UK Immigration News

According to data published by the UK Home Office, applications for Britain’s EU Settlement Scheme has exceeded four million. It means that almost one million more EU citizens have applied for the right to remain in the UK than had been originally expected. EU nationals have up until June 30 2021 to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme.

 

Campaigners have warned that EU students who enrolled for their first-year at UK universities this autumn face a potential £800 bill if they fail to get to Britain before 31 December 2020. Many international students from EU nations have been unable to travel to the UK for their courses because of coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

 

The Home Office’s UK immigration hostile environment policy broke equalities law, according to a damning new report released by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The EHRC’s report concluded that ‘negative consequences of the policy were repeatedly ignored by civil servants and government ministers.’

 

According to a report published by The Guardian, immigrant rights’ groups have claimed that UK immigration agents are using coercive tactics to gain access to people’s homes. Campaigners allege that uniformed immigration officers are bypassing protocols, such as search warrants, and demanding entry to private premises.

 

UK immigration ‘hostile environment’ supporter David Goodhart – a journalist and author who is currently head of the immigration and integration unit at right-wing think tank, Policy Exchange – has been appointed as commissioner of the government’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The move has been blasted by human rights campaigners.

 

Bulgarian citizens will be able to enter the UK, visa free, for up to six months from 1 January, 2021, according to reports from the Bulgarian Embassy in London. UK visa free entry will allow Bulgarians to enter Britain repeatedly for tourism, attending meetings and conferences and short courses.  

However, visa free UK entry forbids permanent residence, employment and access to public funds.