Barar and Associates News

Applying for a Sponsorship (Sponsor) Licence can be a daunting process, especially when you are a newly incorporated company wishing to expand and are not well versed in the law pertaining to Sponsor Licences. The Home Office tends to scrutinise relatively new companies whom are applying for a Sponsor Licence more than they do with […]

This was a case concerning 2 separate applications for leave to enter as a spouse of a British citizen and a settled person where they did not meet the minimum financial income. They subsequently, appealed to First-Tier Tribunal where their appeal was upheld. The arguments and the judgement are outlined below. First Appeal The first […]

The government announced changes to the Immigration Rules for returning residents which came to effect on 6 July 2018. Primarily, returning residents are people who resided in the United Kingdom with Indefinite Leave to Remain and are returning after a period of absence. If you are a returning resident and left the United Kingdom for […]

EU citizens who become British keep free movement rights   In a landmark judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has found that EU citizens who become nationals of another EU Member State retain the right to have a non-EU spouse live with them.   The Court found that the British government […]

  This article explains the major changes from the last version of this guidance published on 4th June 2018.   Amendments have been made to the academic progression section to clarify that students resitting multiple examinations or repeating multiple course modules are still exempt from meeting the academic progression requirements.   The academic progression rule […]

  The Tier 4 differentiation arrangements permit applicants from low-risk countries designated in Appendix H of the Immigration Rules to submit fewer supporting documents with their application.   Requirements for Appendix H nationals To qualify for the arrangements as an Appendix H national, a Tier 4 applicant must: – be sponsored by a sponsor with […]

ILPA (Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association), to whom Barar & Associates is a member, recently sent a letter to the Home Office to raise their concern pertaining to issues faced by EEA nationals, who when either seeking to naturalise as a British national, or upon naturalisation, have faced obstacles to renewing their British passports.   Once […]

The Minister for Immigration, Caroline Noakes MP, responded to a letter from Adrian Berry, a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (ILPA), about the Tier 2 cap on skilled migrants. Barar & Associates summarised the content of her response below.   The Home Office has an annual cap of 20,700 places since 2011. The annual […]

UK Visas and Immigration Policy Paper: Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC1154, 15 June 2018 Most of the changes shall take effect on 6th July 2018. Barar & Associates summarised the main changes below. Returning residents For your information, returning residents is a category for people who had previously acquired indefinite leave to […]

UKVI changes to Tier 4 (general) visas for students 11 January 2018 The Government has introduced new options for Tier 4 Students which took effect on 11 January 2018. Students can now undertake part-time study at RQF level 7 or above (postgraduate master’s degrees and doctoral programmes) in the UK for more than 6 months, […]

There is growing discontent about the treatment of the Windrush generation, as the Home Office seek to settle the problem. What is the Windrush scandal? It is the generation of people from the Caribbean who arrived in the United Kingdom between 1948 and 1971. The main purpose of their settlement was to alleviate the labour […]

For Tier 2 Sponsors advertising in line with the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT), please note that Universal Jobmatch website will be replaced by ‘Find a job’ service from 14th May 2018. Should you already have an existing Universal Jobmatch account then you will be able to login to this until 17 June 2018 to […]

UK Visas and Immigration updated Guidance and the Immigration Rules: Points-based system Tier 2 The UKVI updated the Tier 2 Guidance and the Immigration Rules for the points-based system on 11th January 2018. The following change in the rules are applicable for those applying for indefinite leave to remain under the points-based system (Tier 1 […]

Ukrainians can travel to EU Member States without a visa Although, Ukraine is not part of the European Union, Ukrainians can travel to most EU Member States without a visa for short stays since June 11, 2017 after the European Union and European Council representatives approved the request of Ukraine for visa-free travel. Ukrainian citizens […]

Immigration, visa and national fees increase 2018-2019 The immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2018 was laid before the Parliament on 16th March 2018. The changes will come in force on 6th April 2018. There will be important changes in relation to the fees and they have been outlined below: 1)      Increased fees of 4% for […]

The Home Office have released an updated guidance for compliance officers regarding pre and post licence sponsor compliance visit and assessments.   Indeed, companies holding or applying for a Sponsorship Licence need to comply with Immigration Rules and HR system requirements.   The Home Office can decide to attend the company’s office at any time […]

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (‘the GDPR’) will enter into force on 25 May 2018. To give effect to the GDPR, the UK Government has introduced the Data Protection Bill 2017. This legislation will replace the Data Protection Act 1998.   Schedule 2, Part 1, Paragraph 4 of the Data Protection Bill 2017 states […]

FAMILY PERMIT: LET’S TALK ABOUT IT! The United Kingdom is a diverse nation and home to Europeans and citizens from all over the world. As an EEA national, you can bring your non-EEA family member to the UK. They must be joining you or travelling with you and will need to apply for an EEA […]

Toufik Lounes v Secretary of State for the Home Department C-165/16 (14 November 2017) In a landmark judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has found that EU citizens who become nationals of another EU Member State retain the right to have a non-EU spouse live with them. The Court found that […]

Judicial Review Decision Notice Summary   Facts The applicant, Mr Nadeem Ahmad Anjum, made a Tier 1 Entrepreneur application which was initially refused by the Entry Clearance Office (ECO) on 18th February 2015. This was on the basis that Mr Anjum did not satisfy the requirement under the Immigration Rules paragraphs 245 D & DB […]