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IMPACT – HIGH
What is the change? The U.K. Home Office will raise immigration fees on March 18 across the board for applicants within the U.K. and applying overseas.
What does the change mean? The largest increases will be felt by settlement applicants and those applying for indefinite leave to remain. Tier 2 visa application filing fees will rise minimally. Points-based sponsors will not see any increases to their sponsorship fees.
Background: The Home Office announced the new fees today. The most notable increases are settlement applications, which will rise to £1,195 (an increase of £239) for the main applicant and £2,676 (an increase of £535) for dependent family members, and applications for indefinite leave to remain, which will rise to £1,875 (an increase of £375).
Some optional premium services will also jump: Super Priority visa service will rise to £750 (an increase of £150) and Super Premium Service from within the U.K. will surge to £8,750 (an increase of £1,750). Tier 2 routes will see modest increases from £10-26, depending on the sub-route.
A full schedule of the government fees is available here.
BAL Analysis: The increases were expected, as the government continues to look to price controls as a means to limit immigration. Annual fee hikes have become the norm over recent years, with the Home Office continuing to charge beyond mere cost recovery, depending on the perceived benefit of the category. As such, government fees for settlement applications from outside the U.K. and indefinite leave to remain applications from within the U.K. – both of which confer the right to remain in the U.K. permanently – will rise more steeply.
This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in the United Kingdom. For additional information, please contact uk@bal.com.
Copyright © 2016 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.
What is the change? The U.K.’s Immigration Minister has announced a package of service-level reforms to improve visa turnaround times for U.K. visa applicants in India.
What does the change mean? Super Priority Service will be expanded to include first-time visitors and Tier 2 work visa applicants, and Priority Service will be expanded to visit, student and work visa routes. In addition, a shorter online visa application form will be introduced for all visa applicants.
Background: U.K. Immigration Minister James Brokenshire announced the expanded and improved visa services during a visit to India last week.
Super Priority Service provides 24-hour turnaround on visa decisions for a government fee of £600 in addition to the normal visa-application fees. It was introduced in India in May 2013. Priority Service provides a decision in three to five days for an additional government fee of £120. Currently, the services are limited to visitors who previously traveled to the U.K. or other designated countries within the previous five years, and to employees of companies that are members of the Business Express Programme.
The new online application form will be shorter than the current form, will be accessible from mobile devices, will auto-complete a Schengen visa application form for applicants who want to apply for a Schengen visa to visit mainland Europe in addition to their visa to the U.K., and will allow applicants to book their appointment at a U.K. visa application center seamlessly.
Additionally, a new visa application center will open in Lucknow, the first VAC in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. This follows the recent opening of a joint UK-Ireland VAC in Hyderabad. The number of visitors from India to the U.K. rose 17 percent in the past year.
BAL Analysis: The expansion of Super Priority and Priority visa services to first-time visitors, Tier 2 visa applicants and Tier 4 student applicants will provide more flexible options for visa applicants in India who require faster service, and is a welcome addition to the range of services offered.
IMPACT – MEDIUM
What is the change? The United Kingdom has launched an electronic visa waiver for Kuwaiti business travelers and tourists.
What does the change mean? Kuwaiti nationals may apply online for a visa waiver without needing to appear at a visa application center. The waiver allows a visit to the U.K. of up to six months.
Background: The EVW was piloted for Kuwaiti nationals last year and has now been fully introduced. Applicants must submit an online application at the EVW service website and supply their passport information, a U.K. address where they will be staying, and departure and arrival details. They will not need to make a full visa application, nor give biometrics at a visa application center. An additional government processing fee of £15 will be introduced later in the year. According to the U.K. Immigration Minister, visitors from Kuwait topped 100,000 last year.
BAL Analysis: The online application and visa waiver eliminates the need to appear in person to apply for a visa and give biometrics, greatly easing business travel for Kuwaiti nationals.
What is the change? The Home Office announced Thursday that the United Kingdom’s Immigration Health Surcharge will be extended to Australian and New Zealand nationals beginning April 6.
What does the change mean? Beginning April 6, Australian and New Zealand nationals applying to stay in the U.K. for more than six months will be subject to the same £200 per year surcharge as other non-EEA nationals. A discounted rate of £150 per year will be applied to those applying to come to the U.K. on student visas or through the Youth Mobility Scheme.
Background: The U.K. introduced mandatory health surcharges for most non-EEA visa applicants in April of 2015. Australian and New Zealand nationals were granted an exemption that will expire on April 6.
The Home Office says the fees are designed to ensure that the National Health Service “receives a fair contribution to the cost of healthcare from temporary migrants.” To date, the surcharges have contributed more than £100 million to the NHS. Migrants who pay the surcharge generally have access to free health care, but may be charged for some services, including dental care and prescriptions.
EEA nationals do not have to pay the surcharge. Non-EEA nationals who stay in the U.K. for less than six months are not required to pay the surcharge either, but must pay out of pocket for medical services they do receive. Under reciprocal agreements, Australian and New Zealand nationals who stay in the U.K. for less than six months will not be charged if they require health services that must be provided before they can return home.
BAL Analysis: Australian and New Zealand visa applicants should plan for the levies and be sure that the health surcharge is paid at the time of their application and covers their entire length of stay. The U.K.’s recent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report recommended an expansion of the Immigration Health Surcharge scheme in 2016, including extending it to intra-company transferees. BAL will report further expansions of the scheme as soon as they are made public.
What is the change? The U.K. government’s new policy that requires landlords to check tenants’ right to rent is now in effect across England.
What does the change mean? All private landlords who are renting, subletting or taking in lodgers must check the papers of new adult tenants to make sure they have the right to live in the U.K.
Background: The U.K. government has published a user guide that details and depicts the various forms of acceptable evidence of right to rent. Foreign nationals holding temporary documents, such as travel vignettes, will be rechecked once the biometric residence permit is issued. Landlords are advised to make and keep copies of the documents, as they will have a statutory safe harbor if it is later found that they rented to someone who didn’t have the right to rent. Landlords face fines of up to £3,000 per tenant for failing to perform the checks.
BAL Analysis: The policy adds an administrative burden on property owners to understand the various immigration statuses and documents and to recognize fraudulent documents. Foreign nationals who have a pending application with the Home Office or whose identity documents are being held by the Home Office during processing may have to wait for the landlord to request a right to rent check by the Home Office and allow two days for a response.
What is the change? The United Kingdom has expanded its Registered Traveller program to travelers from Hong Kong (SAR), Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
What does the change mean? Eligible travelers do not need to fill out a landing card and may use fast lanes at U.K. airports. Individuals holding biometric passports may use ePassport gates.
Background: Applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a visa to the U.K. or have visited the U.K. at least four times in the last two years.
Registered Travellers may use U.K. and EU entry lanes and ePassport gates at Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester and Stansted airports, as well as Eurostar train terminals at Paris, Brussels and Lille.
Other countries already in the program are Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States.
BAL Analysis: The U.K. continues to expand the Registered Traveller program – a convenient option for frequent travelers that also reduces queues at airports overall by diverting low-risk travelers to automated entry clearance gates.
What is the change? The Migration Advisory Committee has released a much-awaited report, recommending significant changes to Tier 2 visa categories for migrant workers.
What does the change mean? Among the changes, the committee recommended that the government raise minimum salary thresholds for Tier 2 (General) and Tier 2 (ICT), extend the Immigration Health Surcharge scheme to all intra-company transfers (ICTs), impose a new “Immigration Skills Charge” on employers across nearly all Tier 2 categories, and set up a separate route for third-party contracting of Tier 2 ICTs. The changes would make employing migrants, including assignees, significantly more difficult and expensive.
Background: The government commissioned the committee to make recommendations on changes with an eye toward limiting net migration into the U.K. The committee is an independent group of five senior economists charged by the government to advise the Home Office on migration policy issues in light of independent socioeconomic data.
The key recommendations in the nearly 400-page report are:
BAL Analysis: The Migration Advisory Committee took the approach that the best way to stem skilled migration is through price. If the committee recommendations are adopted, employers will face higher costs in the form of increased Tier 2 salaries and a new Immigration Skills Charge for most Tier 2 workers as incentives to reduce the reliance on migrant labor. Tier 2 ICTs servicing third-party contractors will have to meet higher salary thresholds in order to limit this route to senior managers and specialists, although the committee recommended further research on skills shortages specifically within the information technology (IT) sector. On the positive side, the committee did not recommend absolute time limits on jobs listed as shortage occupations or eliminating the automatic right to work for spouses of skilled migrants.
What is the change? The United Kingdom has announced that it will introduce two-year multiple entry visas to Chinese visitors beginning next week.
What does the change mean? The change is part of a reciprocal visa arrangement with China, which has said that it will issue two-year multiple-entry visas to U.K. nationals as well. The visas will make it easier for U.K. and Chinese business travelers to visit each other’s countries without having to renew their visas every six months, as is currently required.
Background: The two countries agreed to the new visa arrangement in October, during President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.K. The U.K. Home Office announced this week that it would begin issuing the two-year visas to Chinese travelers beginning Monday. The visas will cost £85, the same amount as the current six-month visas. China has agreed to reciprocate, and will provide two-year multiple-entry visas to U.K. nationals for the equivalent of £85. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a Jan. 5 statement posted on the Chinese Embassy’s website that China is “willing to issue two-year multiple-entry visas to UK’s citizens,” but did not provide an implementation date.
BAL Analysis: The longer-validity visas will make travel more convenient for frequent business travelers in the U.K. and China.
IMPACT – LOW
What is the change? The Department of Health released a consultation on ways to recoup £500 million per year by expanding the charging of foreign visitors and migrants for health care services in the U.K.
What does the change mean? The department is seeking comments on the proposals until March 7, 2016 from employers and other interested parties. The current proposals would affect foreign visitors and non-EEA nationals as well as EEA or Swiss nationals residing in England.
Background: The current Immigration Health Surcharge regime, which applies to many foreign workers (but not to EEA nationals working in the UK, or to intra-company transferees on assignment), may be viewed here.
The intention of the proposed changes is to tackle perceived abuse of the U.K.’s National Health Services from within the European Union and to shore up the European Health Insurance Card system to allow costs to be recovered from European member states. The consultation proposes to both expand charges for health services and recoup costs from the home country of EEA nationals with permanent resident status in the U.K. who currently receive free healthcare alongside British residents. The proposal would redefine “ordinary resident” for purposes of receiving free health care to exclude EEA nationals whose home country is responsible for their healthcare costs. It also seeks to prevent “health tourism” by other measures.
Key proposals include:
The full contents of the Department of Health’s consultation and soliciting of public comments may be read here.
BAL Analysis: Employers and other stakeholders interested in participating in the consultation or submitting comments may respond directly to the questionnaire contained in the consultation or contact their BAL professional.
What is the change? The Home Office has revised the rules for Tier 2 skilled workers applying for settlement in the U.K. (also known as “indefinite leave to remain” or permanent residence), including introduction of a new minimum salary threshold and a redefinition of the qualifying period of residence and ongoing employment.
What does the change mean? The new minimum annual salary for Tier 2 skilled workers applying for settlement on or after April 6, 2016 will be £35,000. This minimum will increase annually over the next five years to ensure that settlement is only available for higher earners. However, exemptions are available for certain Ph.D. level occupations, shortage occupations, certificates of sponsorship assigned before April 6, 2011, and applicants in previously listed shortage occupations under certain circumstances who are considered valuable to the U.K. despite potentially lower salaries.
The new rules also clarify the definition of the required five years of continuous lawful presence for Tier 2 migrants before applying for settlement. In addition, the new rules require that the employer who issued the certificate of sponsorship must still hold a Tier 2 sponsor license and certify the migrant’s future employment and salary.
Background: The concept of applying minimum salary thresholds to all Tier 2 settlement applicants was approved in 2012 and will be brought into force for all applications filed on or after the following dates:
April 6, 2016 – £35,000
April 6, 2018 – £35,500
April 6, 2019 – £35,800
April 6, 2020 – £36,200
Please note that the base annual salaries do not include allowances outside of the guaranteed salary package or other benefits or incentives.
BAL Analysis: Businesses should assess any current Tier 2 workers who are due to apply for settlement after April (due to accrual of five years of residence in the U.K.) and ensure that the upcoming minimum salary requirement can be met. Applications that do not meet the salary requirements will be rejected.