HR Articles

Recently, the UK immigration space has been one to watch with many changes  as the remaining Covid-19 restrictions lift and following the invasion of Ukraine.  UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) regularly updates its rules and guidance, often without giving prior notice, and therefore it is crucial for businesses and their non-settled workers to remain hypervigilant to adhere to the Immigration Rules.  

The Home Office suspended all points-based system (PBS) sponsor compliance and assessment visits during the Covid-19 pandemic whilst lockdown restrictions were in effect.BSponsor compliance visits have now resumed, and it appears that the Home Office is attempting to make up for lost time.

There is frequent discussion surrounding the requirements for a spouse or unmarried partner applying as the dependant of a UK visa holder, however what receives less attention are the requirements for a dependent child, which in some cases can fall subject to a higher level of scrutiny from the Home Office.

When granted with a Worker sponsor licence to employ migrant workers, an organisation is given access to the Sponsorship Management System (SMS), which is the online platform used to manage the licence and facilitate the sponsorship of migrant workers.

As of 11 April 2022, the Global Business Mobility (GBM) routes have now replaced the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) routes. Under the GBM routes, there are five main categories.

The new Global Business Mobility (GBM) routes are launching on Monday, 11 April 2022, replacing the existing Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) routes, with the GBM: Senior/Specialist Worker route replacing the ICT route and the GBM: Graduate Trainee route replacing the Intra-Company Graduate Trainee route.    

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting refugee crisis, the UK government has established the Ukraine Family Scheme (‘the Ukraine Scheme’) for Ukrainian refugees to join their family members in the UK. It is free to apply to the Scheme, and once in the UK, visa holders are permitted to work, study, access public funds, and extend their permission to stay in the

Home Office guidance says that “the key feature of a marriage, civil partnership or durable partnership of convenience is that there is no genuine relationship between the parties.”

The Home Office has now updated the Worker and Temporary Worker Sponsorship policy guidance, first published in December 2020.

The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) was implemented to enable EU citizens and their eligible family members who started living in the UK before 31st December 2020 to acquire pre-settled status which gives the right to live in the UK for 5 years or settled status which allows the right to remain indefinitely in the UK