5 years for ILR rule implemented

[badhorse]

I have given up hopes now.I guess i have to just wait for another year and get on it with it.

We still have hope. We could, just could win in a few months (if the JR goes ahead).....

What is not clear now is how we can help with the JR process (attend the hearing, anything else?).

[rooi_ding]

I believe there is a meeting today between Stepehen Kong and the VBSI on the issue on how they can support the JR, keep watching the VBSI web site for news.

[WP_Holder_05_2002]

any update regarding JR please.

[jayj]

Chaps,

If there is goign to be the JR and meetings , I think we all should be present for this and show the support , at the end of teh day , we need this rule changed.

Please let us know what we can do, dates to attend etc...

J

[easylife4me]

please update the situation..
please let us know whats happening

[ssi]

please update the situation..
please let us know whats happening

Sorry we're still keeping you in the dark regarding our Friday's meeting with SK. It's just that those who attended it had to go to overseas conferences straight after it. We'll try to compile a more detailed update shortly.

[a11]

Chirstine Lee had an informal meeting with Liam Byrne in the Parliament yesterday. While an official statement regarding the ILR issue still has not been released, the general feeling is that the chances of getting a decision in our favour through lobbying have somewhat decreased.

Nevertheless, negotiations are still underway and we have been asked not to release more sensitive information. At the same time, a parallel course of action - a Judicial Review route - is being pursued by Stephen Kong's team. We had a meeting with him on Friday last week and will update you on the situation as soon as we clarify some additional details.

[rooi_ding]

Thanks a11 for keeping us up to speed.

I understand that some of the information provided to you guys is time sensitive; hopefully you will be able to release it to all of us when the time is right.

[a11]

Update on VBSI's meeting with Stephen Kong:

- SK have lodged a preliminary application for the JR on time ( i.e., within 3 months after the rule has been changed)

- in order to apply for full hearing in the High Court, they had to sort out the formalities with the HO Treasury Solicitor first

- this has taken much longer than they thought, with the final response from the HO (including a letter from John Reid saying that he is not ready to reconsider the rule) received as late as mid-September

- following that, SK made a full application to the High Court

- in the same letter to the High Court, SK asked to combine the case with the Indian Doctors' case, for which the urgent hearing application has been approved and the hearing has been scheduled for the beginning of December this year

- the reply from the High Court still has not been received (therefore, officially, SK does not yet have a confirmation of that the case can be heard in court at all)

VBSI have agreed to support SK in his campaign. We will shortly be updating you on how you can help.

[badhorse]

Thank you very much vbsi for keeping us up-to-date. I will certainly do whatever I can to support the hearing.

I think we all(including C Lee's people) have been fooled by the HO. Lobbying has taken too much time and energy. That is a shame.

Time however has proved that vbsi is our voice, and is growing from stronger to stronger.

Now the hearing is an opportunity to rally more support from people, and broaden vbsi's support base.

A big thank to Steven Kong and his firm too!

[jayj]

ANY NEWS....UPDATEs PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[first2last4]

Dont think anything till December

[WP_Holder_05_2002]

There are not too many people visiting VBSI website at the moment and majority of the skilled immigrants are unaware about VBSI's efforts.

Is this a good idea to advertise the VBSI banner/ link on the famous immigration websites like www.workpermit.com etc?

More skilled immigrants know about VBSI, more strong we will be.

[WP_Holder_05_2002]

There are not too many people visiting VBSI website at the moment and majority of the skilled immigrants are unaware about VBSI's efforts.

Is this a good idea to advertise the VBSI banner/ link on the famous immigration websites like www.workpermit.com etc?

More skilled immigrants know about VBSI, more strong we will be.

[ssi]

There are not too many people visiting VBSI website at the moment and majority of the skilled immigrants are unaware about VBSI's efforts.
Is this a good idea to advertise the VBSI banner/ link on the famous immigration websites like www.workpermit.com etc?
More skilled immigrants know about VBSI, more strong we will be.

WP_Holder, thank you for raising this issue here. Your idea is very good. But in the particular case of workpermit.com, please refer to http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 8345#48345 . We have discussed this recently at the VBSI, and here is what our Webmaster wrote on the topic:
Subject: VBSI wesite promotion
Hi All,
I have updated the volunteers page as promised
Now the marketing plan.
I cannot add more to it without going into dirty tricks which demand a lot of time and close monitoring. the outline will be:
1. Detetrermine keyword phrases (overture.com -> term suggestion tool)
2. Write targeted articles on them with VBSI attitude
3. Hype them in forums, bloggs and most importantly get media sites link to them - do not ask me how
4. exchange links with relevant websites.
5 link to ot5her relevant websites, governemt , new rules documents, parlament etc to provide supplementary information for our viswitors
6. Wait and monitor performance
For more info please read the best article ever written on SEO - Brett Tabke's "Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone": (free registration may be required) http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/2010.htm

[badhorse]

To raise awareness. The most straight forward way is to put short and simple advertisement/announcement on national news paper.

The catch phrase can be "Home Office 4to5 policy under judicial review, visit VBSI website to know more!"

It needs money, maybe up to several thousand pounds. But I think that's worth doing. Can VBSI help to gather the money? Will need an account and a treasurer.

[mansawant]

Hi,

I was expecting the same from Liam Bryne. If he don't want to change the rule then he wouldn't have apply it before. So we have already wasted time for waiting to meet him. Almost 7 months are passed now after the rule is changed. Now we got the reply from him saying "NO".

Only way to fight for this change is now Judicial Review. If we need money for this, I think all of us will be ready to give. As this change in 5-4 years will help us to get ILR after 4 years. We can go for mortgage instead of paying huge rents. Also our children get admissions in UK universities as a home student. There are so many other benefits. If we give money now to fight for this it will be helpful to all of us in coming years.

We need to start collecting money for this so that we can fight for this. It should be advertised on VBSI site to raise the money.

Regards,
Mansawant

[WP_Holder_05_2002]

We should fight for our rights and Justice. Please advise how the money should be contributed. I have met few members of VBSI and they are very nice but innocent people. They think that VBSI don't need money for the compaign.
We must have a clear/ strong strategy over JR and we need money to raise awareness.
Once we started compaign for fund raising, we must contribute ourselves and convince others to contribute as well.
Personally, I can convince at least 10 people to contribute.

[t4m52]

Quote...
In a formal response to Andrew Dismore MP, the Immigration Minister Liam Byrne states that although the concerns we raised are "very valid", he "is not ready to overturn the current policy".
Unquote.........
Is it a good idea that VBSI or Mr Andrew Dismore write a formal letter reply and state that we donot want the policy to be overtuned , but simply allow all the wp holders and hsmp people who are granted their leave before 02 april 2006 to be granted their ILR as per 4 years as promised and due to rule change on 03 april 2006 people who get their wp /hsmp leave on understanding of 5 year rule of ILR to be eligible to apply after 5 years instead of 4 years .

I recently found out about change of 4-5 year rule for ILR as i am affected as well and read this whole thread and vbsi website, Should say that all the work done till now has been really good by all who contributed.

[hvac2006]

CL has selected 20 rejection cases which she believes have a fair chance to be won. She has hired an (English) QC, a 'top-rank' cast of solicitors appointed by the Queen, to deal with them. She is going to fund him from her budget.

But she asked him to hold on to them until we meet with the Minister and see what happens. Because the way it happened before with cases against the HO, as soon as the HO learn that a case has been initiated, they refuse to talk and just wait until the court makes a decision.

Now with negative response from the minister which was expected now we dont have any choice except for leagal battle for which CL has allready gathrerd 20 rejected cases, what is next action now.

[WP_Holder_05_2002]

CL and SK must make a joint effort. The divided efforts can not be that effective. It is test for them whether they are greater than the petty issues of their past.
We are waiting for minister response for couple of months and the CL's selected cases may lost of their rights of appeal (3 months after refusal)

[jayj]

Depression has set in....I guess we have to wait another year or so until we get ILR....who knows what else is in store for us migrants....what would HO come up with next....all these years living by rules hoping that the GOvt will see their end of the deal...4 years and ILR...........
Sad... We just don't have the might it takes to challenge this...VBSI, CL SK all tried to do resolve this but I guess it was just too passive....awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww mannnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!
Hope and reality....I guess it's too late ofr us to cry over spilt milk...lessons learnt...each of us should have made some contribution rather than waiting for news from VBSI etc who were tryng to help...we should have made alternative plans...

[WP_Holder_05_2002]

Have a look at the following article and if there is any doubt about govt policy about immigrants, it should be clear by now. This is the time to act on political grounds and get some agreement with other political parties for protection of immigrants rights....

http://www.workpermit.com/2006_10_31/uk ... crease.htm

UK visas, work permits and application costs to rise for April, 2007
31 October 2006



The Home Office for the United Kingdom announced on 30 October that it was reviewing the way migrants were charged for work permits, student visas and nationality applications. A sharp rise in fees is expected.

In addition, the government was considering passing a part of the new cost on to employers and universities, as they ultimately benefit from the recruitment of foreign employees and students.

The consultation paper released by the Home Office did not give any indication of what the new costs were likely to be.

But it stated that fees were expected to increase beginning from April 2007.

The proposal to further raise visa application fees was likely to cause an outcry as they were more or less doubled just only last year. It now costs £500 to apply for a work permit, indefinite leave to remain or for British nationality.

The consultation paper raised the idea of linking the amount charged for visas to the economic benefit migrants received from working in the UK. It suggested that migrants themselves should help contribute to the cost of increasing the overall efficiency of the UK immigration system.

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said: "The consultation is not about prices, but about how immigration services are paid for, and the most appropriate way to charge.

"It asks whether applicants should contribute towards the costs of the whole immigration system from application to enforcement.

"In July the home secretary announced how we will strengthen border controls with identity technology and double enforcement in the UK. But all of these measures cost money. We think it is right to consider who should pay for them.

"This government is committed to ensuring that only those people with the skills the UK needs come to this country while preventing others from applying."

France, Italy and Spain especially have all recently engaged in expensive efforts to strengthen borders and border control, not only for themselves, but also in general to the benefit of the entire European Union.

A meeting of the "EU 6" last week (the six largest States of the EU, representing approximately 75% of the EU population) reached a number of agreements on patrolling borders and coordinated immigration control. These proposed measures all require funding that must be generated from somewhere.

Habib Rahman, CEO of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said: "The Home Office claims this is a consultation, but the way officials are talking makes it plain they think migrants are a cash cow to pick up the bill for their incompetent enforcement."

[WP_Holder_05_2002]

Govt says the immigrants should pay extra. We are already paying extra. All of us (including international students for their P/T work) pay social security contribution, but we can't claim benefits. WE ARE ALREADY PAYING EXTRA.
WE FEEL THAT WE HAVE BEEN CHEATED AND A PART OF OUR LIVES IS STOLEN. WE MAY HAVE MOVED AT SOME BETTER COUNTRY IF WE KNEW THAT UK GOVT WILL BEHAVE US LIKE THIS IN THE END.

[jayj]

Let's face it if their going to increase theamount , we just have to pay it else you don;t get ILR or whatever. The main concern is the rule change. Why are they going to so extreme measures to get the professional skilled migrants out of here? where has this sparked from? No matter how tight their rules on immigration are , people will find a way to get in here , HO should be concerned with the illegeal immigrants , people who don't pay taxes, not the skilled people who contribute this country. why are they being so belligerent ?