UK Immigration News

As the race to be the next UK Prime Minister reaches the final two in Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, both have pledged to implement hardline UK immigration policies. Sunak in particular has sparked outrage with plans to cap the number of refugees the UK accepts and to introduce ‘floating detention centres’ for asylum seekers.

 

The Home Office has been accused of ‘misrepresenting’ the United Nations Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) stance on a controversial UK immigration policy that sends asylum seekers to Rwanda. Despite a court hearing, the Home Office continues to insist that UNHCR supports the controversial scheme, while the UNHCR refutes the Home Office’s claim.

 

According to new research, education agents rank the UK visa process as one of the best in the world. Research conducted in May this year shows that, amid visa processing backlogs worldwide, the UK is benefitting from a positive perception among education agents. Agents also deem the UK to have ‘very good’ visa acceptance rates.

 

Outgoing Edinburgh International festival director, Fergus Linehan, has described post-Brexit UK visa rules as a ‘disaster’ for the arts and has urged the government to secure visa-free travel for British artists in order to ‘solve the logistical challenges of touring’. Linehan will direct his last Edinburgh festival in August.

 

The UK government has announced that more opportunities will be made available for younger people travelling between Britain and New Zealand to live and work. UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and his Kiwi counterpart, Jacinda Ardern, signed an agreement to extend the Youth Mobility and Working Holiday Visa schemes. 

 

It’s understood that the minimum age limit for applicants will be raised form 30 to 35, and the maximum duration that people can remain in the host country will be increased from various durations to three years. 

Amid the collapse of the Tory government, and news that UK Prime Minister Boris is set to resign after several high profile cabinet members quit, Home Secretary Priti Patel has agreed a new UK immigration deal with Nigeria. The agreement is aimed at cracking down on illegal migration and speeding up the removal of foreign criminals.