Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Immigration News - April 2014




Education


Increased threshold for maintenance funds (Studying in the UK)

The government has announced changes to the Immigration Rules, including increasing the threshold for maintenance funds for student, worker and family migrants, in line with the costs of living in the UK.

This change will affect all applications made from 1st July 2014. However, as the funds need to be held by the applicant for 28 or 90 days, it is important that anyone planning to apply from July makes note of these changes now.

Further details of these changes can be viewed here.

The full 'Statement of Changes' can be viewed here.




Immigration Minister's speech: Proposal to review threshold of student visa refusals

The newly appointed Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, outlined the government's plans to further tighten visa rules in a drive to cut net migration to "tens of thousands" by 2015.

Mr Brokenshire is reported to have said that the current 20 per cent tolerance threshold of student visa refusals that education institutions are allowed before losing highly trusted sponsor status may be too high and may need to be looked at again.

It is feared that some education providers could lose their licence to recruit overseas students if the government goes ahead with their plans.



Select Committee Report - Persuasion and Power in the Modern World (Studying in the UK)

The newly established Lords Committee on Soft Power and the UK's influence have published a report on the 'Persuasion and Power in the Modern World'.

They concluded from the evidence they were presented with that falls in student numbers were due to the UK's visa policies and visa administration.

They also urged the Home Office to remove students from its immigration cap and advised that continuing to count 'students' as part of the overall migration figures would be both "destructive" and "disingenuous".

The Guardian reported that a Home Office spokesperson responded by saying that students would remain in the net migration statistics because they are not all temporary visitors and have an impact on communities, public services and infrastructure.

The full report by the Committee on Soft Power can be downloaded here.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/28/lords-committee-uk-immigration-visa-policy-damaging-creative-economy



Working in the UK


Select Committee Report - Persuasion and Power in the Modern World (Studying in the UK)

The newly established Lords Committee on Soft Power and the UK's influence have published a report on the 'Persuasion and Power in the Modern World'.

It found that the UK's Immigration visa system is unnecessarily complicated and is having a damaging impact on the country's film, music and legal services.

They advised the government to present and communicate their visa and immigration policies in a way that will not discourage people who would add to the UK's prosperity from coming to the UK and supporting its business and trade.

They welcomed the government's announcement to make UK visas more attractive to Chinese visitors but urged the government to improve visa application processes for other key growth areas.

The full report can be downloaded here.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/28/lords-committee-uk-immigration-visa-policy-damaging-creative-economy



Changes to Immigration Rules - helping businesses to recruit internationally

The government has announced changes to the Immigration Rules to help UK businesses employ skilled international workers and support the government's long-term economic plan.

The following changes will come into effect from Thursday 13 March:
  • The Exceptional Talent visa route has now been opened up to individuals in the digital technology sector by enabling Tech City UK to endorse visa applications.
  • Introduction of a new category for government sponsored language teachers, which will create closer ties with China.
  • Increased flexibility by offering 5-year grants of leave to skilled workers, instead of 3.
Further details of these changes can be viewed here.



Increased threshold for maintenance funds (Working in the UK)

The government has announced changes to the Immigration Rules, including increasing the threshold for maintenance funds for worker, student and family migrants, in line with the costs of living in the UK.

This change will affect all applications made from 1st July 2014. However, as the funds need to be held by the applicant for 28 or 90 days, it is important that anyone planning to apply from July makes note of these changes now.

Further details of these changes can be viewed here.

The full 'Statement of Changes' can be viewed here.



Inspection of the use of the power to enter business premises

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, has published a report on his inspection of the use of the power to enter business premises without a search warrant.

The key findings were as follows:
  • The power had been unlawfully used in six cases.
  • There was ineffective management oversight regarding the use of this power.
  • No management information was being collected so senior managers had very limited knowledge about whether the power was being exercised lawfully and effectively.
  • The level of use of this power by the enforcement teams across the country varied significantly.
  • 13 cases (22%) were found where the grounds for applying for this power did not provide sufficient information to reach the higher threshold of believing offenders to be on business premises.
  • There was inadequate staff training across all enforcement grades, up to and including Assistant Directors.
The full report can be read here.

General Immigration Matters


Inspection of the Emergency Travel Document Process

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, John Vine, has published a report on his inspection of the Emergency Travel Document (ETD) process.

He found that the Home Office's good relationship with a number of embassies had resulted in an efficient, successful re-documentation process. The Returns Liaison Officers based at British embassies were also playing an important role in obtaining ETDs in a number of cases. They also found that detained interview schemes were likely to result in emergency travel documents being issued quickly.

However, he also had concerns in the following areas:
  • The management of unused ETDs was poor and this pool was not being used to generate removals.
  • The Home Office was applying for too many ETDs that had little potential for being used.
  • There was no central monitoring of the progress of the stock of approximately 4,000 outstanding ETD applications.
  • Supporting information that could help to secure an ETD was not being retained as part of the visa application process.
  • The quality assurance process for ETD applications was not standardised and there was no audit trail so the quality of ETD applications could not be accessed.
  • There was an inadequate picture of performance due to inadequate management information on aspects of the ETD process.
The full report can be read here.




Head of UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) confirmed

Sarah Rapson has been permanently appointed as UK Visas and Immigration's (UKVI) Director General.

Further information about this appointment can be found here.




Veristat Services



HTS Health-Check


The Veristat Health Check is a one-day objective, external review covering key areas likely to arise during a Home Office visit together with examples of good practice drawn from over 4 years' experience of conducting compliance audits for schools, colleges and universities.

For further information please contact don@veristat.co.uk


Training for employers


We are increasingly being asked to provide training on Right to Work and/or Tier 2 sponsor duties.  If you think your organisation would benefit from training in either or both of these areas, please contact us for a no commitment discussion of your requirements at enquiries@veristat.co.uk.


LinkedIn 'HR Immigration' Group


We have recently set up a 'HR Immigration' group on LinkedIn, which aims to provide a networking space for UK employers and HR/recruitment professionals to share and discuss news and best practice about current UK immigration issues.

To join this group please go to http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=6537658

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