Changes to the Immigration Rules
22 November 2012
Today, Thursday 22 November 2012, a written ministerial statement has been laid in Parliament outlining a number of changes to the Immigration Rules which will come in to force on 13 December 2012.
These include non substantive changes for sponsors and migrants coming to the UK under the following routes of the points-based system:
• Tier 1 - entrepreneurs and investors.
• Tier 2 - skilled workers, including changes for senior intra-company transfers.
• Tier 4 - students, including extending the interim limit.
• Tier 5 - temporary workers including the requirements for the government authorised exchange category and private servants in a diplomatic household.
• Sponsorship - revised sponsorship guidance will be published in December.
In addition, there are changes to the Rules affecting:
Criminality
• Establishing a more robust and clear criminality framework to assess immigration applications against which immigration applications will be assessed.
• Recalculating the length of time, based on the length of sentence, before we will revoke a deportation order.
• Introduction of a re-entry ban, for some foreign national offenders who have been removed from the UK as part of a conditional caution and additional powers to end (curtail) a migrant's visa or leave.
• Creation of a 'route' for ex-Armed Forces to remain in the UK.
Settlement
• Amendments to clarify the absences from the UK that are allowed during the continuous residence period for Tier 1 (General), Tier 2 and pre-points based system work routes (for example work permits, self-employment and business person).
Family and private life
• Minor changes to the child and parent routes to make them as clear and comprehensive as possible.
There will also be some changes to the Youth Mobility Scheme quotas and Tier 4 loan letters in early 2013.
For full details, please see the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules and the explanatory memorandum within the document. The written ministerial statement and statement of policy can be found on the Home Office website.
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