Working for UK Employers

Policy announced to implement HSMP Forum judgment

The UK Borders Agency (the “UKBA”) yesterday published a new policy in the light of the HSMP Forum’s successful application for judicial review of the changes to the qualifying criteria for extensions of leave to remain under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (“HSMP”).

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Investors, Tier One ('Investor') Migrants and the need to invest

A new statement of changes in the Immigration rules, called HC607, implemented worldwide the whole of Tier One of the United Kingdom Border Agency’s “points based system”.

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New Tier one rules include concession of 13 May 2008

Under the statement of changes in the immigration rules (HC 607) announced on Monday and which is effective from 30 June 2008, the UKBA has implemented the whole of Tier one of the points based system.

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Entry clearance guidance changed once more - is discretion coming back?

Updated by Gherson on Monday 9 June 2008. All Articles | Featured Articles | Working for UK Employers | Settlement | Visa Services

In February of this year the government announced a statement of changes (HC321) in the immigration rules to implement “Tier one” of the new points based system. In the same statement of changes severe penalties were announced for those who had breached the UK’s immigration laws in the past, and by which they would be banned from re-entering the UK for a period of up to ten years from when they broke the immigration laws. As we have reported on this site at length – these re-entry bans sparked a chorus of condemnation by interested parties and members of parliament. The campaign has led the government to make two major concessions, substantially limiting the scope of the rule changes.

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Permanent residence - EU Parliament admits petition challenging EEA Regs

The European Parliament’s Commission on Petitions has decided that a petition questioning the correctness of the United Kingdom’s “transposition” of Article 16 of Directive 2004/38/EC (the “Citizens’ Directive) is admissible. Article 16 of the Citizens’ Directive gives nationals of the European Union the right to reside permanently in member states in which they have resided for five years. “EEA nationals” (nationals of the European Economic Area) are citizens of the European Union as well as nationals of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

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Tier 1: professional bodies - not UKNARIC - to judge value of qualifications obtained overseas

Back in May of 2007 on this site we reported that the Border and Immigration Agency (the previous title of what is now the UK Borders Agency or the UKBA) was refusing applications by Iraqi, Nepalese, Sudanese and Filipino doctors (among others) for leave to enter or to remain in the UK under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. The United Kingdom National Academic Recognition Information Centre (UKNARIC) was appointed by the BIA to decide whether qualifications (including doctors’ undergraduate degrees in medicine) awarded by universities in the applicants' own countries were equivalent to the UK standard. It was assessing the doctors’ qualifications as not being “equivalent”.

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Re-entry bans - government announces further major concession

The history of the Border and Immigration Agency’s, (recently renamed the “UK Borders Agency” or UKBA) implementation of its points based system via the immigration rules is bizarre to say the least. HC 321 was laid before Parliament on 6 February of this year. In this "statement of changes in the immigration rules" the government - without any prior warning or consultation - introduced rules which were immediately characterised as “re-entry bans”.

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Employers and Sponsor Licensing - severe consequences of refusal / revocation

On 29 February 2008 the UK Border Agency opened the Register of Licensed Sponsors to employers wishing to issue Certificates of Sponsorship to migrants.

Certificates of Sponsorship will replace the current work permit system in its entirety when Tier 2 of the Points Based System goes live. The Agency currently anticipates that this will be in Autumn 2008. Employers who do not appear on the register will not be able to sponsor migrant workers.

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No appeal by government from HSMP success in Administrative Court

In a judgment handed down on 8 April 2008 Sir George Newman granted the HSMP Forum’s application for a declaration that the Secretary of State had unlawfully applied the changed provisions of the Highly Skilled Migrant Scheme to people who had entered the United Kingdom under the previous requirements of the scheme. The judge found that due to the terms of the guidance provided to the applicants when they entered the UK under the HSMP they had legitimately expected that their applications to extend their stay in the UK would be considered under the same criteria which had applied when they had been granted leave to enter. His crucial conclusion was:

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Points based system - special time limited arrangements for people already in the UK

In the most recent measure announced with respect to its Points Based System the UK Border Agency has announced that people currently in the United Kingdom in specific immigration categories which will be deleted as the Points Based System is implemented may complete their leave to remain under the existing terms of that leave. If they apply successfully to extend their leave in their existing categories they will be granted enough further leave to remain to entitle them to apply for settlement in the UK at the expiry of that further leave to remain.

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