UK Immigration News

A British court has heard allegations that a UK immigration officer demanded illegal payments from visa applicants and warned them that, if they refused to pay, their applications would be refused.

This week, a jury at Croydon Crown Court was told that Waseem Majid, 35, of Woolwich, south-east London and two others; Sanam Mia, 43, also of Woolwich, and Muhammed Qadiri, 53, of Ilford, east London, had conspired to breach UK immigration laws. The three deny all charges.

Diane Abbott, the UK's first black woman MP and now a Labour shadow minister, has warned the leadership of her party not to try to compete with other UK parties by promising to be 'tough' on immigration. This year, the Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has made two speeches on immigration. He has said that the last Labour government 'got it wrong' on immigration and has said that the Party will act to limit unskilled migration if it is re-elected.

Mark Harper, the UK's immigration minister, has said that the UK's university sector has continued to attract 'the brightest and the best' international students and has not been harmed by changes to the Tier 4 visa system carried out by UK immigration authorities.

Mr Harper was speaking to The Pie, an online educational magazine. He said 'We are not harming genuine students. More university students are coming here and bogus students are being kept out. There is no limit on the number of students who can come to the UK.'

The UK's immigration authorities have announced a new scheme to remind foreign nationals in the UK when their visa is close to expiry. The pilot scheme has already started.

The Home Office will run the scheme in concert with the private sector outsourcing firm Capita. Capita has run similar services for the Home Office before and attracted criticism in the press for its performance. In January, workpermit.com reported that Capita had contacted people with permission to remain in the UK and had wrongly told them to leave.

The former head of the UK Border Force (UKBF) Tony Smith says that Britain lost control of its immigration system between 2000 and 2003 under the Labour government of Tony Blair. He said 'There was a huge influx and frankly I don't think we have ever recovered from that'.

Mr Smith has worked in immigration enforcement for nearly thirty years. In 2012, he took control of the UKBF which was the agency responsible for the UK's frontline immigration activities such as passport control and customs control at airports, seaports and railway stations.

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of International Airlines has warned that the UK's visa system is deterring foreign businesspeople from travelling to the UK. Mr Walsh was addressing the World Travel and Tourism Council summit in Abu Dhabi on 10th April 2013.

Mr Walsh was the chief executive of the UK's largest airline British Airways until it merged with Spanish carrier Iberia and became International Airlines. He is now the chief executive of the merged company.