Visa Services

On 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.

UKvisas, the joint Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth office dealing with visas for the UK has announced that Iraqi S-series and M-series passports are no longer accepted for travel to the UK. The letters 'M' and 'S' refer to the first character of the serial number of the passports. UKvisas stopped accepting Iraqi S-series passports for travel to the UK on 1 November 2006.

The Home Office has published proposed new fees for immigration services where applications are made by people who are already in the UK. It is intended that the new fees will apply from 1 April 2007. The fees are set out below.

A recent judgment from the UK Court of Appeal highlights the difficulties that may arise where applications for entry clearance (a visa) or settlement are made on behalf of children who reach the age of 18 before their applications are decided by an Entry Clearance Officer at a British consular post abroad, or by the Home Office in UK, or before an appeal is heard by an immigration judge.

UKvisas has announced that the British Consulate in Tel Aviv is closed to the public for building work. The Consultate is continuing to deal with visa applications by allowing people to make on-line applications, and pay for their visa online.

From 5 February 2007, people applying in Ghana and Kenya for visas to come to the UK for more than 6 months have been required to submit a certificate confirming that they do not have infectious tuberculosis (TB).

Work Permits UK have revised their guidance on when employers or representatives can request a reprint of a work permit. The new guidance took effect on 8 February 2006.

The change affect cases where a work permit has been issued but the person to be employed is refused entry clearance (a visa). In such cases, where the person appeals the refusal and eventually wins and is granted entry clearance, the original work permit may be several months old and may have expired before the person is able to travel.

The new guidance states that employers will have six months from the date of the decision of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) to submit an application for a reprint of a work permit. Requests after six months will only be accepted where the employer can demonstrate a satisfactory reason for the delay. Even where the application is made within the six-month period, further checks may be carried out.

Other circumstances in which a reprint is requested: for example to correct mistakes or when a permit is lost, are not affected by the new guidance.

UKvisas published the report of the Independent Monitor for Entry Clearance on 11 January. The report examines how British embassies and consulates abroad are deciding applications to come to the UK in cases where the person has no right of appeal if refused. The UK government made a statement about the report in parliament on 15 January.

The organisation that represents the UK's universities, Universities UK, has called for the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme, which allows foreign students who study in Scotland to remain in Scotland after their studies have been completed, to be extended to the rest of the UK.

Stop press May 2007 - for information on the Court of Appeal decision on Certificates of Approval click here.