Immigration Notes April 2010

Immigration Notes April 2010

Prime Ministers Speech on Immigration

The Prime Minister delivered a speech on immigration on 31 March 2010, only his third major speech on immigration since assuming office. The theme of the speech was “fairness” and how the Government had controlled and would continue to control immigration particularly through the Points Based System. It was a political rather than a policy speech attacking the Conservative proposals for an annual quota and providing reassurance to communities faced with the choice of a BNP candidate. Unfortunately for the Prime Minister, much of the substance of the speech was lost due to criticism that he had used misleading statistics to claim that immigration had fallen in 2009, something he corrected the following day.

The detail of the speech focused on how the Government had tightened up on immigration under the Points Based System, with reductions in the number of skilled workers from 99 thousand in 2007 to 81 thousand in 2008, to 63 thousand in 2009 for Tier 2 or equivalents under the previous system. On Tier 4, the Prime Minister described how the Government had stopped 140 colleges bringing in students from outside the EU in the last year and tightened the rules reducing the hours students on lower level courses can work each week – with the expectation that these changes would see around 40 thousand fewer students coming to the UK in 2010/11 than otherwise would have been the case. Plans for the future maintained the theme of tightening control through increased enforcement, language testing and “earned” citizenship. A full transcript of the speech is available at http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page23011

Highly Trusted Status

The UKBA launched its Highly Trusted Sponsor Scheme on 22 March 2010 which in essence requires colleges providing courses at NVQ3 level and equivalents and courses below degree level (excluding foundation degrees) which include work placements (so-called “restricted” courses) to be recognised as “Highly Trusted” by virtue of their level of compliance with their sponsorship duties over a period judged by for example the number of students who have failed to enroll or complete their courses. Highly Trusted status only relates to Tier 4 sponsors at present and only colleges who have held an “A” rated licence for the last 6 months are eligible to apply. It is, however, implicit in the UKBA’s comments that it will be rolled out to Tier 2 and Tier 5 sponsors later in the year. Key dates under the current phase of the scheme are:

6 April 2010

New Immigration Rules come into force, restricting some course types to Highly Trusted sponsors. Some publicly funded sponsors will be deemed to hold a Highly Trusted sponsor licence from this date, pending a successful application. They will be placed on the register of Highly Trusted sponsors from this date. Privately funded sponsors who hold a standard A-rated licence can continue to assign confirmations of acceptance for studies (CASs) for restricted courses until the end of April, pending an application for a Highly Trusted sponsor licence.

30 April 2010

This is the deadline for privately funded, A-rated sponsors to apply for a Highly Trusted sponsor licence, if they want to continue to assign CASs for restricted courses after this date. If they have not applied by this date, they cannot continue to assign CASs for these courses from 1 May 2010.

30 May 2010

This is the date by which UKBA has said it would like all publicly funded sponsors to apply for a Highly Trusted sponsor licence, if they were deemed to hold a Highly Trusted sponsor licence from 6 April 2010 and they wish to retain that status after 30 June 2010. However, the actual deadline is 30 June 2010.

30 June 2010

End of transitional period. CASs for restricted courses can only be assigned by sponsors who:
§ are publicly funded, were deemed to hold a Highly Trusted sponsor licence from 6 April 2010, have applied for a Highly Trusted sponsor licence, and have been granted that licence or are awaiting a decision; or
§ are privately funded, were A-rated sponsors, and have applied for and been granted a Highly Trusted sponsor licence.
Full information on the Highy Trusted Sponsor scheme can be found on the UKBA website at
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/employers/points/sponsoringmigrants/highly-trusted/

Migration Advisory Committee (MAC)

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published its latest report on 26 March 2010, making recommendations based on its third partial review of the shortage occupation lists for the UK and for Scotland. Its key recommendations are that the pharmacists category on the UK shortage occupation list be expanded to include community pharmacists (those who work for private employers other than the NHS) and that those orchestral musician jobs that are not for leaders or principals of internationally recognised UK orchestras be removed from the UK shortage occupation list. For a copy of the report see
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/workingwithus/mac/third-review-lists/0310/mac-3rd-review-10?view=Binary

The MAC currently plans to publish a full review of the shortage occupation list in the autumn of 2010.
The Government has also asked the MAC to consider the following question and report by Monday 17 May: “Should the UK Government exclude the London weighting from the points-based system in order to ensure that the points-based system appropriately reflects regional wage differences across the UK, and what effect would that have on the labour market and the economy in the UK?” Stakeholders can contribute views via mailto:mac@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk%20

Changes to the Immigration Rules Tier 1 and Tier 2

Changes to the Immigration Rules were laid before Parliament on 18 March 2010 and are due to come into effect on 6 and 7 April 2010. The changes implement recommendations made by the Migration Advisory Committee in 2009 and affect Tier 1 and Tier 2 General and Intra-Company Transfer categories. Most of the changes affect the number of points awarded for attributes under these categories. Details of the changes can be found at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/news/statement-of-policy

College Suspensions

At the most recent count around 120 schools and colleges remain suspended. There is movement with some colleges being re-instated although others are still being added. In the vast majority of cases re-instatement is to a “B” rating with an action plan for improvement. Some colleges have threatened or gone to judicial review either to require the UKBA to provide detailed reasons for their suspension or to challenge the decision. In some cases it has appeared that such action has reduced the time taken for the UKBA to present their detailed case for the suspension but there is no obvious pattern to suggest how or whether such action has affected the final outcome.

We have been working with a number of suspended colleges by reviewing colleges’ processes, recommending areas of improvement based on good practice and assisting in the preparation of representations. If you think we may be able to assist your school or college in any of these areas, please contact us for an informal discussion at enquiries@veristat.co.uk or by phone 0844 335 1619.

Immigration fees

New immigration fees are being introduced from 6 April 2010 and all applicants must ensure that they use the correct form and pay the correct fee from that date. The Tier 4 application fee for entry clearance increases from £145 to £199. The fee for extending permission to stay in the UK stays the same for postal applications (£357) but increases from £565 to £628 for applications under the premium service at a public enquiry office. The fee for a dependant who applies at the same time as the main applicant increases from £50 to £80 for a postal application and to £107 for an application at a public enquiry office.