https://freemovement.org.uk Updates, commentary, training and advice on immigration and asylum law Tue, 14 Jan 2025 12:45:39 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://freemovement.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/cropped-Goose-logo-32x32.png https://freemovement.org.uk 32 32 https://freemovement.org.uk/significant-changes-made-to-guidance-on-sponsoring-workers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=significant-changes-made-to-guidance-on-sponsoring-workers https://freemovement.org.uk/significant-changes-made-to-guidance-on-sponsoring-workers/#respond Wed, 15 Jan 2025 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=218626 The government published a number of significant changes to their guidance for work sponsors on 31 December 2024 and 1 January 2025. The affected guidance includes: Although several guidance documents have been updated, in many instances these updates relate to the same changes and are to reflect updates elsewhere in the above guidance documents. Brief summary […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/significant-changes-made-to-guidance-on-sponsoring-workers/feed/ 0 https://freemovement.org.uk/briefing-how-to-apply-for-a-charity-worker-sponsor-licence/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=briefing-how-to-apply-for-a-charity-worker-sponsor-licence https://freemovement.org.uk/briefing-how-to-apply-for-a-charity-worker-sponsor-licence/#comments Mon, 13 Jan 2025 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=218394 The Charity Worker route is for voluntary workers aged 18 or over who wish to come to the UK to do work for a recognised charitable organisation. Work must be unpaid and fieldwork which contributes directly to the achievement or advancement of the sponsor’s charitable purpose – for example, in the case of a charity […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/briefing-how-to-apply-for-a-charity-worker-sponsor-licence/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/how-to-apply-for-a-religious-work-visa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-apply-for-a-religious-work-visa https://freemovement.org.uk/how-to-apply-for-a-religious-work-visa/#comments Fri, 10 Jan 2025 08:30:03 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=191420 The UK has two sponsored work routes for religious workers: the T2 minister of religion visa for those with a key leading role in their faith-based organisation or religious order in the UK, and the temporary religious worker visa for those who support the activities of religious institutions in the UK by working in a […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/how-to-apply-for-a-religious-work-visa/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/uk-graduate-visa-rules-appendix-graduate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=uk-graduate-visa-rules-appendix-graduate https://freemovement.org.uk/uk-graduate-visa-rules-appendix-graduate/#respond Tue, 31 Dec 2024 08:30:48 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=162935 The graduate immigration route is for international students who have completed a degree or other higher educational qualification in the UK. It allows people who previously had a student visa to: There is no requirement to have a sponsor in order to apply under this route. The application costs £822 plus the immigration health surcharge. […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/uk-graduate-visa-rules-appendix-graduate/feed/ 0 https://freemovement.org.uk/uk-global-talent-visa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=uk-global-talent-visa Thu, 05 Dec 2024 12:00:06 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=136853 The UK’s global talent visa went live in February 2020, replacing the old Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route. Since that time, it has secured its place as a badge of honour for those deemed talented enough to obtain one. And with many applicants able to obtain indefinite leave to remain after only three years, and […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/how-to-apply-for-a-high-potential-individual-visa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-apply-for-a-high-potential-individual-visa Tue, 19 Nov 2024 08:30:03 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=169646 The high potential individual visa is aimed at individuals who have graduated from a top global university. There is considerable international competition to attract these sorts of individuals, who ministers like to call the “brightest and best”. A visa aimed at them can therefore be seen as a pitch: a package aimed at persuading them […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/court-of-appeal-dismisses-challenge-to-employer-penalty-notice/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=court-of-appeal-dismisses-challenge-to-employer-penalty-notice Wed, 13 Nov 2024 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=216052 The Court of Appeal has held that “a simple statement to an employer that one of the people working for it has no right to work” is sufficient for the purposes of section 15(1) Immigration Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 when issuing an employer penalty notice. The case is Akbars Restaurant (Middlesbrough) Ltd v Secretary […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/how-to-apply-for-a-skilled-worker-visa-uk/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-apply-for-a-skilled-worker-visa-uk Tue, 05 Nov 2024 08:30:06 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=135909 The skilled worker visa is the main work route under the points based immigration system. It was introduced on 1 December 2020, replacing a visa called Tier 2 (General). Joanna has previously explained the legal requirements for this visa. For example, the role must have a skill level of at least RQF3 (roughly A-Level equivalent), […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/a-guide-to-right-to-work-checks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-guide-to-right-to-work-checks Mon, 04 Nov 2024 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=214685 Employers in the UK are required to conduct right to work checks to ensure that their employees have the legal right to work. If the employer knows, or ought to know, that the individual does not have permission to work, they can face civil penalties of up to £60,000 and can also face criminal sanctions […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/uk-youth-mobility-visa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=uk-youth-mobility-visa Thu, 31 Oct 2024 08:24:31 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=140751 A Youth Mobility visa enables people aged 18-30 (or 35 for some countries) to live and work in the UK, usually for up to two years. It used to be called the “working holiday-maker scheme” and some people may still call it that. Crucially, there is no requirement to have an employer to sponsor a […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/how-to-use-the-creative-worker-visa-concession/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-use-the-creative-worker-visa-concession Mon, 28 Oct 2024 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=213498 The UK immigration system as it applies to the creative sector is a complicated hodgepodge of different categories, each with their own requirements and restrictions, advantages and disadvantages. These include visitor-based routes, such as creative visitors, permit free festivals and permitted paid engagements, as well as the now ubiquitous sponsored work visa that has taken […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/care-home-operators-sponsor-licence-revoked-for-supplying-sponsored-workers-to-third-parties/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=care-home-operators-sponsor-licence-revoked-for-supplying-sponsored-workers-to-third-parties Wed, 23 Oct 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=214923 As the crackdown on sponsor licence compliance continues, in R (Tendercare Management Ltd) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 2154 (Admin) the High Court has considered another case involving the revocation of a care home operator’s sponsor licence. In contrast to previous revocation cases we looked at in Prestwick Care, Supporting Care, New […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/which-work-visa-routes-lead-to-settlement/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=which-work-visa-routes-lead-to-settlement Tue, 15 Oct 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=214713 Settlement or indefinite leave to remain is often the end goal for many immigration applicants. Settlement can often only be obtained after a certain number of years of continuous residence in the UK, meeting various immigration requirements, and paying thousands of pounds in various fees. But not all visa routes lead to settlement. Some routes […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/do-the-skilled-worker-salary-threshold-increases-create-an-equal-pay-issue-for-employers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=do-the-skilled-worker-salary-threshold-increases-create-an-equal-pay-issue-for-employers Wed, 02 Oct 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=213765 In April 2024, significant changes were made to the salary thresholds for the skilled worker visa route. The general salary threshold rose from £26,200 to £38,700, along with rises to the various salary concessions including for new entrants and PhD holders. There was also a raise to the ‘going rates’ for particular roles, resulting in […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/international-recruitment-and-skills-shortages-what-can-we-expect-from-the-migration-advisory-committees-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=international-recruitment-and-skills-shortages-what-can-we-expect-from-the-migration-advisory-committees-review Thu, 19 Sep 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=213305 The Home Secretary commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) on 6 August 2024 to begin investigating the use of international recruitment and immigration in particular sectors, starting with the information technology, telecommunications and engineering sectors, which are in the top 10 sectors that have been reliant on international recruitment. The Home Secretary indicated that this would […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/the-risks-of-making-a-fee-waiver-application-for-the-purpose-of-buying-time-to-make-a-different-application/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-risks-of-making-a-fee-waiver-application-for-the-purpose-of-buying-time-to-make-a-different-application https://freemovement.org.uk/the-risks-of-making-a-fee-waiver-application-for-the-purpose-of-buying-time-to-make-a-different-application/#comments Tue, 17 Sep 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=213267 In this post I explain the variety of reasons that it is a very bad idea to submit a fee waiver application purely for the purpose of getting section 3C leave, with no eligibility for or intention of making the subsequent immigration application mentioned in the fee waiver application. The consequences of doing this are […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/the-risks-of-making-a-fee-waiver-application-for-the-purpose-of-buying-time-to-make-a-different-application/feed/ 7 https://freemovement.org.uk/challenge-to-refusal-of-tier-1-entrepreneur-extension-succeeds-due-to-home-office-errors/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=challenge-to-refusal-of-tier-1-entrepreneur-extension-succeeds-due-to-home-office-errors Mon, 16 Sep 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=213240 An applicant has successfully challenged the Home Office’s refusal of his application for further leave to remain in the old Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route after obvious errors were made both procedurally and in the refusal letter. The case is R (on the application of Ghadam) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Discretion – […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/a-look-at-new-entrants/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-look-at-new-entrants Tue, 10 Sep 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=212967 In April this year, the government introduced significant increases to the qualifying salary rates for the skilled worker and global business mobility routes.  While employers and potential employees grapple with how the new salary thresholds and ‘going rate’ percentiles affect new hires as compared to extensions in the same role, many aren’t aware of how […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/home-office-confirms-error-in-immigration-rules-and-directs-skilled-worker-sponsors-to-updated-guidance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=home-office-confirms-error-in-immigration-rules-and-directs-skilled-worker-sponsors-to-updated-guidance Tue, 03 Sep 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=212575 The Home Office has confirmed via a notification on the sponsorship management system that some salary going rates (i.e. the salary requirements specific to those occupations eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route) included in March 2024 statement of changes to the immigration rules HC 590 were incorrectly stated and that sponsors should instead […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/a-route-of-last-resort-two-years-of-the-uk-expansion-worker-visa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-route-of-last-resort-two-years-of-the-uk-expansion-worker-visa Wed, 28 Aug 2024 07:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=212159 Often corporate immigration advice can feel as though it boils down to Skilled Worker applications and little else. In amongst that “little else” is the UK Expansion Worker route, which came in to replace the sole representative route. We already have a briefing on how to apply under this route and in this post we look […]]]>