Changes to the Immigration Rules
The Home Office has recently published a Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules.
The major changes relate to the EU Settlement Scheme (hereinafter EUSS) shall take effect on 6 April 2020. The scheme enables EU, other European Economic Area (EEA) and Swiss citizens (hereinafter EEA citizens) living in the UK and their family members to obtain the UK immigration status to remain in the United Kingdom.
- Rights to apply for the EUSS extended to those with a relevant document issued under the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2016 (‘2016 Regulations’) as an extended family member. This includes:
- Children under the age of 18 who is subject to a non-adoptive legal guardianship order in favour of an EEA citizen;
- Relatives of the spouse/civil partner of an EEA citizen;
- Children under the age of 18 of the durable partner of an EEA citizen;
- Additionally, for non-EEA family members issued with a residence document under the 2016 Regulations as the family member of a British citizen with dual UK/EEA nationality, under the Surinder Singh route, their eligibility must be met before the end of the transition period on 31st December 2020 and immediately before the British citizen and family member return to the UK.
Kindly note that this also applies to extended family members of British citizens returning from an EEA Member State or Switzerland.
- Durable partners and dependent relatives applying to the EUSS may rely on expired documents issued under the 2016 Regulations.
Kindly note that this is on the condition that:
- They had applied for a further residence document under the 2016 Regulations based on the same family relationship; and
- That further document was issued after the first had expired.
- An individual can rely on the residence document applied under the 2016 Regulations still outstanding by 31 December 2020 for the EUSS application.
- Applications can now be refused where an individual:
- has been or would be excluded from refugee or humanitarian protection; or
- has been convicted of a particularly serious crime.
- Leave to enter with an EEA family permit can now be canceled where there has been a material change in circumstances since the permit was granted.
- For indefinite leave to remain holders under the EUSS, the returning resident rules which automatically invalidates the indefinite leave to remain status where the individual has been absent from the UK for more than 2 years, will not apply.
This means that individuals with indefinite leave to remain under the EUSS could retain their statuses and return to the United Kingdom after spending up to five years abroad.
On a side note, it was announced in the recent Budget that the immigration health surcharge will increase as follows:
- Adults – £400 to £624 per year;
- Children – £400 to £470 per year
- Students, their dependants and those on Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme) – £300 to £470 per year.
Kindly note that the above changes in relation to the immigration health surcharge will take effect from October 2020.
You can read more about the statement of changes to the Immigration Rules via the link below:
Should you have any questions about the changes to the Immigration Rules, please do not hesitate to contact our professional team of Immigration Solicitors at Barar and Associates at barar.london@bararassociates.co.uk or call us at 020 7487 8370. You can access more information about us via https://bararassociates.com/.
