UK Immigration News

The Home Office has announced further delays in processing HSMP applications, due to an unexpected increase in the number of HSMP applications received.

The HSMP Team has asked all applicants to refrain from calling, e-mailing and faxing with enquiries that are not of the "utmost urgency" and only if your application was sent to the Team before February 2004.

The Home Office has announced details of the Worker Registration Scheme applicable to citizens from the eight Central and Eastern European EU accession countries who wish to come to the UK to work.

Citizens of these eight countries currently working in the UK or intending to work in the UK will need to register themselves with the Worker Registration Team at the Home Office if they start a new job in the UK on or after 1 May or if they have been working illegally in the UK before 1 May.

With the EU enlargement date looming, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans to review UK immigration policy. Business leaders were told that abuses of the immigration system will be prevented by the new restrictions on welfare benefits to migrants from Central and Eastern Europe.

Blair reminded businesses at the CBI conference in London that unemployed migrants from Eastern Europe will not have access to council houses and will be prevented from "benefits-shopping".

Further to our report on South African residents being able to make an online visa application to the UK,visa applicants in Finland and Germany wishing to work or study the UK can also now make their applications via the Internet. Under the same online system called "visa4uk," the process will help facilitate and speed up the process of issuing visas for the UK.

The Home Office has announced that from 1 May 2004, three new countries will be added to the list of countries whose nationals are exempt from the charge for Immigration Employment Documents (IED) (work permit) applications. These countries are:

The Home Office has announced today that due to a significant increase in the number of HSMP applications they have received, the HSMP team can no longer meet the current published timescales for assessing applications. The team estimates that complete applications submitted with full supporting evidence will take at least 12 weeks from the date of receipt to be considered. Note that the HSMP team does not acknowledge receipt of applications.