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More on the International Graduate Scheme (IGS)
Updated by Gherson and Co on Wednesday 9 May 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | Working for UK Employers | UK Employers | StudentsOn 1 May 2007 the International Graduate Scheme (IGS) replaced the Science and Engineering Graduates Scheme (SEGS).
Successful challenge to HSMP Changes
Updated by Gherson and Co on Friday 4 May 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | Working for UK Employers | HSMP | UK Employers | Human Rights | Featured CasesHow will the revised HSMP affect me?Not at all. It is important to note that once you have entered the programme you are in a category that has an avenue to settlement. Those who have already entered under HSMP will be allowed to stay and apply for settlement after four years qualifying residence regardless of these revisions to HSMP .
'The Home Office stated in their announcement: 'these changes will inform the decisions the Government will take towards establishing the new five-tiered Points Based System for all migration routes to the UK to work or study by April 2009', thus sounding a warning that the scheme may change again, perhaps many times, until the government are satisfied that they have got it right. What are the implications of this uncertainty for would-be highly-skilled migrants and those who wish to employ them?The HSMP is the only 'points-based part' of the current system. The changes to the scheme announced on 7 November mean that it will closely resemble the proposed "Tier 1" of the Points-based system, expected to be the first part of the Points Based system to be introduced. The changes thus appear to be a trial run for the Points Based system; a chance for the government to check that it has the criteria right before starting to implement that system. If the government decides that it does not have the criteria right, for example if it finds that the new criteria exclude people whom the UK wants to attract, or include too many people who are not bringing unique skills but competing with resident workers for jobs, the criteria are likely to be changed again...and again. The result? People admitted to the UK as highly-skilled migrants may find that when they come to apply to extend their stay, they no longer qualify in that category. If the UK is failing to attract the people it wants, the government may wish to adjust the scheme.If very large numbers of people qualify under the scheme and are felt to be competing with, rather than complementing, the UK and European Union workforce, the government may wish to make it harder to qualify under the scheme, or even consider imposing a limit upon the numbers who can qualify
Domestic Workers in the Points-Based system
Updated by Gherson and Co on Tuesday 1 May 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | Working for UK Employers | UK Employers | Human RightsThe UK government has set out a timetable for implementation of a new Points-Based system whereby those who wish to come to the UK to work must select a particular tier of the system in which to apply and score a certain number of points in that tier to quality to come to the UK.
House of Lords on family life - analysis
Updated by Gherson and Co on Friday 27 April 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | Family Immigration | Human Rights | Featured CasesThe House of Lords has recently given its landmark judgment in Huang; Kashmiri v SSHD [2007] UKHL 11. The case is absolutely fundamental to the way in which immigration courts will now have to interpret and apply obligations owed to those seeking entry or leave to remain in the United Kingdom on the basis that removal would breach their rights to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the rights to family and private life.
New timetable for Points-Based system
Updated by Gherson and Co on Thursday 19 April 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | Working for UK Employers | HSMP | UK Employers | Students | Business and InvestingEver since the Home Office announced that it wished to introduce a new Points-Based system for migration to the UK it has produced rough time-estimates on when the system will be introduced, stating that it will not be introduced ‘before’ a particular date. Now the government Minister responsible for the Border and Immigration Agency, Liam Byrne MP, appears to have set down a timetable.
New International Graduates Scheme (IGS)
Updated by Gherson and Co on Wednesday 11 April 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | Working for UK Employers | HSMP | UK Employers | StudentsFrom 1 May 2007 the International Graduate Scheme (IGS) will replace the Science and Engineering Graduates Scheme (SEGS).
Changes to rules for students delayed
Updated by Gherson and Co on Tuesday 10 April 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | StudentsThe UK Borders and Immigration Agency (previously the Immigration and Nationality Directorate) has delayed changes to the rules on students visiting the UK. A number of changes which were originally to have come into effect on 19 April 2007 have been delayed to 1 September 2007 instead. These include the changes meaning that people intending to study in the UK need to obtain entry clearance (a visa) before they travel.
From 1 September 2007, people with visitor visas will no longer be able to study in the UK. From that date, people who wish to study in the UK for six months or less will need to obtain entry clearance (a visa) at UK consular posts abroad as a ‘student visitor’. Student visitors will not be allowed to work while they are in the UK, or to extend their stay beyond six months. If they wish to continue their studies in the UK or to start working they will need to go home and apply for new entry clearance (another visa).
Children under 18 will not be included in the student visitor category. Those who enter the UK on child visitor visas will be able to take a short course of study at a registered institution.
People who are making final arrangements for their study in the UK (‘prospective students’) will, from 1 September 2007, need to obtain entry clearance for this purpose. The Border and Immigration Agency (previously called the Immigration and Nationality Directorate), the part of the UK Home Office that deals with immigration and nationality, is limiting the circumstances in which people already in the UK with leave in another capacity can switch into staying in the UK as students.
From 1 September 2007, only work permit holders, people in the UK to resit an examination, international graduates (a new category to replace the Science and Engineering Graduate Scheme – SEGS), people in the UK under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme and those who are sabbatical officers (people taking a year out of their studies at a UK university to undertake a role such as that of Student Union Officer) will be able to switch into the student category without leaving the UK. Other people will be expected to go home and obtain new entry clearance (a visa) as a student.
Some of the new rules will still come into force on 19 April 2007. From that date, people who are studying a UK course without having to attend the UK for lectures and teaching, for example people doing correspondence courses, will need to be registered with a UK body awarding degrees to obtain entry clearance to come to the UK in connection with their studies. Obligations on universities and other providers of education within the UK are also changing from 19 April 2007. There will be new criteria defining which institutions can be recognised as ‘bona fide education institutions’. Whether or not an institution is recognised as ‘bona fide’ (i.e. recognised on an official list as respected) is relevant to whether a successful application for a student visa to study at that institution can be made. There will also be new obligations from that date for universities and other educational institutions to keep records of the students on their courses and of attendance by these students, and to provide information to the Border and Immigration Agency.
UK immigration and nationality: new fees, new forms
Updated by Gherson and Co on Wednesday 4 April 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | Working for UK Employers | HSMP | Students | Family Immigration | Nationality | Settlement | Visa Services | Business and InvestingOn 1 April 2007 the fees charged for immigration applications in the UK were changed by the Border and Immigration Agency, previously called the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. The Border and Immigration Agency is the part of the UK Home Office dealing with immigration and nationality cases.
UK considers options on immigration rules for marriage
Updated by Gherson and Co on Tuesday 3 April 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | Family ImmigrationThe UK government has proposed increasing the minimum age at which a person can come to the UK as the spouse of a person present or settled in the UK, from 18 to 21. It wishes to consult on this proposal before deciding whether to implement it.
New Life in the UK Handbook published
Updated by Gherson and Co on Thursday 29 March 2007. All Articles | Featured Articles | Nationality | SettlementAnyone applying for British Citizenship has to demonstrate knowledge of life and language in the UK by taking a test. The new revised Life in the UK: A Journey to Citizenship Handbook, which prepares you to sit the Life in the UK Test, has now been published. The handbook was revised to simplify the level of English in the previous edition. The revised edition contains updated information, advice on areas of the book to concentrate on to prepare for the test, and a glossary. The test is being revised. The government says that people taking a test on or after 2 April 2007 should study the revised edition of the Handbook, but says that people who already have a copy of the old edition can continue to use it to prepare for tests before 2 July 2007. If you do not already have a Handbook, and need one, buy the new edition. I