Number of Romanians and Bulgarians stopped at UK borders soaring
Number of Romanians and Bulgarians stopped at UK borders soaring
3 February 2022
Miglena Ilieva and Lorraine Dewar have written an article for ILPA titled “Number of Romanians and Bulgarians Stopped at UK Borders Soaring”. In the article, they explore some of the possible reasons underlying the trend of increasing numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians being stopped at UK borders. Indeed, Romanian and Bulgarian nationals accounted for more than 65% of nationals of EU member states initially stopped at the border in the third quarter of 2021.
Get in touch
To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.
Miglena Ilieva
Senior Solicitor and PSL Team Manager
Lorraine Dewar
Paralegal
Number of registered sponsors hits record high
Number of registered sponsors hits record high
20 January 2022
The number of sponsors registered on the Skilled Worker/ICT, Student and Temporary Work routes has hit a new record, according to the Home Office’s latest sponsorship transparency data. For Q3 2021, there were 41,348 sponsors registered for these three visa categories, a 19% increase on Q3 2020 and a 30% on Q3 2014 (the first year included in the Home Office data).
Record number of registered sponsors
The number of registered Skilled Worker/ICT and Temporary Work sponsors for Q3 2021 stood at 35,807 and 4,019 respectively, a record number for both visa categories. The number of Student sponsors was up on the previous quarter at 1,522 but failed to surpass the record high of 1,706, recorded in Q1 2014.
Skilled Worker/ICT sponsor applications booming
The number of Skilled Worker/ICT sponsor applications increased by 4,250 in Q3 2021, more than double that in Q3 2020. In addition, the number of new Skilled Worker/ICT sponsor applications in the first three quarters of 2021 was more than double that for the whole of 2019, the year before the onset of COVID-19. This growth is particularly impressive when compared to the more modest 8% increase of Skilled Worker/ICT applications between 2019 and 2020.
Sponsorship application processing times at all-time high
But not all the data is glowing. The latest statistics reveal that 81.5% of Skilled Worker/ICT sponsorship applications were processed in over four weeks, the largest percentage on record. In Q3 2014, 92% of Skilled Worker/ICT sponsorship applications were processed within four weeks.
Furthermore, the average length of time taken to process a sponsorship application in Q3 2021 was 52.88 days, with 2,984 applications taking longer than this. These are the highest figures on record and a sharp increase on pre-pandemic figures where the average day in Q3 2019, for example, was 23.45 days.
Get in touch
To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.
Miglena Ilieva
Senior Solicitor and PSL Team Manager
Robert Greene
Paralegal
Managing Partner Laura Devine writes for The Law Society Gazette
Managing Partner Laura Devine writes for The Law Society Gazette
21 January 2022
In an article for The Law Society Gazette, titled “Two years of tumult and ‘triumphs’“, Managing Partner Laura Devine reflects on the ups and downs of UK immigration as a result of COVID-19, Brexit and the new points-based system (‘PBS’). The article explores the collapse and recovery of visa applications among non-EU workers, as well as the less clear-cut situation with regard to EU migration. Laura also takes a look at the Home Office’s “ambitious” plans to launch new migration routes and reform the sponsorship system. You can read the article here.
Laura Devine
Managing Partner
Global Business Mobility Route
Global Business Mobility route: what we know so far
22 December 2021
The Spring 2022 launch of a new business immigration route, the Global Business Mobility (GBM) visa, is fast approaching. The route is being pitched by the Home Office as creating new and slicker provisions for overseas businesses seeking to establish a UK subsidiary or temporarily transfer specialised employees to the UK through a client, supplier or their own UK office. Here’s how it is expected to work and how it may differ from existing routes.
Overview
The new route aims to consolidate some of the existing immigration routes to make it easier for overseas companies to set up a UK office or transfer staff to the UK.
As part of its plan to achieve this, the Home Office has indicated that it will create five sub-categories within the GBM route, some of which may be familiar to existing sponsor licence holders. These categories would be:
- Senior or specialist worker – sent to the linked UK entity to meet a specific business need, for example to carry out the UK expansion of the business;
- Graduate trainee – transferred to the UK as part of a training programme;
- UK expansion worker – sent to establish a presence in the UK to facilitate expansion;
- Secondment employee – transferred to a UK firm in high-value contracts or investments or sent to the UK entity for specific business purposes; and
- Service supplier – sent to a UK client in the UK to provide a service in line with a UK trade agreement.
Companies will need a sponsor licence for the Senior or specialist worker and Graduate trainee categories.
As announced in its strategy statement for the New Plan for Immigration in late 2021, the Home Office may not only be regrouping existing work immigration categories, but also introducing some interesting changes under the new route. A new element to the GBM visa route is a specific route for secondments and groups of individuals to be sent to the UK from an overseas branch to set up a presence in the UK or expand an existing UK business.
Who could be eligible?
Requirements include:
- a mandatory sponsor licence for UK businesses receiving workers;
- minimum skill level for each job – it is not clear whether the higher Intra Company Transfer route skill threshold will continue to apply;
- salary threshold for UK roles;
- transferring workers must be existing employees with a minimum period of employment overseas; and
- assignments will be temporary but flexible and workers should be able to switch to permanent immigration categories from within the UK (potentially counting time already spent under the GBM route towards settlement).
There may not be an English language requirement.
Applicants will need to demonstrate there is be a sponsor business in the UK receiving them, that they are being sent to the UK by an overseas entity and that there is a business relationship between the two.
What would be different?
| IN |
OUT |
| · Overseas businesses to send groups of up to five individuals to the UK to set up a UK entity and work on expansion – this could include a senior executive and four team members;
· secondees to be sent to the UK for specific business needs regarding high value import or export contracts and potentially staying for an extended period of time; and · business visitor secondments could be extended beyond six months – this would only apply to contracts of more than £50 million.
|
· Overseas business to send a single experienced representative to the UK to set up a UK entity and work on expansion;
· overseas clients of UK import companies to send secondees to the UK for up to six months; and · business visitors not allowed to work for the UK entity.
|
What else can we expect?
The Home Office is currently finalising the route and is exploring ways to minimise the evidential burden on applicants and sponsors wishing to use it. Via this new route, there is the possibility of greater flexibility being introduced for businesses to establish their offices in the UK or continuing their business relationships with their clients and suppliers in the country. If overseas companies with no presence in the UK were to be permitted to apply for their sponsor licences abroad, some interesting scenarios could play out. The Home Office would be dealing with the new cost and burden of monitoring the compliance of sponsor licence holders based outside the UK, among other things.
In the coming months, we can expect further clarification from the Home Office on how individuals and companies will be able to apply under the GBM route and permitted activities as a GBM migrant in the UK. By Spring 2022, the Home Office should also elucidate the potential sponsor licence system for overseas businesses and how it plans to carry out compliance checks going forward.
Get in touch
To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.
Nicolette Bostock
Senior Solicitor
Ilaria Iovieno
Trainee solicitor
Laura Devine named WWL's Corporate Immigration Lawyer of the Year 2021
Laura Devine named WWL's Corporate Immigration Lawyer of the Year
20 December 2021
Congratulations to Managing Partner Laura Devine who has been named Corporate Immigration Lawyer of the Year in the 2021 Who’s Who Legal awards. This is the second time Laura has won this prestigious accolade; the first time was in 2019.
Peers and clients describe Laura as “an excellent and very experienced lawyer” and say that she is a “leader of corporate immigration in the UK”.
Laura has also been named a Thought Leader in Corporate Immigration 2022. You can read a Q&A with Laura about the firm and her goals for the firm’s development here.
Laura Devine
Managing Partner
Murty Gollakota discusses importance of becoming partner
Murty Gollakota on what it means to be made partner at Laura Devine Immigration
7 December 2021
Having started out as an immigration paralegal in 2002 at a law firm in Richmond, Virginia, Murty Gollakota has risen through the ranks to partnership level. He joined Laura Devine Immigration almost nine years ago as a Senior Associate Attorney in the New York team and was promoted to partner on 1 December 2021.
We sat down with Murty to discuss what this milestone means for him and why he chose to become an immigration lawyer.
How does it feel to have been made partner?
It is an incredible feeling to be made partner. I think it is an achievement every attorney in private practice strives for, me included. I am very excited to work with the other partners to grow the practice further and build and sustain a strong team.
Why did you decide to become a lawyer?
I have always had an interest in advocacy, whether it was through civic or academic engagement. When the time came to finally figure out my professional goals, I wanted to put that interest to use. Law school and the practice of law seemed like the best professional manifestation of that interest.
Why immigration law?
My sister and I were born in the US but the rest of my family had to go through the immigration process to become green card holders, and eventually US Citizens. My sister was a green card holder before moving to India to live there for a couple of years. Because of her time abroad, her green card was deemed abandoned and she had to go through that process again. She entered the US as the spouse of a student and it took many years before she became a green card holder again. Her experience and the difficulties of navigating through that process always stuck with me so when it came time to consider an area of practice, immigration was high on my mind.
What is the most challenging thing about being a lawyer?
For our clients, immigration is a very personal matter. It means making a life in the US with a married partner. It means moving to the US to start a new job or start a new business. Add to that the complexity of the process can create a great deal of stress for clients. Helping them manage expectations and having to recalibrate expectations due to COVID has been a great challenge. Our team has done a great job with this, especially when we approach these issues with empathy.
What is the most rewarding thing about being a lawyer?
First and foremost being made partner has been a tremendous milestone in my career. I am grateful to the confidence this firm has in me and the responsibility it has given to me. Second would be succeeding with difficult cases. Our firm has a great reputation for achieving immigration goals that other firms state are not possible. I have had many clients who come to us after being told no. It is incredibly rewarding to work with them and to obtain an approval on a visa that they have been told they could not achieve.
– END –
This promotion comes at a time of growth for the firm with a significant number of new joiners across the London and New York offices this autumn.
Murty Gollakota
Partner
Early indefinite leave to remain concession: what you need to know
Early indefinite leave to remain concession: what you need to know
8 November 2021
The Home Office has published guidance on a new concession allowing private life applicants aged 18 to 24 to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years’ continuous leave (“early ILR”).
Why has the Home Office introduced the concession?
Applicants granted leave based on their private life are generally on a 10-year route to settlement. The principle underpinning this longer “probationary period”, as the Home Office describes it, is to encourage “lawful compliance”.
However, in the case of young adults, the Home Office has said that this policy may be less relevant. The guidance states that applicants who are aged 18 to 24 and who were born in the UK or entered as children should not be responsible for previous non-compliance with immigration laws. The wording of the guidance is interesting and could potentially provide scope for arguing that a child or young adult should not be penalised for non-compliance by their parent or guardian in other routes – not just ILR based on private life – where caseworkers can exercise discretion.
Who is eligible?
The eligibility criteria for the concession are as follows, the applicant must:
- be aged 18 to 24;
- have spent at least half of their life living continuously in the UK (discounting any period of imprisonment);
- have been born in or entered the UK as a child;
- have held limited leave for five years; and
- be eligible for further leave to remain under paragraph 276ADE(1) of the Immigration Rules and have made an application under those rules.
Who is not eligible?
Children (aged under 18) are not eligible and are presumed to be living in the UK as dependants of their parents.
In addition, children and young adults are not eligible if their parent, guardian or family member on whom they are dependant is applying under Appendix FM.
Factors relevant to a grant of early ILR
The guidance lists a non-exhaustive list of factors which caseworkers should consider when reviewing an application for a grant of early ILR. These include:
- the applicant’s age when they arrived in the UK;
- the length of the applicant’s residence in the UK;
- the strength of the applicant’s connections and integration in the UK;
- whether unlawful residence in the past was the result of non-compliance by the applicant or their parent/guardian whilst the applicant was a child; and
- whether limited leave to remain will have a detrimental impact on the applicant’s health or welfare.
Where these factors form a “particularly exceptional or compelling reason” to grant early ILR, the caseworker may do so. These factors must be weighed against the public interest factor of lawful compliance underpinning the 10-year route to settlement.
How to apply for early ILR
In general, the onus is on the applicant to request early IRL. If an application is refused, a decision letter setting out the reasons must be provided to the applicant.
Where an applicant has not specifically requested a grant of early IRL, but the applicant is clearly eligible, caseworkers can use their discretion to consider granting it. If discretion is exercised, caseworkers should – but are not obliged – to provide a discretion letter explaining the reasons for the outcome.
Get in touch
To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.
Miglena Ilieva
Senior Solicitor and PSL Team Manager
Robert Greene
Paralegal
European Commission recognises NHS COVID Pass
European Commission recognises NHS COVID Pass
29 October 2021
As of today, the UK’s NHS COVID Pass is recognised as being equivalent to the EU’s digital COVID certificate.
Whilst many European countries have already unilaterally accepted the NHS COVID Pass as valid proof of vaccination status, the change, which was announced by the European Commission yesterday, means that the NHS COVID Pass will automatically be recognised in all EU member states.
Get in touch
To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.
Miglena Ilieva
Senior Solicitor and PSL Team Manager
Robert Greene
Paralegal
All counties on red list to be removed
All counties on red list to be removed
28 October 2021
The government will remove all remaining countries from the red list at 4am on 1 November 2021. There are currently seven countries on the red list: Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. However, there are no plans to scrap the red list altogether, meaning countries could be placed on the red list in the future.
Rules for travelers from red list countries
Currently, travelers from red list countries are subject to tighter restrictions, including pre- and post-arrival PCR tests and mandatory hotel quarantine. The prices for hotel quarantine were increased in August with a room for one adult for 11 nights costing £2,285. The cost of an additional adult or child over 11 is £1,430. The cost for an additional child aged 5 to 11 is £325.
End of traffic-light system
On 4 October, the government scrapped the previous traffic-light system with a single red list. On 11 October, 47 countries were removed from the red list and the list was reduced to the current set of seven countries. This latest move by the government is part of its phased plan to re-open the UK borders to international travel.
Rules for fully vaccinated travelers
The government has recently announced a series of relaxations to the rules for fully vaccinated travelers. Those travelling from non-red list countries are no longer required to take a pre-travel COVID-19 test or a post-arrival day eight test. They are still required to take a post-arrival day two test, but this can now be a lateral flow test, instead of a more costly PCR test.
The list of approved vaccination programmes has been expanded and the government has said that mixing of approved vaccines is now permitted. Previously, fully vaccinated travelers had to have received two doses of the same approved two-dose vaccine (or one dose of an approved one-dose vaccine).
Get in touch
To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.
Miglena Ilieva
Senior Solicitor and PSL Team Manager
Robert Greene
Paralegal
Matthew Wills to speak at UIA 65th Congress
Matthew Wills to speak at UIA 65th Congress
27 October 2021
Brexit and COVID-19: two unprecedented challenges for the UK and global immigration systems. Senior Solicitor Matthew Wills will be taking part in two panel discussions at Union Internationale des Avocats’ 65th Congress, looking at the impact of Brexit and COVID-19 on immigration law.
Title: Brexit: Old Friends, New Beginnings?
Description: This panel discussion will explore the impact of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK on bilateral relations, identify sensitive or problematical areas and suggest practical legal solutions.
Date: Saturday, 30 October 2021
Full details: https://lnkd.in/dPHYBaz6
Title: The Right to Counsel of Immigration Clients – Advancement or Retreat in a Post-COVID World?
Description: This panel discussion will analyse the impact of travel restrictions on the ability of immigration lawyers to adequately represent clients and look at how technologies can be employed to improve clients’ access to and quality of counsel.
Date: Saturday, 30 October 2021
Full details: https://lnkd.in/dPHYBaz6
Get in touch
To learn more about forthcoming changes to UK immigration law, see our website, contact your assigned LDI lawyer or email enquiries@lauradevine.com.
