This Statement of Changes is called HC1025
First of all, what you really want to know is,…
WHAT ARE THE CHANGES ?
We have looked at them for you, and have highlighted what we think are the most significant changes in terms of their impact on people. Of course there is more detail than is set out below, but it does give you a flavour.
VISITORS – From 24th April 2015, the visit visa categories are being ‘streamlined’ from 15 routes down to 4 : Visitor (standard), Visitor for marriage or Civil Partnership, Visitor for permitted paid engagements and transit visitor.
Whilst they are framed differently, there is no real difference between the requirements as they are written now, and how they were drafted in prior versions of the Immigration rules.
There are, written into the body of the visit visa rules, specified suitability and eligibility requirements.
These take into account whether your exclusion is conducive to the public good, based on your conduct, character, associations or other reasons which would make it undesirable to grant your visit visa application.
As has always been the case, your application will also be refued if you provide false information in relation to an application, or material facts are not disclosed, such as an earlier refusal for any reason, if you have previously breached UK Immigration laws, with a re-entry ban still outstanding, or you have failed to pay NHS charges under relevant NHS regulations and the outstanding charges have a value of at least £1,000.
In relation to eligibility, you must, as was previously the case, be a genuine visitor with an intention to leave the UK at the end of your visit, not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, be genuinely seeking entry for a purpose permitted by the visitior routes, not undertake any prohibited activites listed in the rules such as working, studying (except where 30 days incidental study), access medical treatment other than private medical treatment, marry or form a civil partnership, etc.
Student visitors now sit in Part 3 of the Immigration rules for short courses, ‘parent of a child at school’ route is now ‘parent of a Tier 4 (child) student into part 7 of the Immigration rules so these individuals are not visitors.
LOSS OF APPEAL RIGHTS (IN COUNTRY) FOR ALL POINTS BASED SYSTEM APPLICATIONS – For a decision on an application made on or after 2nd March 2015 for leave to remain as
– A Tier 1, 2 or 5 Migrant under the Points Based System, or
– The partner of a Tier 1, 2 or 5 Migrant under paragraphs 319C or 319E of the Immigration rules or,
– The child of a Tier 1, 2 or 5 Migrant under paragraphs 319H or 319J of the Immigration rules.
THE LOSS OF APPPEAL RIGHTS (IN COUNTRY) ALSO FOR THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: For a decision on an application for leave to remain on or after 6th April 2015 unless it is as a visitor, or where an application or human rights claim is made under various categories including the following :
-Long Residence (Para 276B)
-Private life – Article 8 ECHR (para 276ADE(1) or 276 (ADE)
-Family members – Part 8 of the Immigration Rules where the sponsor is present and settled in the UK
-Asylum
All of the above categories that lose substantive appeal rights that would previously have been heard in the Immigration Tribunal, will from the relevant dates have a process called ‘Adminsitrative Review’ to be found in Appendix AR of the Immigration Rules.
It is a review process carried out by the Home Office, but not by the original decision maker. They will look at whether there has been a ‘case working error’ , which is defined in the rules. Some examples of ‘caseworking errors’ are as follows:
Where the original decision maker applied the wrong Immigration rules/applied the rules in correctly/in correctly added up the points to be awarded/has not considered all the evidence that was submitted in the eligible decision/has considered some or all of the evidence incorrectly in the eligible decision/falied to apply the Secretary of State’s relevant published policy and guidance in relation to the application.
FURTHER ‘CASE WORKING ERRORS’ HAVE BEEN ADDED IN THIS STATEMENT OF CHANGES:
– Where the original decision maker’s deicsion to refuse the application on the basis of the General Grounds for Refusal for past breaches was incorrect/to refuse an application on the basis it was beyond any time limit in the rules was incorrect/ where the decision maker otherwise applied the Immigration rules incorrectly.
TIER 2 SKILLED WORKERS – Updates to minimum salary thresholds have been made for all skilled jobs in the Codes of Practice, and as of 6 April 2015 the new threshold is £20,800 or the minimum salary for any particular job in the Codes of Practice, whichever is the higher.
TIER 5 – TEMPORARY WORK – Update to the list of Tier 5 Government Authorised Exchange Schemes
HOW DO THESE CHANGES AFFECT YOU ??
Well, clearly the VISITOR route is more or less the same, but set out differently in the Immigration rules, with fewer categories incorporating all the old routes.
Those of you with leave to remain in the UK under the POINTS BASED SYSTEM, which inclues workers under Tiers 2 and 5, and students under Tier 4, are the most significantly affected. If you are applying to extend your stay in the UK and your application is refused on or after 2nd March 2015, you will no longer have a right of appeal, heard before the Tribunal, but an internal ‘admin review’ conducted by the Home Office themselves.
How it will pan out remains to be seen. In the past, with Tribunal hearings, this was also true to some extent, not knowing which Judge you would have on the day, or which Home Office Presenting Officer, but at least you had a way of having a decision looed at externally by an independent person.
Having said that, the ‘caseworking errors’ read very much like the now ‘old style’ grounds of appeal, so they in theory at least should be looked at in the same way.
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