News

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is developing an innovative digital immigration system that will replace physical documents with an online record of your immigration status known as an eVisa. Millions of customers have already received their eVisa online since 2018. An eVisa is an online record that contains information about your immigration status and the […]

Out-of-Country Applications Often individuals applying for UK visas that involve them relocating, such as through the Skilled Worker visa would like the option to go to the UK in advance of their work start date to organise their new lives. Understandably this is a reasonable request, especially with everything that needs to be prepared including […]

What is the Shortage Occupation List (SOL)? The SOL is a list of roles deemed to be in shortage in the UK and where immigration has been assessed as a suitable measure to help tackle those shortages. The current SOL comprises 37 UK-wide roles, one role for Scotland alone and 15 health and education roles […]

The discovery that almost 100 care homes in the UK are unoccupied, sitting vacant, or repurposed, whilst 37,000 elderly people have a need for residential care is a shocking revelation recently made recently by the Liberal Democrats.

Individuals do matter I watched a truly eye-opening film on Netflix called The Swimmers recently. It is about a family, led by a driven father who believed in his daughters’ ability to succeed but was broken apart by the war in Syria in 2015.  The two daughters, Sara and Yusra Mardini, swam for their country […]

In the Guardian this morning Aamna Mohdin, spoke critically about the government hitting out at lawyers who had successfully challenged Home Office asylum decisions. (Mohdin, 2023). Notably, Suella Braverman summoned the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) to escalate a high-profile campaign against rogue immigration lawyers. The roundtable was […]

As announced by the Home Secretary on the 23 May 2023, and following the Government’s commitment to reduce net migration, as of today at 15:00 the Home Office removed the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes. They  also removed the ability for international […]

The Government has not yet announced when this substantial increase in the cost of applying for a UK visa will come into effect. However, the timing of the announcement suggests that it may be as soon as the Autumn. On 13 July 2023, the UK Government announced that the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) will increase by 66%, […]

Whilst no clarity on the timing or dates of implementation has been shared, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, The Rt Hon John Glen MP has announced steep increases to immigration fees and the immigration health surcharge (IHS). The current rate for the immigration health surcharge will increase from £624 to £1,035 per year. Workers […]

In June 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined one of the Home Office teams which were part of a large-scale operation making over 150 visits to businesses employing illegal workers. Over 100 arrests took place with a number of these being restaurants. Illegal working remains high on the Government's agenda with plans to increase enforcement […]