Supreme Court overrules UKBA on Tier 2 working visa refusal
The UK immigration system was in “disarray” this week after senior judges said Home Office rules to curb the number of migrants were unlawful and not based on the Immigration Rules.
The Supreme Court said ministers were wrong to refuse foreign workers, students and other migrants from the UK under criteria or guidance that had not been laid before Parliament or had not become law.
The case centred on a Pakistani man who was refused an extension to stay because he did not meet a new job qualification and salary criteria under the points-based system. However, those requirements were detailed in a code of practice and were not included in official Immigration Rules that are presented to parliament.
His subsequent appeal against the refusal eventually worked its way up to the highest court in the land where the most senior judges considered the decisions based on the Immigration Rules, not the guidance or internal criteria.
Cynthia Barker of Immigration Advisers Bison Management has seen a number of students and workers refused extensions because of changes in guidance and urges ‘victims of unlawful refusals to come forward’. Full story…
The 2012 London Olympic Park. Photo Credit: London 2012
London Metropolitan University Tier 4 student visa licence suspended
A government university has been banned from recruiting overseas after failing to inform the Home Office when overseas students failed to turn up for their courses. In a rare move the London Metropolitan University has become only the second Highly Trusted University to have its licence to recruit international students suspended by the UK Border Agency. Full story…
The UK Border Agency has massive backlog of outstanding immigration cases equivalent to the population of Newcastle, MPs warned today. Immigration Adviser Cynthia Barker of Bison Management said she has seen an ‘upsurge in long delays, refusals and visa appeal cases’.
On 26 April 2012 the European Commission gave the United Kingdom two months to comply with European Union rules on the free movement of EU citizens and their families across the EU or face an EU court case…Bulgarian and Romanian students on courses longer than six months are also forced to take out expensive private medical insurance policies (when applying for ‘yellow card’ registration documents) which they do not need…
MP’s on the Home Affairs Committee have welcomed plans by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to create a ‘National Allegations Database’ to manage the huge flow of information and reports from the public on possible immigration violations…
Another report confirms fears that the government’s student visa clampdown is having a detrimental effect on the higher education sector and the UK economy.
The UK population has grown by more than three million in the past 10 years, census results are expected to show this week, according to reports. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will publish the first findings from its once-a-decade national headcount, based on a survey of all 25 million households.
UK Immigration Rules, under which the UK Border Agency has been operating for four years, were rushed from the Home Office to the House of Lords…The appeal was unanimously upheld by five Supreme Court judges this week throwing the whole immigration system into disarray. Full story…
Overseas students in the UK are complaining they are trapped in a legal limbo by visa delays which mean they do not have the right either to stay or go back home, a BBC report has confirmed. Student visa holders claim they have waited for up to five months without their passports.
Despite staff cuts the UK Border Agency has managed to deport over 250 illegal immigrants from the Midlands area of the UK in just two months, according to the Birmingham Mail this week.
If you need any immigration advice or help with overstaying your visa, Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:
You could qualify for atax refund if you are an overseas student, work permit holder, Tier 1, Yellow or Blue Card holder - in fact any visa type – even if you are no longer legal or even in the UK!
del.icio.us