UK Immigration News

There have been significant changes to the Tier 4 student visa category recently. The Tier 4 student visa changes include the following:

There is likely to be a twenty-four hour strike by The Public and Commercial Services union starting in the evening of Wednesday 29 June until the evening of Thursday 30 June. A number of UK Border Agency staff in the UK will not be working during this time.

During this twenty-four hour period there may be additional delays at border control. Individual ports, airports and international rail terminals will be affected. UKBA says that they have plans in place to reduce the impact of the strikes.

Writers and artists are banding together to criticise changes to the UK points based immigration scheme which make it more difficult for writers, composers, and artists from outside the EU to come to Britain.

In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, 120 writers and artists called the points based system "inappropriate for short-term visits by artists".

Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond's plea that the UK exempt Scotland from recent restrictions on UK immigration from outside the European Union.

The UK has announced a number of proposals aimed at cutting the ties between many immigration routes and eventual settlement (properly known as indefinite leave to remain) in the UK.

"Migrants coming to the UK to work on temporary visas will no longer be able to apply for settlement, under proposals announced by the government today," the UK Border Agency said in a statement.

Immigration to the UK from eastern and central Europe is on the rise. Under EU law nationals of European Union Countries can work freely in the UK. The UK Government is therefore unable to control levels of immigration from these Countries.

According to a UK National Statistics report, all of the top five Countries which are the cause of increasing immigration to the UK are from central and eastern Europe; These countries joining the EU in 2004 and 2007.