visas – Current Awareness

‘Staggering’ Home Office disregard for innocent people saw thousands lose visas in cheating scandal, MPs say – The Independent

Posted September 18th, 2019 in delay, examinations, fraud, government departments, news, universities, visas by tracey

‘The Home Office showed “staggering” disregard for innocent people during the visa scandal that saw more than 50,000 overseas students accused of cheating and cost taxpayers nearly £20m, MPs have said. The Public Accounts Committee found that hundreds of people were still protesting their innocence at “great personal cost” more than five years after being accused of fraudulently passing English language tests due to the Home Office’s delay in responding to indications that some may have been wrongly caught up in the probe.’

The Independent, 18th September 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Four sentenced for their part in the UK’s largest ever visa fraud – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted September 12th, 2019 in conspiracy, fraud, news, sentencing, visas by tracey

‘Four people have been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court today for their part in the UK’s largest immigration fraud and attempting to cheat HMRC of payroll tax.’

Crown Prosecution Service, 11th September 2019

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

Home Office outsourcing to ‘exploitative’ contractor must be reviewed, say MPs and lawyers – The Independent

Posted August 19th, 2019 in auditors, contracting out, fees, government departments, immigration, maladministration, news, visas by tracey

‘MPs and lawyers have called for an urgent review into outsourced immigration services after it emerged Home Office profits on UK visas had surged by millions of pounds a week since visa operations were contracted to a private firm accused of exploiting applicants.’

The Independent, 18th August 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Home Office used ‘confused, misleading, incomplete and unsafe’ evidence to revoke visas of tens of thousands of international students, report finds – The Independent

Posted July 18th, 2019 in auditors, deceit, education, evidence, examinations, fraud, government departments, immigration, news, statistics, universities, visas by tracey

‘Tens of thousands of international students had their visas revoked after the Home Office used “confused, misleading, incomplete and unsafe” evidence, MPs have said. The department ignored expert advice and relied on “dodgy” evidence when it accused almost 34,000 students of cheating in English language tests in 2015, according to a new report published by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on the Test of English for International Communication (Toeic).’

The Independent, 18th July 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Robots Over Rationality? The Use of Algorithms to Assess Visa Applications – Drystone Chambers

Posted July 8th, 2019 in computer programs, equality, government departments, immigration, news, race discrimination, visas by sally

‘Traffic light coding has been used to determine green ‘low risk’ applications with ‘positive attributes and evidence of compliance’, amber ‘medium risk’ ‘with limited evidence or equally balanced evidence of negative and positive attributes so potential for refusal’ and red ‘high risk applications, appearing to have a greater likelihood of refusal because of the individual’s circumstances’. The coding is based on responses to a set of yes or no questions.’

Drystone Chambers, 24th June 2019

Source: drystone.com

MPs and lawyers call for investigation into privatised visa system which allows firms to make millions – The Independent

Posted June 24th, 2019 in auditors, contracting out, immigration, Law Society, news, parliament, visas by tracey

‘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’

The Independent, 23rd June 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Investigation into the response to cheating in English language tests – National Audit Office

Posted May 24th, 2019 in auditors, examinations, fraud, immigration, press releases, statistics, visas by tracey

‘The National Audit Office (NAO) has today published its investigation into the Home Office’s response to widespread cheating by international students in English language tests. Clearly widespread cheating did take place but some people may have been wrongly accused and in some cases, unfairly removed from the UK.’

Full press release

National Audit Office, 24th May 2019

Source: www.nao.org.uk

Home Office faces legal action over English test cheating claims – The Guardian

Posted April 26th, 2019 in appeals, deportation, fraud, government departments, immigration, news, statistics, visas by sally

‘The Home Office is facing over 300 court of appeal legal challenges from foreign students who believe they were wrongly accused of cheating in English tests, and dozens more cases are pending in immigration tribunals.’

The Guardian, 26th April 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Immigration: White Paper sets out post-Brexit rules for migrants – BBC News

Posted December 19th, 2018 in brexit, freedom of movement, immigration, news, remuneration, visas by sally

‘Low-skilled workers from EU countries will no longer have the automatic right to work in the UK after Brexit, under proposed new immigration rules.’

BBC News, 19th December 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Investor visa scheme halted in money laundering crackdown – BBC News

Posted December 6th, 2018 in citizenship, immigration, money laundering, news, visas by sally

‘Ministers are halting a “gold-plated” visa scheme offering foreign investors a fast-track to settling in the UK, as part of a crackdown on financial crime.’

BBC News, 5th December 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Home Office admits people were wrongly denied UK status after refusing to provide DNA evidence – The Independent

Posted October 25th, 2018 in DNA, evidence, families, news, visas by tracey

‘The Home Office has admitted that people have been wrongly denied UK status after refusing to provide DNA evidence in a breach of its own policy. Sajid Javid, the home secretary, said the government had illegally demanded DNA evidence in family visa cases, with at least seven people denied the right to stay in Britain because they refused to provide DNA samples to prove family ties.’

The Independent, 25th October 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

English teacher refused UK visa because her English isn’t up to ‘standard’ – The Independent

Posted September 7th, 2018 in examinations, news, visas by tracey

‘An English teacher has been refused the right to join her fiance in the UK after the Home Office claimed her English does not meet the required standard.’

The Independent, 7th September 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

All non-EU skilled worker visa applications granted in August – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 3rd, 2018 in news, statistics, visas by sally

‘All applications made for visas for skilled workers from outside the EU were granted this month, for the first time since November 2017.’

OUT-LAW.com, 30th August 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Revealed: immigration rules in UK more than double in length – The Guardian

Posted August 30th, 2018 in government departments, immigration, news, regulations, visas by sally

‘Home Office officials have made more than 5,700 changes to the immigration rules since 2010, a Guardian analysis has revealed, making the visa system nearly impossible to navigate, according to senior judges and lawyers.’

The Guardian, 27th August 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Court says seriously ill woman can work while fighting UK deportation – The Guardian

Posted August 22nd, 2018 in health, immigration, news, taxation, terrorism, visas by sally

‘Economic migrants forced into destitution by a law forbidding them to work, rent property or use the NHS have been handed a lifeline after a “David and Goliath” battle in the court of appeal.’

The Guardian, 21st August 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Abuse victims increasingly denied right to stay in UK – The Guardian

Posted August 17th, 2018 in domestic violence, freedom of information, immigration, married persons, news, statistics, visas by sally

‘The refusal rate for people applying to stay in the UK after suffering domestic violence more than doubled between 2012 and 2016 after the government pledged to make the UK a “hostile environment for illegal immigrants”.’

The Guardian, 16th August 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Visas ‘given to foreign husbands in forced marriages’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 2nd, 2018 in forced marriages, news, visas by tracey

‘The Home Office has failed to protect British women and teenage girls forced into abusive marriages by granting their foreign husbands visas, charities have warned. Officials dealt with nearly 90 cases of victims trying to block visas last year, although almost half were still issued, data obtained by The Times shows.’

Daily Telegraph, 2nd August 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Brexit white paper – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted August 1st, 2018 in brexit, EC law, employment, immigration, news, parliamentary papers, visas by sally

‘on 12 July, the government published its much-anticipated Brexit white paper on the future relationship between the UK and the EU. Secured in cabinet sessions at Chequers, the proposals broadly cover post-Brexit economic and security partnerships, cross-cutting cooperation, and institutional arrangements under the familiar but increasingly threadbare banner of ‘taking back control’. To the surprise of few, the plan was immediately criticised by Brexit hardliners as defeatist, diluted and dispirited. To the surprise of many, including the prime minister herself, it prompted the resignations of foreign secretary Boris Johnson and secretary of state for exiting the EU David Davis.’

Law Society's Gazette, 30th July 2018

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Immigration rules ‘to be eased to allow NHS to recruit more staff’ – The Independent

Posted June 14th, 2018 in doctors, immigration, news, nurses, visas by tracey

‘Immigration rules capping the number of foreign medics working in the UK are reportedly going to be eased to allow the NHS to recruit more staff.’

The Independent, 14th June 2018

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Undocumented Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK – UK Visas and Immigration

Posted April 17th, 2018 in children, citizenship, deportation, documents, immigration, visas by tracey

‘This information is for Commonwealth citizens (known as “Windrush” cases) who are long-term residents of the UK and do not have documents to demonstrate their status. It explains their position and what they need to do next.’

UK Visas and Immigration, 17th April 2018

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration

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