Changes to the Immigration Rules

A number of changes to the Immigration Rules came into effect on 13th December 2012. These changes affect non-European Economic Area nationals applying to enter or remain in the UK.

The changes include:

• Non substantive changes to all points-based system tiers.
• Establishing a more robust and clear criminality framework against which immigration applications will be assessed.
• Amendments to clarify the absences from the UK that are allowed during the continuous residence period for settlement for Tier 1 (General), Tier 2 and pre-points based system work routes (for example work permits, self-employment and business person).
• Minor changes to the child and parent routes to make them as clear and comprehensive as possible and changes to simplify the operation of the income threshold for sponsoring family migrants.

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