Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC1154, 15 June 2018
A new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules (HC1154) has been published on 15 June 2018.
The statement of changes purposes of the main changes relating to:
- Make provision for returning residents, including those affected by Windrush.
- Create a route for Afghan locally engaged staff to apply for settlement in the UK and to extend the ex-gratia redundancy scheme by six years, to include those made redundant on or after 1 May 2006.
- Create a new settlement route for Turkish ECAA business persons, workers and their family members.
- Create a new form of leave for people, transferred to the UK under the Dubs amendment, who do not qualify for international protection.
- Exempt all doctors and all nurses from the annual Tier 2 (General) limit.
- Create new provisions in Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) category
Changes relating to returning residents
The returning residents rules set out the provisions relating to persons who have acquired indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK and who are returning to the UK following an absence overseas. This could also include those returning to the UK, under these provisions, as part of the Windrush policy. Changes have been made to clarify the distinction between those who have been absent from the UK for less than 2 years and so retain their indefinite leave status, from those whose indefinite leave has lapsed due to an absence of more than 2 years. Those in the latter category must now apply for entry clearance and demonstrate they have strong ties to the UK in order to be issued indefinite leave to enter.
Changes relating to leave to enter or stay in the UK
A minor change is being made to the wording of paragraph 39E (exceptions for overstayers) because, as currently worded, the paragraph would permit some applicants to make one additional application, which is not the policy intention. Applicants should not be able to make any additional applications. The change will close this discrepancy
Changes relating to the refusal of entry clearance or leave to enter the United Kingdom
Paragraph 320(7BB) sets out the specific circumstances in which previous periods of overstaying should be disregarded. A minor change is being made to the wording of this rule to clarify that overstaying, pending the determination of any out of time application made on or after 24 November 2016 to which paragraph 39E applies, will also be disregarded for the purposes of calculating the period of overstaying in paragraph 320(7B)(i).
Changes relating to immigration bail
The Government commenced Schedule 10 to the Immigration Act 2016 on 15 January 2018. This introduced a new provision of “immigration bail” and repealed the existing powers of temporary admission and temporary release, as well as immigration bail under Schedule 2 of the Immigration Act 1971.
The change in this Statement of Changes relates to the rule concerning applications for leave to enter or remain, as the child of a person with limited leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom. Other rules changes have already been made to those rules relating to applications for entry clearance, leave to enter or remain, further leave or indefinite leave in various scenarios. The common factor in each case is the relevance of the applicant having last been granted, or being currently on, temporary admission or temporary release.
Transitional provisions provide that those who were granted temporary admission or temporary release before 15 January 2018, and whose grant remained extant on that date, are automatically treated as if they had been granted immigration bail under Schedule 10 to the 2016 Act. After that date, temporary admission and temporary release can no longer be granted, and immigration bail is granted instead.
However, for some time after the commencement of the provisions in Schedule 10 there may be individuals whose earlier grant of temporary admission or temporary release is relevant to their application. Accordingly, these references in the rules are preserved to ensure there is no prejudice caused by the changes.
Changes relating to Tier 1 of the Points-Based System
Tier 1 of the Points-Based System caters for high-value migrants. The current rules contain four active categories: Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent), Tier 1 (Investor), Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur). They also include the Tier 1 (General) category, which was closed to new applicants in April 2011 but remained open for settlement applications until 6 April 2018.
Tier 1 (General)
Changes are being made to delete the remaining rules for this category, which closed for settlement applications on 6 April 2018.
Tier 1 (Investor)
The Tier 1 (Investor) category is for high net worth individuals making an investment of at least £2 million in the UK. The following changes are being made to this category:
Applicants are required to maintain their investments. A change is being made to clarify that, while applicants may withdraw interest and dividend payments generated by their qualifying investments from their portfolios, they may not do so if these were generated before the applicant purchased the portfolio.
As evidence of their investment, applicants must currently submit portfolio reports signed off by a financial institution regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A technical change is being made to require institutions to confirm that the funds have only been invested in qualifying investments and that no loan has been secured against those funds. This change will put a further obligation on financial firms to scrutinise the suitability of applicants’ investments, in addition to their own due diligence.
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)
The Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) category caters for applicants coming to the UK to set up, take over, or be involved in the running of a UK business. Applicants must have either £200,000 or £50,000 funds (depending on the circumstances) to invest in their businesses. Two amendments are being made to:
- make clear where letters from legal representatives confirming signatures are required, and
- restore a provision for accountants to confirm that investment has been made on an applicant’s behalf
Changes to indefinite leave to remain in work categories
Applicants for indefinite leave to remain must complete a continuous period (usually 5 years) with valid leave and absences from the UK of no more than 180 days in any 12-month period during that time. The following changes are being made to these provisions:
- A transitional arrangement is being applied, to ensure that the new absences calculation rule, effective from 11 January 2018 (in HC 309), does not adversely affect applicants whose absences occurred during leave granted under Rules in place prior to that date.
- Provisions setting out when an applicant’s continuity of leave is not broken are currently more generous for in-country applications than for entry clearance applications (where applicants have otherwise had continuous stay in the UK but happen to be overseas when their previous leave expires). Changes are being made to bring the entry clearance provisions into line with the (more generous) in-country provisions.
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