What Tech Nation’s Closure Means For Global Talent Visas
Tech Nation has announced that it is to close its operations from 31 March 2023, ending its role as endorsing body for tech applicants under the Global Talent route. The announcement comes after the organisation lost its government funding to Barclays. The Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport formally awarded the £12 million Digital […]
Police Registration Scheme Closed: Foreign Nationals No Longer Required to Register with Police
The UK’s Police Registration Scheme has officially closed today as of 4 August 2022, the Home Office has confirmed in a statement today. The change means the requirement for certain foreign nationals to register with the police as part of their UK immigration application has been repealed. Under previous rules, foreign nationals of certain of specific […]
UK Visa Delays for Russian & Belarusian Applicants
Current delays in UK visa processing are being attributed by the Home Office to the various visa schemes launched recently for Ukrainians fleeing the conflict in their country. As UKVI are prioritising applications from Ukrainian refugees under these new emergency routes, such as the Homes For Ukraine scheme, applications in other visa categories are experiencing […]
Home Office Warning to Sponsors for Inactive SMS
We’re aware that the Home Office’s Sponsor, Assurance and Investigations Team have contacted some sponsor licence holders by email to warn of inactivity on their Sponsorship Management System. Sponsor licence holders are required to keep their SMS records up to date, or risk enforcement action. This includes ensuring your key personnel details are up to […]
ICT to Global Business Mobility Visa Transition Arrangements for Sponsors
The Home Office has shared details of the transition arrangements for sponsors that are currently employing, or are in the process of hiring, ICT visa holders. From 11 April 2022, the Global Business Mobility (GBM) Visa will be open to new applications. Within the GBM visa, two new sub-categories will replace the ICT routes: GBM: […]
Tier 1 Investor Visa Route Closed
The UK Government has permanently closed the Tier 1 (Investor) Visa route for foreign nationals. The closure took effect from 4pm 17 February 2022, and applies to all new investor visa applications from applicants of all nationalities. Statement of Changes In its statement, the Home Office advised that the visa route had been “under […]
MAC Publishes Review of ICT Route
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has published its report on the UK’s Intra Company Transfer route. The MAC is an independent body that was commissioned by the UK Government in September 2020 to undertake a review of the ICT. The scope of the review was to assess: Whether the route complies with the UK’s commitments […]
Changes to Immigration Rules HC 617 October 2021
The government published a statement of changes to the UK Immigration Rules on 10 September 2021. At 183 pages, it is extensive and covers a broad range of areas. In this guide, we summarise the key points affecting employers, workers and business travellers to the UK. ID cards banned for entry purposes From 1 […]
UK Sponsorship Reforms: 2021, 2022 & Beyond
With the introduction of the new points-based immigration system, the UK government has pledged to make a number of improvements to the work visa sponsorship process for sponsors and workers. Given the new immigration rules require UK employers to have a sponsorship licence to hire most non-UK residents, the imperative for reform of the system […]
Home Office Challenging CoS Applications
Sponsor licence holders are being warned of increased Home Office scrutiny when processing CoS requests. Prior to the change in the CoS regime at the end of 2020, requests for CoS allocations were generally considered to be ‘rubber stamping’ exercises. However, we are noticing an increase in the number of requests for further information being […]