Category: visas

Reconsideration of a visa or immigration decision – Richmond Chambers

Posted January 21st, 2020 in government departments, immigration, news, tribunals, visas by sally

‘A reconsideration entails a review by the Home Office of a decision that it has made. If you have lodged an appeal in the First Tier Tribunal against an immigration decision, you may wish to consider submitting a reconsideration request (if relevant, with new evidence in support of your case) to the Home Office while the appeal is pending. Our barristers can advise you about whether your case is suitable for requesting a reconsideration.’

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Richmond Chambers, 20th January 2020

Source: immigrationbarrister.co.uk

Judge allows inter-country adoption to proceed despite failure to comply with pre-adoption requirements – Local Government Lawyer

Posted November 15th, 2019 in adoption, children, delay, families, immigration, jurisdiction, local government, news, visas by tracey

‘An application for an inter-country adoption should not fail because of inconsequential errors made by the intending adopter, a High Court Family Division judge has ruled.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th November 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

AI system for granting UK visas is biased, rights groups claim – The Guardian

Posted October 30th, 2019 in artificial intelligence, equality, government departments, human rights, immigration, news, race discrimination, visas by sally

‘Immigrant rights campaigners have begun a ground-breaking legal case to establish how a Home Office algorithm that filters UK visa applications actually works.’

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The Guardian, 29th October 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Home Office reverses visa decision for second Oxford academic – The Guardian

Posted October 22nd, 2019 in children, deportation, families, immigration, news, universities, visas by tracey

‘The Home Office has made a sudden U-turn on its decision to ban the young children of an Oxford University professor, Amber Murrey, from living with her in the UK – the second time in a week it has reversed a visa refusal for the child of an Oxford academic following reports in the Guardian.’

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The Guardian, 22nd October 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Home Office overturns NHS eye doctor’s visa refusal – The Guardian

Posted October 18th, 2019 in doctors, immigration, news, visas by tracey

‘The Home Office has overturned its ban on an NHS eye doctor returning to Britain after the Guardian highlighted his case. Dr Chan, 38, who does not want to reveal his first name or exact Asian country of origin, was initially refused a new visa after he made a small error in his application, but he was told on Thursday that he would be allowed to re-enter the country.’

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The Guardian, 17th October 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

UK to deport academic to Democratic Republic of Congo – which she has never visited – The Guardian

Posted October 15th, 2019 in children, deportation, families, government departments, immigration, news, universities, visas by tracey

‘Furaha Asani, a young academic at Leicester University, was shocked when her visa application was rejected in August. But real fear set in when she realised Britain plans to deport her in three weeks’ time to the Democratic Republic of Congo – a war-torn country she has never visited and where the Home Office agrees sexual violence is pervasive.’

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The Guardian, 15th October 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Home Office reverses deportation threat to Liverpool doctor – BBC News

Posted October 3rd, 2019 in deportation, doctors, government departments, immigration, news, visas by tracey

‘The Home Office has reversed a decision to order a young doctor to leave the country.’

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BBC News, 2nd October 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘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.’

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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.’

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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.’

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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).’

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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.’

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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’

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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.’

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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.’

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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.’

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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.’

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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.’

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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.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 30th August 2018

Source: www.out-law.com