New General Grounds of Refusal in HC 321

The government has announced changes to the general grounds of refusal for immigration applications that will take effect on 1 April 2008. These changes are found in the Statement of Changes in the Immigration Rules HC 321.

The new rules in HC 321 will severely punish people who have breached any of the UK immigration rules by imposing a mandatory period of exclusion from the UK ranging from 1 – 10 years.

Examples of breaches are:
  • Overstay your visa in the UK by more than 28 days

  • Enter the UK illegally

  • Use deception in an immigration application (e.g. submitting false documents)

  • Breach their conditions of stay while in the UK (e.g. a student working in excess of the permitted 20 hours)

Transitional provisions
Illegal migrants who voluntarily leave the UK before October 1st 2008 will be able to apply to return to the UK and will not face a mandatory exclusion period providing they are able to demonstrate compliance with the relevant rule under which they are applying, for example Marriage, Tier 1 HSMP, Work Permit, Civil Partner etc. This concession will not apply to those migrants who left the UK before 17 March 2008.

Next steps
Illegal migrants should make every effort to legalise their immigration status in the UK by taking advantage of the concessionary period before the 1st of October 2008. Please contact us to discuss the options available to resolve your status.







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