Major immigration system reforms on the cards

[avjones]

there isn't anything specific in the Convention about immigration. Article 8, right to private and family life, might well apply. I don't think getting rid of the 10 year rule would automatically breach Article 8.

[geriatrix]

As Immigration Rules are delegated / secondary legislation, the government doesn't need an act of parliament to make it more difficult for people to become eligible for settlement (under the UK immigration law).


regards

[xleft]

As Immigration Rules are delegated / secondary legislation, the government doesn't need an act of parliament to make it more difficult for people to become eligible for settlement (under the UK immigration law).


regards

I am sure it will be harder to get ILR/citizenship. I am sure it will be harder to live 10 year legally for ILR. But I don't think they will remove the right to get ILR after 10 years legal stay. Do you think there is high possibility they might? By the way, Labour confirmed about a year ago that Path to Citizenship would not affect it. I ask Avjones as well. Thanks in advance.

[PBS123]

As Immigration Rules are delegated / secondary legislation, the government doesn't need an act of parliament to make it more difficult for people to become eligible for settlement (under the UK immigration law).


regards

I am sure it will be harder to get ILR/citizenship. I am sure it will be harder to live 10 year legally for ILR. But I don't think they will remove the right to get ILR after 10 years legal stay. Do you think there is high possibility they might? By the way, Labour confirmed about a year ago that Path to Citizenship would not affect it. I ask Avjones as well. Thanks in advance.

I am 1.5 year away from being eligible for 10 year route to settlement so I hope they don't scrap it but having seen many changes to immigration laws in recent years I won't be surprised if they do, specially as it seems most of Theresa May's speech was copied from Migration Watch recommendations (one of the most right wing think tank). Having said that and going back to Amanda's point regarding article 8, I do believe that the Government should treat the 10 years rule with caution as it may result in many cases of appeal against it based on article 8.
Finally on a personal note I think once again immigration has become a tool for political point scoring and instead of constructive debate involving all stakeholders such as the British public, Universities, Business, all political parties and off course the migrants themselves to form a reasonable policy, we see a speech hastily arranged and delivered by the Home Secretary in reaction to the highly critical report by the Commons home affairs select committee which highlighted that capping only economics migrants will have little effect on bringing the immigration numbers down to it's previous level in 1990s. My advise is to hope for the best but prepare for the worst!

[xleft]

As Immigration Rules are delegated / secondary legislation, the government doesn't need an act of parliament to make it more difficult for people to become eligible for settlement (under the UK immigration law).


regards

I am sure it will be harder to get ILR/citizenship. I am sure it will be harder to live 10 year legally for ILR. But I don't think they will remove the right to get ILR after 10 years legal stay. Do you think there is high possibility they might? By the way, Labour confirmed about a year ago that Path to Citizenship would not affect it. I ask Avjones as well. Thanks in advance.

I am 1.5 year away from being eligible for 10 year route to settlement so I hope they don't scrap it but having seen many changes to immigration laws in recent years I won't be surprised if they do, specially as it seems most of Theresa May's speech was copied from Migration Watch recommendations (one of the most right wing think tank). Having said that and going back to Amanda's point regarding article 8, I do believe that the Government should treat the 10 years rule with caution as it may result in many cases of appeal against it based on article 8.
Finally on a personal note I think once again immigration has become a tool for political point scoring and instead of constructive debate involving all stakeholders such as the British public, Universities, Business, all political parties and off course the migrants themselves to form a reasonable policy, we see a speech hastily arranged and delivered by the Home Secretary in reaction to the highly critical report by the Commons home affairs select committee which highlighted that capping only economics migrants will have little effect on bringing the immigration numbers down to it's previous level in 1990s. My advise is to hope for the best but prepare for the worst!

Yes, they change something all the time. I am also in similar situation, only I have 2 years left until 10 years legal stay. This country is my home now and it's hard for me to imagine how can it be if they will manage to scrap 10 years legal stay, say in 1.5 years. So I will live here for 9 and half years in total but won't be eligible because I am several months short? I mean, even if they decide to implement some serious changes, they need to work on new migrants but not on those already here. Otherwise it would be just crazy unfair. Again, I don't think they will do it but all these speeches make a lot of ground for speculations. And there are strong chances if they try something dramatic, they will collapse and it will be stopped before it's implemented just like Labour's Path to Citizenship.

[avjones]

I am sure it will be harder to get ILR/citizenship. I am sure it will be harder to live 10 year legally for ILR. But I don't think they will remove the right to get ILR after 10 years legal stay. Do you think there is high possibility they might? By the way, Labour confirmed about a year ago that Path to Citizenship would not affect it. I ask Avjones as well. Thanks in advance.

I'm not aware of any plans or intentions to get rid of the 10 year rule.

[xleft]

I am sure it will be harder to get ILR/citizenship. I am sure it will be harder to live 10 year legally for ILR. But I don't think they will remove the right to get ILR after 10 years legal stay. Do you think there is high possibility they might? By the way, Labour confirmed about a year ago that Path to Citizenship would not affect it. I ask Avjones as well. Thanks in advance.

I'm not aware of any plans or intentions to get rid of the 10 year rule.

Thank you very much for your comment, Amanda. Have a nice day!

[tall_funky]

By the way, Labour confirmed about a year ago that Path to Citizenship would not affect it.

Do you have any documents to prove it?
On what basis Labour said it will not touch 10 years rule?

Cheers!
Kash

[Manas]

" those who come to work here temporarily" sounds like Tier-2 ICT to me.

I don't want to sound too pessimistic, but the term temporarily may as well be applied to entire Tiers 1 and 2 - as holders of these come to UK under time limited (temporary) permits.

Well, if none of the Tiers 1 & 2 (and of course for other Tiers as well) Visas allow the right to settle permanently (however longer the period may be), then who would be eligible to settle in the UK? Only the Asylum Seekers?

[mcovet]

that's right, the 10-year rule doesn't seem to be a threshhold. What is so specific about 10 years which creates "family life". A person could have established such family life in less than 10 years, so to the guy so nervous about abolition of the 10-year rule, they may well do abolish this route!

In the path to citizenship there would have been only the routes leading to the PR or BC. Whatever wasn't mentioned, was automatically excluded. The 10&14-year rules are discretionary, so, if there is a major overhaul of the system and these rules are omitted, and not even expressly excluded, only those requirements mentioned in the new rules would lead to settlement, so the 10-year rule would be gone, as well as the concept of ILR was meant to have disappeared with the new Act's new parts coming into force.

Thus, getting opinions of people here may well allow to sleep better, but then you may get a nasty surprise if you overly rely on them. As someone already mentioned here, hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

I am not solicitor. But I heard it many times from solicitors. I was told about it in the head office of Workpermit.com for example. They give ILR after 10 years not because they are kind but because they can't refuse unless UK goes out of EU or unsigns from this law but to do it, it needs to be approved by the parliament and it won't be approved because it concerns only about 1% of the applicants and I don't think any party would like to look like it against basic human rights shared by all EU member states.

[srirags]

" those who come to work here temporarily" sounds like Tier-2 ICT to me.

I don't want to sound too pessimistic, but the term temporarily may as well be applied to entire Tiers 1 and 2 - as holders of these come to UK under time limited (temporary) permits.

Well, if none of the Tiers 1 & 2 (and of course for other Tiers as well) Visas allow the right to settle permanently (however longer the period may be), then who would be eligible to settle in the UK? Only the Asylum Seekers?

Tier 1 - Entrepreneurs & Investors

but I feel Tier 1 (General) will still be cosidered as people on Tier 1 is not attached to time limited temporary work like Tier 2 visa.

Lets hope they will bring transitional arrangements for those who are already in the UK and extended their visas with an expectation of settlement.

Cheers,

[vinny]

Another statement.

[geriatrix]

A raft of new measures will strictly control the numbers that can come to the UK and work from outside Europe, the Home Secretary announced today.

As well as limiting the number of skilled non-European workers that businesses can bring into the country, the Home Office is tightening the intra-company transfer route (which will sit outside the annual limit) and restricting Tier 1 of the points-based system - the 'highly skilled' tier - to all but entrepreneurs, investors and people of exceptional talent.

The introduction of an annual limit was a coalition government pledge and will allow Britain to remain competitive in the international jobs market, while ensuring that migrant labour is not used as a substitute for those already looking for work in the UK.

To control those coming here, the government has committed to:
- introducing an annual limit of 21,700 for those coming into the UK under the skilled and highly skilled routes - 20,700 under Tier 2 (General) and 1,000 under the new 'exceptional talent' route;
- raising to £40,000 the minimum salary for those coming under the Tier 2 (Intra company transfer) route for more than 12 months;
- restricting Tier 1 to all but entrepreneurs, investors and the exceptionally talented; and
- requiring occupations in Tier 2 (General) to be at graduate level.

The government was determined to make changes to Tier 1 when it was revealed that approximately one-third of those coming through this route were actually doing low-skilled jobs once they were in the UK. Businesses have made it clear that their priority is to fill their specific vacancies through Tier 2.

.........

..... a consultation will be launched before the end of the year focusing on Tier 4 of the points-based system - the student route - which currently accounts for two-thirds of migrants entering the UK each year. By introducing a system that is more selective and more robust, the government is aiming to stamp out abuse while continuing to attract the top students to our top universities.

[geriatrix]

Settlement

From April 2011:
- There will be a new criminality threshold, requiring all applicants applying for settlement to be clear of unspent convictions.
- Skilled and highly skilled migrants will need to meet the salary criteria that applied when they last extended their permission to stay.
- Skilled and highly skilled migrants will be required to pass the 'Life in the UK' test prior to gaining settlement.

For those entering in Tier 1 or Tier 2 of the points-based system after April 2011:
- We will stop our current policy of granting further leave to remain to those who fail the Knowlege of Life requirement.
- We will cap Tier 2 (intra company transfer) route at five years.

[rajkumarpatel]

Now, I am quite eager to see what new restrictions they bring in for PR and route to citizenship. What will be their cut-off date, how the existing ppl (who are just 1-2 yrs far from being eligible for PR) on Tier-1 will be affected, what will be the new ** and conditions.

huh

[Manas]

Settlement

Tier 1 and Tier 2 migrants applying for settlement will need to meet the salary criteria that applied when they last extended their permission to stay.

In this regard, let us consider an example. Someone's extension is due now. If he/she applies for extension, the salary criteria applicable depends on when his/her first application was granted. Although, in theory, no one whose extension is due today can have the first date of successful application after 31st March 2009. But, I just want to emphasize on the point, the salary criteria is not a fixed one (at least by the rules as on date). If I assume the same criteria would be applicable, say in March 2012, then extension applications could have different salary criteria depending on the applicants first date of successful Tier1 application.

I urge everyone in this forum to discuss further on this matter....

[tall_funky]

Now thats Interesting!!

http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/201 ... mmigration

[Gopaalan]

Now thats Interesting!!

http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/201 ... mmigration

Indeed

[[iD]]

Settlement

Tier 1 and Tier 2 migrants applying for settlement will need to meet the salary criteria that applied when they last extended their permission to stay.

In this regard, let us consider an example. Someone's extension is due now. If he/she applies for extension, the salary criteria applicable depends on when his/her first application was granted. Although, in theory, no one whose extension is due today can have the first date of successful application after 31st March 2009. But, I just want to emphasize on the point, the salary criteria is not a fixed one (at least by the rules as on date). If I assume the same criteria would be applicable, say in March 2012, then extension applications could have different salary criteria depending on the applicants first date of successful Tier1 application.

I urge everyone in this forum to discuss further on this matter....

What I can understand from this is that for people applying for ILR, salary criteria would be same as their last extension of Tier 1 (which normally is our 1st extension of HSMP/Tier1). So all we have to do is to check how much we needed to earn for our last Tier 1 extension.
I hope I'm making sense lol

Also, it's quite interesting for me since I went for an early extension (only by a couple of months) to try and being in the lower age group so I could claim more points for age and obviously avoid high earnings criteria. Now the question is, which salary criteria would apply to me? the one that should have applied if I extended "in-time" or the one that actually applied when I "extended" my stay like it says up there...
oh it'd be fun

[ukpl]

Now thats Interesting!!

http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/201 ... mmigration

Indeed

if you actually read the document, not the journalist's sensationalist interpretation of it, you will hardly find any proof to the header statement.
Compare apples to apples comes to mind.