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Monday 23 July 2007

As of today, Chartered Quantity Surveyors have been added to the National Shortage Occupation

List with the result that work permit applications for Chartered Quantity Surveyors will no longer

need to be subject to a full resident labour test.

Monday 2 April 2007

The Immigration and Nationality Directorate has, as of today, been renamed the Border and

Immigration Agency.

Thursday 8 March 2007

As of 2 April 2007 Home Office fees for immigration applications will increase. The fee increases are

set out here.

Monday 4 December 2006

From 2 April 2007 a person applying to settle in the UK (ie applying for "indefinite leave to remain")

will need to either pass the "Life In the UK Test" or, if his or her English language skills are not at or

above ESOL Entry 3 standard, he or she will need to gain an approved ESOL qualification. For more

information see the Home Office's Knowledge of life in the UK settlement questions and answers.

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Tuesday 7 November 2006

The UK government will, as of 8 November 2006, suspend the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme

('HSMP') until Monday 4 December 2006. A new revised scheme, including a new application form,

will be operational from 5 December 2006.

The new scheme changes the attributes for which points are awarded. The following categories will

be deleted: work experience, significant achievements, skilled partner and GP Priority Provision.

These deleted categories will be replaced with the following new attributes: academic qualifications,

previous earnings, age and bonus points for previous work/study in the UK. The provisions relating

to MBA degrees from designated institutions will continue.

Additionally, the new scheme will include a new mandatory English language requirement (IELTS

level 6 or equivalent) for all applicants.

The Home Office has also confirmed that:

(a) Individuals already in receipt of a HSMP approval letter can still apply for entry

clearance at a visa post for up to 6 months from the date that the approval letter has

been issued.

 

(b) Applications received on the old HSMP forms from 8 November onwards will be

returned to the applicant/representative, with no fee taken.

 

(c) Applications on the new form should not be submitted until Tuesday 5 December

2006. Any applications received on the new form during the suspension

period (8 November 2006 to 4 December 2006 inclusive) will take more time to process,

since priority will be given to those applications received from 5 December 2006

onwards.

Monday 30 October 2006

Article 1 has been directly instructed by numerous Ivorian citizens injured from exposure to, or

contact with, waste that is alleged to have been toxic in nature and illegally dumped at numerous

sites across Abidjan.

To date 10 Ivorians have died, 70 hospitalised and over 100,000 have sought medical assistance

(source: Reuters).

We will be seeking to establish exactly who was responsible for this incident and ensure that those at

fault are held accountable for their actions.

Article 1 has produced a detailed chronology of events which will be regularly updated.

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Tuesday 24 October 2006

Bulgarian and Romanian nationals will, on 1 January 2007, have the right to travel throughout the

UK and EU provided they are in possession of a valid EU travel document. Prior to that date they will

require visas to enter the UK. However, the UK government has today announced that it will limit

access by Bulgarian and Romanian nationals to the UK's labour market when the two countries join

the European Union on 1 January 2007.

Bulgarian and Romanian nationals will have the following restrictions placed on employed work in

the UK:

(a) Skilled workers will be permitted to work in the UK provided they have been issued

with a work permit;

 

(b) Workers who have a particularly high level of skill and/or experience will be

permitted to enter the UK provided they have been issued with a permit under the Highly

Skilled Migrants Programme;

 

(c) Low-skilled workers will be permitted to work in the UK provided they seeking to

work in a sector of the economy that the UK already has a low-skilled scheme and will be

limited to a maximum of 20,000 workers per year.

 

(d) The Worker Registration Scheme will continue to apply to nationals of the A8 (Czech

Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the

Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of

Poland, the Republic of Slovenia or the Slovak Republic) but will not apply to Bulgarian

and Romanian nationals.

However, no restrictions have been applied to the self-employed. Nationals of Bulgaria and Romania

who are self-employed will be able to work in the UK.

Furthermore, Bulgarian and Romanian students will continue to be allowed to study in the UK.

Wednesday 5 July 2006

Work Permits (UK) has today announced that, with effect from 14 August 2006, all registered nurses

will be removed from the shortage occupation list, and replaced with the following:

"Nurses employed or engaged in the NHS at band 7 or 8 of Agenda for

Change, or those employed or engaged in one or more of the following

specialities:

1. Audiology
2. Sleep/respiratory physiology
3. Neurophysiology
4. Cardiac physiology
5. Operating theatre nursing
6. Clinical radiology
7. Pathology
8. Critical care”

 

 

Monday 24 April 2006

The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Nationality - Tony McNulty - today made the following

statement:

"I am today announcing that John Grant, the Permanent Representative to the EU, has

written to the European Commission to confirm that the Worker Registration Scheme will

continue beyond 1 May 2006.

 

The Treaty of Accession 2003 makes provision for the Member States to apply

transitional arrangements restricting nationals of the New Member States' access to their

labour markets (other than nationals from Cyprus and Malta). The Worker Registration

Scheme was established under these arrangements and has allowed the Government to

monitor the impact of enlargement of the European Union on the United Kingdom's

labour market.

 

Under the Treaty of Accession 2003, Member States are required to notify the

Commission by the end of April 2006 whether they intend to continue to apply

transitional measures beyond that date.

 

The Government's decision to open its labour markets to nationals of the new Member

States immediately upon their Accession to the EU has been vindicated. Nationals of the

new Member States have entered the United Kingdom to work, have helped fill vacancies

in parts of the economy experiencing labour shortages and have helped to deliver public

services. There is no evidence that the entry of workers from the new Member States has

impacted on the unemployment rate for resident workers.

 

It is, however, important that the Government should continue to be able to monitor the

numbers of nationals of the new Member States coming here to work and their impact

on the labour market. That is why I have decided that the Worker Registration Scheme

will continue beyond 1 May 2006. The need for the Scheme will, however, continue to

be kept under review."