5 years for ILR rule implemented

[nonothing]

http://www.petitiononline.com/aioaim/petition.html

Petition to Home Secretary, the head of the Home Office was created by and written by Amany Abouzeid (a_amany@hotmail.com)

http://www.petitiononline.com/ILR45/

Petition to UK Home office was created by Immigrants and written by Martin Stokes (allusernamesgone@googlemail.com).

Does anybody know who initiated the two online petition?
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/aioaim/petition.html
and
http://www.petitiononline.com/ILR45/

[gunslinger]

Hi All

I have heard that the NHS doctors (on permit free visas) are planning a march to the Department of Health or the HO on 21 April 2006 to protest some changes in the immigration rules.

Has anyone else heard of this or is it just a rumour?

[easylife4me]

ndian-origin doctors plan to hold protest demonstration
GG2.NET NEWS [10/04/2006]

ABOUT 300 doctors of Indian origin plan to hold a demonstration outside Britain`s Department of Health in London on April 21 to protest against new rules to be introduced from July making work permits mandatory for non-EU medical practitioners to work in the National Health Service

(NHS). So far doctors from outside the European Union, including from India, were able to take up NHS jobs under "permit free

training" schemes. Their jobs were considered part of training that did not require work permits.

The protest demonstration is being organised by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), with a membership of over 25,000.

Buddhdev Pandya, Honorary Corporate Advisor of BAPIO, said that the new rule would affect over 4,000 doctors,

many of whom have families in the UK and they would not be eligible to get jobs even if vacancies occur.

With the new rules coming into force from July 2006, any doctor wishing to apply for postgraduate medical training in

the UK will be required to have a work permit.

The permits will not be easy to get. To obtain a work permit an employer must show that vacancy exists which cannot be filled with a resident doctor.

In the case of overseas doctors, European Union nationals will get preference.

[tobiashomer]

It is a pity that the Indian doctors' demonstration against the new rules affecting their NHS status may distract from and/or confuse the issue about the "retrospective 5-year" rule change. Those of us affected by the latter change but not the former should try to keep our message clear and simple: applying new rules to current migrants is unfair. To ask for formerly permit-free employment to remain so is to go up against the spirit of the "managed migration" concept and I feel certain there is no stopping that, nor is it in our (narrow) interest to try.

[nonothing]

i just noticed a funny thing. in the HC 974, the HO also changed the SEGS rules, making more students can get the benefit from the scheme. but they don't make those changes applied retrospectively. that means students commencing their studies before 01/05/2006 can't get the benefit from the changes. how ridiculous is that!

[Hidden dragon]

Dear all,

As Joseph has briefed you, the meeting was found to be useful. 11 people attended the meeting, they are Christine Lee’s team (3), British Turkish Committee for Dialogue (BTCD - 2), South African community representative (1), Joseph (558AM), SaynotoHO (2), Morerightsforimmigrants and me. The Indian representative could not make it due to an emergency.

Here is a summary of the three of the main outputs of the meeting:

(1) We now have got a more coordinated and cohesive strategy that is FOCUSED ON A SINGLE, COMMON AND REALISTIC GOAL! To achieve this common goal, AT CURRENT STAGE, we need to concentrate on two actions:

(2) Action 1: A meeting will take place between Christine Lee (CL) and Home Office minister Tony McNaulty (TM). To support this, we need as many as possible people to send signed (paper based) petition letters to CL so that she can present the letters as the evidence of the negative impacts of the “4To5” change and the retrospectiveness of the change. CL has got now about 1000 letters, and personally I think we need to increase the number to at least 5000.

(3) Action 2: Continue to send letters / emails to your MPs. They have a DUTY to reply your enquiries. If they don’t reply, keep sending letters/emails to them until they reply. Once you’ve got a reply, forward or fax the reply to CL’s team. In this way, CL can present MP’s supportive opinions in the meeting with TM as further evidence to make our case stronger.

Over the next a few days, there will possible be more output from the meeting to come out. However, I hesitate to report them when they are still in development. But to put your mind at ease I can say, the two major approaches: CL’s lobbying and BTCD’s Parliament EDM, are now trying to support each other in a symbiotic way, so that EVENTUALLY, the SINGLE, COMMON AND REALISTIC GOAL can be achieved. Hopefully, the two teams will inform me and us about their decisions and the detailed method shortly.

At this moment, I cannot comment and/or release further details of the EDM approach (which is a vital part of our campaign) as this has yet to be formalised by the BTCD. However, I’d welcome you to PM or email either Rooi_ding, Morerightsforimmigrants and me (Hidden Dragon) for private discussion. I will also encourage and welcome BTCD to put forward and explain their approach on either this forum or the LKCN.NET (the Chinese forum). As far as I know, BTCD has developed a very useful tool for their approach.

Particularly, there five additional points of references that I want to mention:

Point 1: you might want to know more about the so called “A SINGLE, COMMON AND REALISTIC GOAL”. In that case, please also contact PM or email Rooi_ding, Morerightsforimmigrants and me (Hidden Dragon). We will be able to explain the reasons thoroughly to you on a one-to-one basis, instead of public discussion. This is due to strategic reasons! [Rooi_ding: r_j49@hotmail.com; Hidden Dragon: x_z_sean@yahoo.co.uk; Morerightsforimmigrants: johnyoung35@hotmail.com ]

Point 2: Christine Lee and her team are working on a voluntary basis. They are not asking for donations of any kind (as far as we know). I personally think very highly of what they are doing on our behalf. In turn, I hope we can do more thinking to involve more people like us into this campaign. I have to mention here that Joseph has offered great help too!

Point 3: There are important time constraints on the EDM approach. I hope BTCD would explain it to us thoroughly soon.

Point 4: About advertising and national coverage of the issue. We need to be careful about it. Because the media is always a double-blade. At this moment, we don’t want to see a very strong article which would force the government in to a corner. This is NOT necessarily a good news for the current stage of the campaign (ie: lobbying + parliamentary action). However, it was felt in the meeting that local media / publication should be used, to get the message across to people and because they are more likely to be positive in or course!

Point 5: Demonstration and/or protest although could create big impacts, will be harmful to the lobbying approach due to same reasons given in Point 4. So at this stage, I don’t recommend any such actions.

Point 6: Strategically speaking, what we are doing is not only about the 4To5 change. Government policies are under constant review, and the global situation affects the UK’s internal political and social environment. We are vulnerable to these changes. By fighting hard on the current matter, we to a certain degree 1) pre-empts further unfair changes, I refer to the point system which could possible mean many people even having stayed for 5-years would not be qualified for ILR; and 2) forms an active organisation and mechanism for dealing with unexpected future situations.

Finally, I have to say that all that has been said in above are about strategy, direction and key issues. A lot of detailed work will need to be done to implement the strategy. We are working on it.

To win the campaign, each ONE of us needs to input time and effort. To be honest, we need more people who can turn up in the meeting, who see this matter so important that they can FIND time for it. Now I am happy to see that with a seemingly clearer strategy, more people visit the forum more often. So, for our future (not anybody else’s), support us.

[rg1]

Good to see we are trying our best.

I already signed & mailed petition form.
I also wrote to my MP twice but no reply (he is from labour party though)

[Hidden dragon]

i just noticed a funny thing. in the HC 974, the HO also changed the SEGS rules, making more students can get the benefit from the scheme. but they don't make those changes applied retrospectively. that means students commencing their studies before 01/05/2006 can't get the benefit from the changes. how ridiculous is that!

The new policy and its changes are inconsistent. Some are retrospective and some are not. This indicates that the HO is in a chaotic status on this matter. Based on which, it seems to me that AT THIS STAGE concentrating on EDM and lobbying might be more practical and promising than others.

I however still think we should prepare for next stages if both Lobbying and EDM fails, which will involve:

(1) National media coverage;
(2) Demonstration; and
(3) Court action.

The difficulty of our campaign is that we don't have an organisation. The reason why Indian Doctors can plan for demonstration is because they already have one. So I think what we are doing just now, if not leading to a victory by lobbying and EDM, will at least form a loose organisation so that when we decide to go for demonstration and court action, we can actually gather our force, wisdom and money and plan for it.

Another thing, I cordially ask all of us to contribute to the forum every night. The HO might think we are all busy enough to keep our employers happy and hence have no time to fight back. Well, let's prove they are wrong.

[Hidden dragon]

Good to see we are trying our best.

I already signed & mailed petition form.
I also wrote to my MP twice but no reply (he is from labour party though)

He/she might be on holiday.
Please keep chasing him up.
Lab, Conser, or Lab dem, doesn't matter.

What you said reminds me another thing. Anybody thought about the Respect Party, led by The MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, George Galloway?

George Galloway, could he be part of the answer?

[aj77]

It's nice to see a well focused and clear cut strategy aiming to achieve a single common goal.The best thing about it is that it is more coordinated and cohesive strategy and has been formulated after consultation with representatives of different affected communities.
You mentioned that it's just a strategy and lot of work need to be done to achieve the desired goal.You also mentioned current work need to be done is:

(2) Action 1: A meeting will take place between Christine Lee (CL) and Home Office minister Tony McNaulty (TM). To support this, we need as many as possible people to send signed (paper based) petition letters to CL so that she can present the letters as the evidence of the negative impacts of the “4To5” change and the retrospectiveness of the change. CL has got now about 1000 letters, and personally I think we need to increase the number to at least 5000.

(3) Action 2: Continue to send letters / emails to your MPs. They have a DUTY to reply your enquiries. If they don’t reply, keep sending letters/emails to them until they reply. Once you’ve got a reply, forward or fax the reply to CL’s team. In this way, CL can present MP’s supportive opinions in the meeting with TM as further evidence to make our case stronger.

For this my suggesstion is to paiste standard email (need to be sent to the MPs) on the board.So that if somebody can't find the time to write a letter to his MP, simply copy the letter from the board and send it to his MP.


I found the details of my MP from the following link:

http://www.locata.co.uk/commons

I sent the following email to my MP

Constituency...........
Nameof MP...........
Party.................

Subject: Objection about retrospective implementation of 4-5 year rule change in immigration policy

Respected Sir,

As you would be aware that Parliament has passed the changes in Immigration rules(HC 1016)on 30/03/06.According to this all immigrants related to work related catagories i.e HSMP/Work permit holders etc can apply for ILR after 5 years now instead of 4 years.The implementation on this policy has been started from 03/04/06 retrospectively.

I don t have any objection on this policy as it might be in best interest of UK, my only objection is about it's retrospective implementation.

As we were told when we chose to enter this country that we would be qualified for ILR after 4 yrs if we satisfied all the criteria set forth. The retrospective implementation of this proposed change has a number of negative effects on the practical life of people who entered under the old rules and have faithfully satisfied the stringent rules for approval of Further Leave to Remain (ability to get mortgages on residential property, children's ability to study at UK universities, etc.), but the principle involved goes far beyond the practical problems.

We are neither refugees nor asylum seekers, but Highly Skilled people who felt we were entering into a contract by choosing to come here under the stated conditions at the time we applied. We are shocked and dismayed that, having kept our part of the bargain, we see the more powerful party changing the rules of the game. We understand the wish to change the rules to make you more in line with European norms, and to create a more coherent long-term immigration policy; but any such changes should in fairness only apply to new applicants, people who choose to migrate to the UK knowing what the (new) rules are. Retrospective changing of the rules is unfair, in civil contracts illegal, and to our minds not in keeping with what we imagined was the British sense of fair play.

As legal skilled immigrants in the UK, we came here because we like this country and its people. Once here, we become ambassadors for the UK in our countries of origin. We work hard and want to integrate into society, but this sudden retrospective change, without anything like proper consultation, makes us have doubts about the wisdom of our choice. We are convinced that other persons having the sort of skills that the Government itself says the country needs, and especially the most qualified amongst them (who definitely have a choice as to where to go), will think twice about signing on to a programme where the rules can be changed without notice, retrospectivelyy and without appeal. To alienate us may be an acceptable side effect to a desirable policy change; to alienate thousands of potential high-quality migrants bringing badly needed entrepreneurial and other skills would seem to be bad policy indeed.

For your convenience and to remind you Government assured us in old policy of HSMP that future changes wont affect us.Here are some extracts of old HSMP policy under which I applied and got HSMP visa.

24.9 Q: What if the scheme changes?

A: As with any immigration scheme we reserve the right to adapt some of the criteria or documentation associated
with the scheme and will inform you via our websites of any such changes. All applications will be treated on the
basis of the HSMP provisions at the time that they were submitted.

24.10 Q: I have already applied successfully under HSMP. How does the revised HSMP affect me?

A: Not at all. It is important to note that once you have entered under the programme you are in a category that has
an avenue to settlement. Those who have already entered under HSMP will be allowed to stay and apply for
settlement after four years qualifying residence regardless of these revisions to HSMP



26.5 Q: How long can I stay in the UK if I enter as a skilled migrant?

A: You will initially be given 12 months stay. If you want to remain in the UK under the HSMP, you should apply for
an extension of your stay in the last month before the expiry of your permission to stay in the UK. For further
information, please see “Extension of stay in the United Kingdom” section. You will be able to amalgamate leave
in other categories that lead to settlement for example, please see “Extension of stay in the United Kingdom
section.” towards the end of that period you can apply to remain in the same capacity for a further period of up
to three years.
After four years in the UK as a highly skilled migrant you can apply for settlement. The main criteria for
settlement will be that you have spent a continuous period of four years in the UK (except for trips abroad of
three months or less, totalling less than six months in the four year period) in a category leading to settlement
and that you continue to be economically active in the UK as a highly skilled migrant.

I hope you would agree with my concerns about retrospective implementation of these changes and will discuss this issue with your fellow Parliamentarians and immigration Minister and will try to convince them about side effects of retrospective implementation so that changes should be implemented to those who know at the time of entering in the UK about these changes.

I look forward for your reply.Thank you

Regards

Anybody who want to send email to his MP can find the details from above link and can make necessary changes in the above letter.

It will take maximum 10 minutes to send an email to your MP.If we could send this sort of email to every MP,it might make some impact on them.Atleast everybody should have a try.

I can see list of Approx. 650 Parliamentarians(who need to be focused),their websites and emails in that link

http://www.parliament.uk/directories/hciolists/alcm.cfm

We should also make a strategy that how can we send these letters to most of the Parliamentarians and how can we monitor that process of sending letters so that we should be aware that how many MPs has been contacted and what is their reply.As we know that we have limited time to do that work effectively.

[Hidden dragon]

I totally agree!
We need 2 things: an automatic tool and a monitoring system.
(1) on the automatic tool. The BTCD developed a system which generates and sends email automatically to your MPs. You only need to input your postcode, name and etc details, it finds your MP and send the email for you.

The web address is:
http://btcd.turkish-network.org/class/c ... 72515D4350

This is a great tool for the EDM approach!

(2)One of the output of the meeting was BTCD agreed to help Christine Lee's team to provide a second automatic system. This system will generate automatic petition emails and send it to Christine Lee's office for her Lobbying campaign.

Currently, work needs to be done to agree on a template text for the petition letter. You have got one, which is great. But could you plz take the initiative to liaison with one of Christine's team member to agree on the text? You could just send your text to them and ask them to use it or modify it.

This will be a great help for Christine Lee's lobbying campaign. However, as you said, time is running out and I have so many things to do. Plz help me by coordinating between BTCD and Christine Lee's team. Both sides have agreed on principal on this. But we need people to follow it up. Could you help? I will PM you their contact details.

(3) On the monitoring tool, as far as I know, “nonothing” has the same idea with yours, ie to produce a table of all MPs, update who were contacted and who weren't and what their reaction is etc. It is a huge task and need to get data from both BTCD and Christine Lee's Team. He might have started the work. Could you help him? Could you PM him?

nonothing, could you liaison with aj77 on this?

I believe with more and more people like you, we will have a organised and powerful campaign.

I dare not and should not ask people to do this and that. But for our common interest, I have no choice! Wish more people step up like aj77 and nonothing to help. We have many other detailed work needs to be distributed to individuals. Please reply or pm me.

Thank you, fighters!

[tobiashomer]

I have just a few small suggestions to the text you quoted:

As you are no doubt aware, Parliament has passed changes in Immigration rules (HC 1016)on 30/03/06. According to this all migrants legally in this country under work-related visa catagories (i.e HSMP/Work permit holders etc) can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (Settlement) after 5 years legal residence, instead of 4 years as was promised them when they applied to enter. The implementation of this policy has been started from 03/04/06 retrospectively, that is, the new rules apply to people who entered under the old ones.

It is not my place to object to the new Managed Migration policy and it may well be in best interest of the UK. My only objection is about its retrospective implementation to those of us who came in under the previous Rules.

We were told when we chose to enter this country that we would be qualified for ILR after 4 yrs if we satisfied all the criteria set forth.

[tobiashomer]

Still only 3 signatures on the EDM (including George Galloway)!

Everyone should write to his or her MP specifically about the EDM, asking them to sign it. We will need more support and especially more credible (mainstream party) support there.[/u]

[sowhat]

I received a reply from my MP today. As he promised he had forwarded my questions/concerns to Mr. McNulty and received a response from the Under Secretary of State, which was kindly forwarded to me.

The Under Secretary is arguing that it is not a retrospective law. I am quoting:

"It passes legislation that takes effect from the date it is passed or later. This means that it applies to those who currently have leave to remain, but the effect you describe (retrospectiveness - SW) would happen wherever and in whatever circumstances we changed the qualifying period"

The Under Secretary also added that

Nevertheless we are ready to to listen to you about any unintended hardships that are directly instigated by this change - but for most areas of life, if not all, things are simply continue as usual"

Any comments? I am thinking to reply to my MP pointing out to the booklets which promised 4 years and give a more detailed account of my daughter's situation as she had to wait another year for the University.

[nonothing]

The Under Secretary is arguing that it is not a retrospective law. I am quoting:

"It passes legislation that takes effect from the date it is passed or later. This means that it applies to those who currently have leave to remain, but the effect you describe (retrospectiveness - SW) would happen wherever and in whatever circumstances we changed the qualifying period"

why did they not apply the SEGS rule changes to those already commenced their study?

ok, this is not a retrospective law because "It passes legislation that takes effect from the date it is passed or later". so what IS a retrospective law? is there such a thing on earth "It passes legislation that takes effect IN THE PAST"? joking!

anyway, this is the first reply to the MPs' enquiry we've got from the HO so far. it can show the attitude from the HO. they're trying to play balls with us.

[sowhat]

The Under Secretary is arguing that it is not a retrospective law. I am quoting:

"It passes legislation that takes effect from the date it is passed or later. This means that it applies to those who currently have leave to remain, but the effect you describe (retrospectiveness - SW) would happen wherever and in whatever circumstances we changed the qualifying period"

why did they not apply the SEGS rule changes to those already commenced their study?

what is SEGS btw?

[nonothing]

what is SEGS btw?

The Science and Engineering Graduate Scheme (SEGS) allows non-EEA nationals who have graduated from UK higher or further education establishments in certain physical sciences, mathematics and engineering subjects with a 2.2 or higher to remain in the UK for 12 months after their studies in order to pursue a career.

the HO changed the rules in the exactly same document (HC 974 / HC 1016) to extent the scheme to the students of all the subjects. but only students who commence their studies after 01/05/2006 can take advantage of the changes.

[sowhat]

what is SEGS btw?

The Science and Engineering Graduate Scheme (SEGS) allows non-EEA nationals who have graduated from UK higher or further education establishments in certain physical sciences, mathematics and engineering subjects with a 2.2 or higher to remain in the UK for 12 months after their studies in order to pursue a career.

the HO changed the rules in the exactly same document (HC 974 / HC 1016) to extent the scheme to the students of all the subjects. but only students who commence their studies after 01/05/2006 can take advantage of the changes.

it's a good point. I will mention it in my reply to the MP. thanks.

[nonothing]

could you please ask the following also? cheers.

ok, this is not a retrospective law because "It passes legislation that takes effect from the date it is passed or later". so what IS a retrospective law? is there such a thing on earth "It passes legislation that takes effect IN THE PAST"?

[sowhat]

could you please ask the following also? cheers.

ok, this is not a retrospective law because "It passes legislation that takes effect from the date it is passed or later". so what IS a retrospective law? is there such a thing on earth "It passes legislation that takes effect IN THE PAST"?

I will definitely ask it but I think what he means is that under existing rules a person could apply for ILR after 4 years. No the rules has changed so anyone now have to live here for 5 years to be qualified for ILR. I think that what they all try to argue is that nobody promised 4 years to anyone (even HSMP though it mentioned in accompanying letters sent with our visas), but they just established a fact that by the rules which were effective on the moment the visa was granted one could apply for IRL after 4 years.

I guess it is a demagogy, but we have to challenge this very point to get our rights back.

[aj77]

Hidden dragon wrote,

Currently, work needs to be done to agree on a template text for the petition letter. You have got one, which is great. But could you plz take the initiative to liaison with one of Christine's team member to agree on the text? You could just send your text to them and ask them to use it or modify it

I did my work and I got the following reply from BTCD

Great!we'll put this as a campaign then,after revising it in our editorial. Probably tomorrow.

How do you want us to put the heading & notes? (I mean "campaign prepared by Chineese community in the UK to opoose...", or ...??) It is totally up to you.

We'll send you the link before distributing it anyway for your confirmation,

Best,

Any comments for Heading and notes to make it more effective?

(3) On the monitoring tool, as far as I know, “nonothing” has the same idea with yours, ie to produce a table of all MPs, update who were contacted and who weren't and what their reaction is etc. It is a huge task and need to get data from both BTCD and Christine Lee's Team. He might have started the work. Could you help him? Could you PM him?

I will PM nonothing about this.

[aj77]

tobiashomer wrote:

As you are no doubt aware, Parliament has passed changes in Immigration rules (HC 1016)on 30/03/06. According to this all migrants legally in this country under work-related visa catagories (i.e HSMP/Work permit holders etc) can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (Settlement) after 5 years legal residence, instead of 4 years as was promised them when they applied to enter. The implementation of this policy has been started from 03/04/06 retrospectively, that is, the new rules apply to people who entered under the old ones.

It is not my place to object to the new Managed Migration policy and it may well be in best interest of the UK. My only objection is about its retrospective implementation to those of us who came in under the previous Rules.

I amended my letter according to your suggesstions.

I added another point in the letter from old HSMP guidance policy which states that:

9.1 In addition to scoring at least 65 points you will also need to demonstrate:

c) That you are willing and able to make the United Kingdom your main home. We will ask you to provide a
written undertaking to that effect. You will be expected to make the UK your country of habitual residence.
Secondments abroad that are an integral part of a job based in the UK are permitted by HSMP, however they
will be considered as time outside of the UK for settlement eligibility purposes. To qualify for settlement in
the UK you must have spent a continuous period of four years in the UK except for short holidays or business
trips. Any secondment that requires you to be outside the UK for an unbroken period of over three months
will make your previous stay in the UK ineligible as a continuous period in the UK

Keeping in mind that it is the part of the application and no HSMP applicant can qualify for HSMP visa if he doesn't sumit affidavit stating that he will make the UK his main home.
As here nobody mentioned about ILR and simply stated that you will be expected to make UK your country of habitual residence and that to qualify for settlement you need to spend continuous period of 4 years.

As far as I can remember that I provided this undertaking attested by Notary Public and it is legal document and it is legitimate to understand that settlement period of 4 years was part of this programme.

[tobiashomer]

The first part of the Under Secretary's response does not make sense as several members have pointed out, but there is not much to be gained, and perhaps a lot to be lost, by rubbing their noses in it.

However it seems to me that there is a window of opportunity in the 2nd part of the Under Secretary's response:

quote
Nevertheless we are ready to to listen to you about any unintended hardships that are directly instigated by this change - but for most areas of life, if not all, things are simply continue as usual"
unquote

We have a good case that there are significant areas where it is not "life as usual", that there are hardships created to our lives and plans by virtue of the retrospectivity of the law. now we should make that case forcefully and promptly before they forget (or deny) they ever said such a thing.

[tobiashomer]

good point aj77.

it is shocking when you think about it! I think at this stage I am more bothered by the feeling of betrayal than by the practial hardships, though in my case they are significant.

maybe we should compile a list of all the ways in which this change causes hardship, since that is the one window they seem willing to let discussion in through.

[aj77]

If you could see the old HSMP policy:link is

http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/Skilled%20Migrant.pdf

and current HSMP guidance policy.link is:

http://www.workingintheuk.gov.uk/workin ... 4.06p3.doc

and compare both you would see that in new policy there isn 't any assurance like

24.9 Q: What if the scheme changes?

A: As with any immigration scheme we reserve the right to adapt some of the criteria or documentation associated
with the scheme and will inform you via our websites of any such changes. All applications will be treated on the
basis of the HSMP provisions at the time that they were submitted.

24.10 Q: I have already applied successfully under HSMP. How does the revised HSMP affect me?

A: Not at all. It is important to note that once you have entered under the programme you are in a category that has
an avenue to settlement. Those who have already entered under HSMP will be allowed to stay and apply for
settlement after four years qualifying residence regardless of these revisions to HSMP



26.5 Q: How long can I stay in the UK if I enter as a skilled migrant?

A: You will initially be given 12 months stay. If you want to remain in the UK under the HSMP, you should apply for
an extension of your stay in the last month before the expiry of your permission to stay in the UK. For further
information, please see “Extension of stay in the United Kingdom” section. You will be able to amalgamate leave
in other categories that lead to settlement for example, please see “Extension of stay in the United Kingdom
section.” towards the end of that period you can apply to remain in the same capacity for a further period of up
to three years.
After four years in the UK as a highly skilled migrant you can apply for settlement. The main criteria for
settlement will be that you have spent a continuous period of four years in the UK (except for trips abroad of
three months or less, totalling less than six months in the four year period) in a category leading to settlement
and that you continue to be economically active in the UK as a highly skilled migrant

and according to new HSMP policy, HSMP process consists of 2 stages i.e

1. Approval Letter
2.Entery Clearance

3. The current process involves two stages:

(i) Stage 1: an application to be considered under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (an HSMP application). If that application is approved, it does not confer permission to come to the UK or remain if already here;
(ii) Stage 2: If your HSMP application is approved, you must make a separate application to come to the UK if you are at present abroad or for further leave to remain as a Highly Skilled Migrant if you are already here in another category

4. This two stage process is summarized in the diagram at Annex A.

Then you can see the diagrame which ends up while you get 2 years Entry Clearance.

Though it is being mentioned that u will also have to submit an affidavit stating that you want to make UK as Home Country at the end of 5 years and you will be able to apply for ILR but HSMP process ends up once you get the entry for 2 years.
No further committments and assurance about future changes either.

and it is entirely different as compared to old HSMP policy in which it was assured several times that after completion of 4 years,one can apply for Settlement and one can come with confidence as future changes wont affect in his four year stay

New programme is entirely different than old one and since they are applying that programme to us.isn't it Retrospective?

Give your opinions please