Welcome to the Gherson Blog

A new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules comes into effect on 6 April. See our update on how this will affect applying for a Restricted Certificate of Sponsorship . Read more »

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper outlined Labour's new approach to immigration last Thursday in an attempt to seize the initiative from a Coalition fraying at the edges and struggling to reach a consensus on its own policy. Despite the Prime Minister stressing that the party would not "lurch to the right" in the wake of the Eastleigh by-election, the rhetoric from some ministers has seemingly been at odds with this statement. Home Secretary Theresa May has announced plans to... Read more »

Home Secretary Theresa May has accused judges of making the UK more dangerous by ignoring rules aimed at deporting more foreign criminals. Last year, MPs approved new guidance for judges making clear a criminal's right to a family life had limits. The guidance made clear the right to a family life - set out in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights - was only qualified. The change was designed to end a string of cases where it was used to justify granting foreign criminals... Read more »

Judicial review is a type of court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body. In other words, judicial reviews are a challenge to the way in which a decision has been made, rather than the rights and wrongs of the conclusion reached. It is not really concerned with the conclusions of that process and whether those were 'right', as long as the right procedures have been followed and whether the body concerned acted properly and within its... Read more »

The Home Office yesterday announced urgent changes to the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) rules, which took effect as of today, 31 January 2013 . The following changes are applicable to all Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications that have not yet been decided and apply to applicants who seek entry clearance or leave to remain in the UK as a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrant for the first time. Changes to note are as follows: The introduction of a 'genuine entrepreneur test' which, it... Read more »

Attending the Public Enquiry Office can be a daunting experience, if for no other reason than the outcome is so important. But the process itself need not be daunting: After managing to book an appointment at the Public Enquiry Office in Croydon for Tatyana and her family, I'm on my way to Croydon with the application bundle. About twenty minutes from London Victoria Station the train pulls into East Croydon Station. It's snowing so I walk quickly to Lunar House, the building that... Read more »

Gherson has represented many clients in appeals to the First-tier and Upper Immigration Tribunals . Recently we have started to see a worrying trend in withdrawals of the UKBA decision days or minutes prior to the hearing. We have been told that the Home Office Presenting Officer’s unit that represents the UK Border Agency at appeals has a new policy that, where they consider the refusal to be indefensible, they withdraw the decision and refer the matter back to the... Read more »

Theresa May's 12 December speech follows many robust government statements on curbing immigration. However, it may presage a slight change of tack. Our concern has been that in reducing immigration, the new rules have often engaged the wrong target, causing undesirable collateral damage. There now appears to be recognition of this. The speech mentions specifically "measures we are taking to make us more discerning when it comes to stopping the wrong people from coming here and even more... Read more »

Yesterday, the Prime Minister gave a speech to the CBI in which he said that the country was in "the economic equivalent of war today... and we need to throw everything we've got at winning in this global race". He set out five ways in which he was going to change things to "get things done": 1) Cutting back on judicial reviews; 2) Reducing government consultations; 3) Streamlining European legislation; 4) Stopping the gold-plating of legislation at home; and 5) "quite... Read more »

It was announced by the UK Border Agency in July 2012 that following a 'successful pilot' carried out last year, a targeted interview system for students was being introduced, which would concentrate on high-risk applicants . If you are a student, you may be interviewed and asked a number of questions about your immigration and education history, study and post-study plans, and financial circumstances. The UKBA expects to interview up to 14,000 students in the next 12 months.... Read more »

For non-EEA students wishing to study in the UK, the UK is proving itself an inhospitable host. The UKBA's revocation of London Metropolitan University's sponsor licence , leaving thousands of foreign students to face deportation, was just one instance in what seems an emerging pattern of cynical disregard of non-EEA students. To add insult to injury, last week hordes of foreign students were forced to queue for hours outside the Overseas Visitors Records Office (OVRO), subjected... Read more »

I was new in the office. Didn't know much, but wanted to help. "James, here's one you can do", said Margaret. "This client wants a premium service. Book one online please; ask Jo how to do it; it's pretty simple". There were knowing smirks from the rest of the office, which should have alerted me. I opened the UKBA premium website. It seemed easy enough. There was a friendly message saying: "Our online booking service is fast, simple and convenient to use." ... Read more »

As the government continues to tighten the rules on foreign nationals entering the UK, the visa system is becoming an increasingly blunt instrument, which appears to be causing a growing division between policy and intent in some areas. This is especially so in relation to the Chinese. On the one hand, ministers have announced a scheme to encourage Chinese visitors to the UK, noting that it is much easier for the Chinese to enter Germany and France than the UK. On the other hand, the visa... Read more »

John Vine, Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency UK published the report of an Investigation into Border Security Checks in February this year. This sparked an announcement by the Home Secretary, Theresa May, on 20 February 2012 that the UK Border Agency has been split in two from March 2012. The UKBA was set up in 2008 to replace the Home Office’s Immigration Directorate which was declared "not fit for purpose”. It is currently responsible for securing the... Read more »

It is estimated that 20,000 people will be granted a UK visa for the upcoming Olympic Games, which will allow them into the country for a maximum period of six months. The UK Border Agency has confirmed that one of the conditions of the Olympic visit visas granted to visiting athletes, coaches and other officials for London's Olympics Games will be to bar them from forming any civil partnerships or from marrying while in the UK as well as from undertaking a course of study in the UK.... Read more »

In November 2011 Gherson represented a citizen of the Russian Federation in a successful appeal to the Upper Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) against the entry clearance officer, Moscow. The appeal was against the refusal of a family visit visa to allow a father to join his wife and son in the UK. The visa was refused on the grounds of deception; the applicant had not disclosed in an earlier application for a visit visa to the UK that he had previously been refused... Read more »