they would exercise their right to family.

Ordinarily, a British citizen is allowed by law to sponsor their foreign spouse to come to the UK on a Spouse Visa. This type of application, as many of you have seen on  previous blog post here  has recently been severely restricted, with strict income requirements for the sponsoring spouse. In effect, this has resulted in thousands of couples being separated, as they do not meet the government requirements. Continue Reading →

So, most of you would have heard about the Court of Appeal hearing (MM & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2013)) which is challenging the Income Threshold requirements for the family visas. For those who haven’t, please see my previous posts here and here .

Lots of people celebrated the high court’s recommendations that, among other things, the Income Threshold should be reduced to around £13,000, that third party sponsorship should be allowed, and that special consideration should be taken for certain groups who could not relocate and exercise right to family in another country; e.g.. refugees. Continue Reading →

Most of you will have seen my previous post-EU Family Route: what is the Surinder Singh Route (see post here...). Some time has lapsed since then and I apologise for the delay in writing the second part of the post, which I hope to tackle here. For obvious reasons, this route has grown in popularity and as one can imagine, the Government does not like it.

The Current Position:

In a nutshell, this route currently allows UK citizens to LEGALLY circumvent the UK Immigration rules on spouse and family members from non-EU countries. The UK citizen may purposefully travel to another EU country, work for a few weeks and then return to the UK with his or her non-EU spouse. This route has become increasingly popular as one can avoid the stringent requirements of the spouse visa including the income threshold, which is out of the reach of many ordinary citizens. It also avoids the cost of the application, as this route is free, and the time granted under the EU laws on entry is normally longer; a 5-year residence card as opposed to the 2 and a half years on a spouse visa.

Continue Reading →