Home Office and Visa Fees to increase on 6th April 2018

Home Office and Visa Fees to increase on 6th April 2018. Please see  schedule here.

Request for Personal Information – Updated Guidance

This could be useful when calculating absences from  the UK for the purposes of applications including those for naturalisation. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/requests-for-personal-data-uk-visas-and-immigration/request-personal-information-held-by-uk-visas-and-immigration 

Nationality Document Return Service introduced

This is  good  news for those who want to keep hold of their passports when they apply for British citizenship. The application must be submitted on-line rather than by post and the Applicant will then take their passport and other supporting documents to a participating local authority. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/nationality-document-return-service

Some positive changes for Tier 4 students

Finally some concrete news for EU nationals

Last week’s Brexit negotiations have ended with  a statement from the Home Office which gives some comfort to EU nationals living in the UK. It confirms that any EU national living in the UK lawfully prior to 29th March 2019 will be able to carry on living here. So we now have the long- awaited […]

Positive news for EU migrants who become British citizens

The Court of European Justice has overturned the Home Office stance that EU migrants who become British can no longer be joined by family members under European law. This has been difficult for some of those who have acquired British nationality since arriving in the UK and who have wanted their non-EU spouse to join […]

Extension of Worker Registration Scheme Unlawful

The Worker Registration scheme applied to the 8 eastern European countries which joined the EU back in May 2004. Nationals of those countries who came to work in the UK were expected to register under the scheme and failure to do so meant that they were regarded as  living here unlawfully. The UK’s extension of […]

Banks and Building Societies required to carry out immigration status checks

From today , banks and building societies are  required to close the current accounts of people “disqualified” from holding bank accounts because of their immigration status. The Home Office will tell them who is “disqualified”. Recent tests have shown  errors in the Home Office database and it’s likely that disruptive and costly mistakes will be […]