UK Immigration News

The Home Office has announced that UK visa rules will be temporarily eased for the partners and children of British nationals looking to leave Ukraine amid a looming Russian invasion. It’s understood that those eligible will be exempt from UK visa fees and other requirements – such as meeting minimum income thresholds and English language requirements.

 

The UK Home Office has scrapped the Tier 1 investor visa program with immediate effect amid fears of money laundering and corruption. The Tier 1 investor visa scheme is no stranger to scrutiny and has constantly been under review in recent years. Ironically, on 6 December 2018, the Home Office wrongly announced the suspension of the so-called ‘golden visa’.

 

The UK government has been forced to defend plans to introduce Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) checks at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

 

The UK government has strongly hinted that it will extend its flagship BNO visa scheme – currently reserved for Hong Kong nationals who hold a British National Overseas (BNO) passport – to Hongkongers aged 18 – 24 who have been most embroiled in civilian protests in Hong Kong over security rules imposed on the former British territory by China.

 

The current BNO visa scheme was launched last year and is only available to BNO passport holders born before 1997, the year that Hong Kong was handed back to China and ended the BNO scheme.

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that Home Secretary, Priti Patel, can continue to charge more than £1,000 for each child application made for British citizenship. The Court’s decision has sparked outrage among UK immigration lawyers and immigrant advocates following a four-year-long battle to get the fees scrapped.

 

UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, recently took to Twitter to ‘celebrate’ what she described as a ‘new fair but firm UK immigration plan to protect the British public’ after reportedly securing agreements with Albania, India and Serbia. The most recent agreement, with Serbia, was reached in January 2022.