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Court of Appeal considers delay in Home Office decision-making
By Alexandra Pease

In an earlier blog post we examined how quickly an individual can expect an application to be decided and current visa processing times.   Home Office Service Standards The Home Office still has in place customer service standards for processing visa applications...

 submitted after 1 January 2014. The standards have largely remained the same, as follows: Straight forward applications from outside the UK: Non-settlement visa applications: 90% to be decided within 3 weeks; Non-settlement visa applications: 98% to be...

UK visa application fees continue to shoot up with latest hikes
By Richmond Chambers

New fees for visa applications in the UK came into effect earlier in the month (April 6).  With a 4% increase across a wide range of categories, needless to say, there are some unhappy people about.  The main gripe is that the 4% increase is way above the rate...

 of inflation, raising concerns about the profits which the Home Office is making from visa application fees. A naturalisation application has now risen to £1,330, with an application for indefinite leave to remain going up to £2,389. In some cases,...

Visit visas - avoiding refusal for not showing a ‘genuine intention to visit’
By Emma Greenwood

It is a requirement for leave to enter as a visitor that the applicant has a genuine intention to visit and a very common reason for refusal is that it is not accepted that an Applicant does so. The Genuine Intention to Visit Test Paragraph V 4.2 sets out the requirement...

 to have a ‘genuine intention to visit’ as follows: ‘V 4.2 The applicant must satisfy the decision maker that they are a genuine visitor. This means that the applicant: (a) will leave the UK at the end of their visit; and (b) will not live...

The Meaning of ‘Sole Responsibility’ - Is TD (Yemen) Still Fit For Purpose?
By Emma Greenwood

The Requirement to prove ‘sole responsibility’ on the part of a Sponsor in the UK for a child applying to enter the UK appears in Part 8 of the Rules (where the parent is present and settled) and under Appendix FM (where the parent has limited leave as a partner...

 or parent). The leading authority on the meaning of sole responsibility is TD (Paragraph 297(i)(e): “sole responsibility”) Yemen [2006] UKAIT 00049. In this case, heard over 10 years ago, the Upper Tribunal were considering an older version of...

Changes to the Appendix FM English Language Requirement
By Richmond Chambers

On 3 November 2016, the Home Office announced changes to the English language requirement for persons applying for further leave to remain as a partner or parent on the 5-year route to settlement under Appendix FM. Introduced by Statement of Changes to the Immigration...

 Rules HC667. These changes are set to take effect from 1 May 2017.A2 English Language Requirement for the family route Are a national of a majority English-speaking country; Hold a degree taught or researched in English; or Are exempted from the...

Meeting the financial requirement within Appendix FM by reference to adequate maintenance
By Richmond Chambers

In July 2012, following on from the report from the Migration Advisory Committee, a minimum income threshold was introduced in respect of sponsorship under the family migration route as set out within Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules. A minimum threshold...

 of £18,600 was set, with additional amounts for any ‘relevant’ children. Entry clearance or leave to remain as a partner whose partner is in receipt of a ‘specified benefit’; Entry clearance or leave to remain as a child of a parent with limited leave...

Subject Access Requests: Requesting personal information from the Home Office
By Richmond Chambers

The Home Office holds information about individuals who have come to its’ attention one way or another. Such information may contain copies of documents an individual provided with an application, criminal records checks or interview records.Reasons for making...

 a Subject Access Request An individual might not know if their leave to remain has been curtailed because the curtailment letter never reached them. Making a Subject Access Request might reveal the fact that a document was sent to an individual by the Home...

New Appendix SN: Service of Notices
By Richmond Chambers

Appendix SN is a new appendix to the Immigration Rules introduced by Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC877 and deals with service by the Home Office of various decisions in relation to immigration matters. It has effect for all applications made on...

 or after 6 April 2016 and for some applications submitted before that date. It has the potential to infect almost every area of immigration practice. A written notice that an application for entry clearance [to], leave to enter, or leave to remain in the UK is...

Slip Rule cannot be used to reverse the effect of an immigration decision
By Richmond Chambers

In Katsonga ("Slip Rule"; FtT's general powers) [2016] UKUT 228 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal reviewed the ambit of rule 31 of the First-tier Tribunal Procedure Rules...

 2014 (often referred to as the ‘Slip Rule’) and found that the rule cannot be used to reverse the effect of a decision at the instance of a losing party.

UK launches new two-year tourist visa for Chinese nationals
By Richmond Chambers

In January 2016, the UK officially launched a new visitor visa scheme. Chinese nationals are now able to apply for a two-year multi-entry visa. The previous standard tourist visa for Chinese nationals was limited to 6 months. The new scheme is therefore four times...

 the normal 6-month limit for a standard general visitor visa.The reasons behind this new launch? Extension of standard visitor visas from 6 months to 2-year multiple entry and plans to introduce a new 10-year multiple entry visit visa for the same visa...

Challenging deception findings in immigration and visa applications
By Emma Greenwood

Deception is defined within Paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules as follows:Immigration & Visa Application Barristers London

 Deception is defined within Paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules as follows:Immigration & Visa Application Barristers London

Government proposes a significant increase in fees for immigration applications
By Tanya Murshed

On 11 January 2016, the government announced its intention to increase fees for visas, immigration applications and nationality applications, as well as fees for using the premium service. This will come into force once legislation is laid by Parliament in April...

 this year. The aim is to reduce taxpayer contributions towards the border, immigration and citizenship system so that the system eventually becomes self-funded. The biggest increase in fees relate to settlement, residence and nationality applications which...
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