Disabled refugees paying hundreds to settle status under newly outsourced system Abdul Farooq thought applying for leave to remain in the UK would be straightforward. The 56-year-old Manchester resident had been granted refugee status five years earlier after fleeing religious persecution. Now he wanted to secure his right to remain in the country with his family. When

Exclusive: Cross-party politicians back demands for urgent review into Home Office partnership with French firm Sopra Steria following warnings legal migrants risk being ‘thrown into the hostile environment’ MPs and lawyers are demanding an independent investigation into the government’s newly outsourced visa system after it emerged private firms were raking in millions of pounds as vulnerable people are forced to pay “extortionate” fees

Migrants coming to the UK could face varying minimum salary thresholds depending on where they live under proposals put out for review by the home secretary, Sajid Javid. The white paper on post-Brexit immigration policy, published in December, included a to-be-determined minimum salary threshold for high-skilled workers. The current minimum salary for most experienced workers coming

The Home Office is calling on an expert body to assess whether post-Brexit migration rules should be different in Wales. It comes as part of a UK government consultation on a minimum £30,000 salary for skilled migrants seeking five-year visas. A review by a leading economist warned the salary threshold would hit Wales harder than the

LONDON: The UK is falling behind in the global race to engage with India because it has failed to adjust its strategy to fit India’s enhanced influence and power on the world stage, a new UK parliamentary inquiry report concluded on Monday. ‘Building Bridges: Reawakening UK-India ties’, released to coincide with the first-ever India Day

Alison Phipps accuses Home Office of ‘secret travel ban’ against visiting academics One of Unesco’s chiefs has said she will no longer host any international conferences in the UK because of the Home Office’s “inept”, “embarrassing” and “discriminatory” visitor visa system. Alison Phipps, the Unesco chair in refugee integration, has accused the government of operating

Man ordered to pay compensation to victims A man who offered unregulated immigration advice and services in exchange for payment in excess of £11,000 from refugees he met in social centres was yesterday (20 June 2019) sentenced to 8 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months and 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered

In this article, Sophie Barrett-Brown and Miglena Ilieva of Laura Devine discuss attitudes to immigration in Britain, and how the Conservative Party has failed to enforce their reductions Recent Ipsos Mori polls suggesting that attitudes to immigration in Britain are softening could not have been more timely. As the Conservative Party prepares to choose the country’s next

Jonathan Thomas outlines four key lessons from recent history to illuminate the potential consequences of the government’s proposed immigration system. He concludes that the ending of freedom of movement represents the start of a significant new challenge for the UK in managing not only immigration, but also the public’s concerns over it. With the ending of

The Home Office is undertaking a year-long engagement programme around the future skills-based immigration system. The Home Office has today (Monday 17 June) published membership detailsof 5 advisory groups, established to deepen engagement between government and industry as the future skills-based immigration system is developed. The department is undertaking a year-long engagement programme to hear the

A sobering selection of real-life tales illustrate the maddening network of rules and regulations that applicants to remain in the UK must navigate Who Should Get to Stay in the UK (BBC Two) was not, alas, an amusing parlour game allowing one to strike through the names of those who are already here and whom one

Something remarkable appears to be happening when it comes to public concern about immigration – British attitudes appear to be undergoing a turnaround. Where once immigration was seen as the biggest problem for the UK, a negative force on national life, now it barely registers on the list of voter concerns, with polls suggesting increasing

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has published its review of the shortage occupation list (SOL) today, adding veterinarians, web designers and architects. Today the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has published its review of the shortage occupation list (SOL). Alongside some occupations which have been added to the list – veterinarians, web designers and architects – many

The Home Office has “significantly reduced” the amount of data sharing it carries out with other agencies in the wake of the Windrush scandal, according to the chief inspector of immigration and borders. In a report on the department’s approach to illegal working, David Bolt (pictured) says the Home Office had said in July 2018 that it

The Guardian and Independent report on calls from the Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration for Ministers to consider “scrapping controversial immigration fees” charged to children from families who cannot afford it and to refund profits from failed citizenship applications. According to the Guardian, the inspector’s report says the Government should publish information on the negative

The new directorates that replaced the former UKBA have made progress in some areas but not across the whole business. “The Home Office has started making significant changes since the Agency was broken up and has made progress in some areas. We would have expected greater progress by now though in tackling the problems we