Immigration news

The controversial case of Shamima Begum, who left the UK in 2015 to join ISIS, took another twist recently after the UK Supreme Court ruled that she cannot return to Britain while she battles to restore her British citizenship. Begum left the UK for Syria when she was 15, along with two friends, and is currently being held in a detention camp in northern Syria.

 

Slovenia has joined Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, and Romania in urging the UK government to end discriminatory UK work visa fees targeting some EU countries. Workpermit.com recently reported that at least five EU member states were subject to higher UK work visa costs than other EU nations. 

 

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the expansion of premium processing to include the US E3 visa, which is issued exclusively to citizens of Australia. As of February 24, USCIS allowed E3 visa applicants to request premium processing. The announcement is a welcome surprise.

 

Joe Biden has lifted the controversial US work visa ban imposed under the Trump administration. The 46th US President said: “It does not advance the interests of the United States.” Trump ordered a ban on US employment-based visas (green cards) shortly after the coronavirus outbreak, on the grounds that it would protect the American workforce.

 

The High Court has ruled that a lack of access to UK immigration lawyers for immigrant detainees is unlawful. The ruling comes after it was revealed that a man was denied access to an immigration lawyer for nine months and had to represent himself. The landmark ruling was handed down by Mr Justice Swift.

 

The man denied access to an immigration lawyer had challenged the Legal Aid provisions for immigrant detainees held in prisons on the basis that they are ‘less favourable than those in place for people held in immigration removal centres.’

Migration Watch UK, a think that lobbies for a reduction in UK immigration numbers, claims that the number of UK visa overstayers has doubled over the past five years. According to a report compiled by the think tank, in 2016, 49,420 people arrived in the UK on a visa, with no record of them leaving. Meanwhile, as of March 2020, this figure had risen to 91,863.