Immigration round-up – March 2022

Find out the latest information regarding changes to Right to Work checks, travel to and from the UK and immigration support for Ukrainian nationals that you need to know below.

Changes to Right to Work checks

Proving right to work

From 6 April 2022, all UK employers must conduct an online checks for Biometric Residence Card (BRC), Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) and Frontier Worker Permit (FWP) holders.

Employers who continue to undertake manual and video call checks on BRPs, BRCs or FWPs holders will not be provided with a statutory excuse against illegal working penalties if the employee is found to not have permission to work. Without an excuse, employers risk facing a civil penalty of up to £20,000, or criminal sanctions where the employer ‘knowingly’ employed a worker that did not have the correct permission.

To conduct an online right to work check, employees must generate a right to work share code online and share this with their employer, who will use this code and the employees’ date of birth to check their right to work online.

The change will only apply to checks performed from 6 April – it is not necessary for employers to conduct retrospective online checks on employees with BRPs, BRCs or FWPs that were on-boarded prior to that date.

Adjusted check process

The Home Office have confirmed that the concession allowing adjusted right to work checks (i.e remote right to work checks) which started in 2020 as a measure to limit the spread of COVID-19 has been extended until 30 September 2022. This will give employers more time to adapt to the new ways of carrying out checks.

However the extension of this concession does not amend the new rule requiring online right to work checks for BRC, BRP and FWP holders effective from 6 April 2022.

Identity Service Providers (IDSPs)

From 6 April 2022, employers may use IDSPs to carry out digital identity verification for British or Irish nationals as part of a right to work check in the UK. Using an IDSP will be optional for employers as its use is contingent upon payment of a user-pay fee. Employers can therefore continue to manually check British and Irish nationals’ passports when conducting right to work checks from 6 April 2022.

Updated list of acceptable documents (Annex A)

From 6 April 2022, the Home Office have introduced changes to the list of acceptable documents for manual right to work checks.

Current documents issued by the Home Office to a family member of an EEA or Swiss citizen which indicate that the holder had permission to stay in the UK has been removed.

Biometric immigration documents issued by the Home Office has been removed from list A and B, group 1. Frontier worker permits issued under regulation 3 of the Citizens’ Rights (Frontier Workers) (EU Exit) Regulations 202 has been removed from list B, group 1.

A digital or non-digital Certificate of Application confirming a valid application to the EU Settlement Scheme on or after 1 July 2022 together with a Positive Verification Notice from the Employer Checking Service has been added to list B, group 2.

Applications for leave to enter or remain under Appendix EU to the Isle of Man Immigration Rules has been add to list B, group 2, document no.3 whilst references to applications submitted on or before 30 June 2021 has been removed.

This is in-line with the rule change requiring employers to undertake online Right to Work checks from 6 April for some employees.

UK Travel Update

All COVID-related travel restrictions to enter the UK were removed from 4:00am on Friday 18 March 2022.

Both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals are no longer required to take a COVID-19 test before travelling or after arriving in the UK, complete a UK passenger locator form before travelling to the UK, or quarantine after arriving in the UK.

Update on visa processing times

Following the influx of visa applications from Ukrainian nationals, UKVI have temporarily suspended priority and super priority services for new study, work and family visa applications to prioritise applications made under the Ukraine Family Scheme.

Standard visitor visa applications are experiencing processing delays of an average of six weeks to process instead of the usual three weeks.

All applications being made from within the UK remain able to purchase priority processing options as normal.

Applicants are reminded that the Home Office never guarantee visa processing times and that these are always subject to change at any time and without notice.

Seasonal Worker route

From 6 April 2022, the Seasonal Worker route is being expanded to include roles in ornamental horticulture, to support flower growers (including daffodils), Christmas tree producers and forest nursery workers in the UK. A new minimum hourly pay requirement has been added to the route to require that all workers are paid at least £10.10 per hour. This will be equal to the minimum hourly rate required under the Skilled Worker route to discourage poor conditions often seen in the sector.

Updating ID documents on UKVI systems

Individuals who have successfully applied for Further Leave to Remain from within the United Kingdom by re-using previously submitted biometrics should now change their ID used to set up the app as part of their successful application (i.e. their biometric residence permit). This is because their old biometric residence permit is the ID document which is linked to their digital status and it is important to update and replace this document with their current passport number instead now that their old biometric residence permit is invalid.

Their identity document used can be updated on the Gov.uk website, and signing in using the ID document used as part of their recent application, which will be their biometric residence permit.

If this is not done then these individuals will need to log back in each time with their previous biometric residence permit reference number and will need to ensure they retain a copy of this on file, after cutting and returning this back to the Home Office. This is particularly important for non-visa nationals who will no longer be receiving a biometric residence permit as proof of their immigration status and who will now need to show evidence of their immigration status via a digital online document.

A list of nationalities who will still receive a biometric residence permit for applications for further leave to remain made from inside the United Kingdom can also be found on the Gov.uk website.

Updated English Language requirement

From 30 May 2022, the English Language exemption will be extended to cover applicants applying for entry clearance or permission to stay under the family and private life routes provided that they have a GCSE, A level, Scottish National Qualification at level 4 or 5 or, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher, in English (language or literature), that was awarded:

• by an Ofqual (or SQA, Qualifications Wales or CCEA) regulated awarding body; and
• following education undertaken in a UK-based school which began while they were aged under 18.

New Statement of Changes announced

On 15 March the Home Office published their biannual Statement of Changes. These will come into effect at various stages, the first being effective from 6 April 2022 and other elements not coming into force until 30 May, 20 June or 22 August 2022 respectively.

These changes will see a substantial overhaul of a number of routes, in particular, the Intra Company Transfer route and the Representative of an Overseas Business visa (commonly referred to as the ‘Sole Rep’ route).

Global Business Mobility visas

The Global Business Mobility route will launch at 9:00am on 11 April 2022. There will be five routes within Global Business Mobility which are aimed at overseas businesses we well as innovative companies to allow for flexibility in transferring workers to the UK to establish and expand their businesses and support inward investment.

The five routes within the Global Business Mobility umbrella route are:

1. Senior or Specialist Workers
2. Graduate Trainees
3. UK Expansion Workers
4. Service Suppliers; and
5. Secondment Workers.

Both the Senior or Specialist worker route and Graduate Trainee route will replace the existing Intra-Company Graduate route. The UK Expansion Worker route will replace provisions for initial sole representative applicants currently in the Representative of an Overseas Business route (this route will remain open for media representatives, and sole representatives who are applying for extension and/or settlement). The Service Supplier route will replace contractual service providers and independent professional persons in the Temporary Worker – International Agreement route. The Secondment worker route is a new route for ‘workers being seconded to the UK as part of a high value contract of investment by their employer overseas’.

The five routes do not lead to settlement in the UK. Therefore, applicants with expansion plans in the UK and who have a senior employee who wishes to settle are encouraged to prominently apply for a visa under the Representative of an Overseas Business route before it closes on 11 April 2022 and is replaced by the UK Expansion Worker route.

High Potential Individual visa

The High Potential Individual Visa will be available to recent graduates of top global universities who wish to undertake full-time employment or self-employment, at any skill level, in the UK for three years if they have been awarded a PhD or other eligible doctoral level qualification, or two years, for all other eligible degree qualifications. This route will open at 9:00am on 30 May 2022.

To qualify, applicants need to have been awarded an overseas degree level academic qualification in the five years before the date of application from an institution listed in the ‘Home Office’s Global Universities List’. The list consists of all institutions that are ranked in the top 50 of at least two of the following ranking systems:

• Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
• Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings.
• The Academic Ranking of World Universities.

Applicants must also meet the English Language and financial requirements. This route does not lead to settlement in the UK.

This route effectively extends the existing Graduate route and is valued for the opportunity to secure a right to work in the UK not linked to a company sponsor and therefore benefitting from not being subject to the Immigration Skills Charge for recruitment to be permitted.

Scale-Up visa

The Chancellor’s budget identified the need for innovative businesses to have access to the skills and talent they require. The Scale-Up route will therefore open on 22 August 2022 to help the UK’s fastest growing businesses access international talent.

The Scale-Up route permits eligible applicants to qualify for a ‘fast-track’ visa providing they have a sponsored job offer from an authorised eligible UK authorised Scale-Up Company. For companies to be registered as a Scale-Up, they must have an annualised growth of at least 20% for the previous three-year period in staffing or turnover and a minimum of ten employees at the start of the three-year period. The applicant’s sponsored role must be RQF level 6 or above (graduate level or above) and pay £33,000 or the going rate, whichever is higher.

The applicant only needs to hold that role with the employer for six months. Beyond that, their visa is no longer contingent upon being tied to a specific sponsor.

Extensions are permitted and the applicant may apply for settlement after five years in the route.

The ‘no recourse to public funds’ exceptions

Currently, immigration permission as a partner, child or parent ‘normally’ comes with no recourse to public funds. However, last May, the High Court ruled in ST & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department that government policy on denying public funds to migrants was in breach of the statutory duty to promote the welfare of children. Consequently, the Home Office has introduced a new paragraph GEN.1.11A which provides exceptions to the current ‘no recourse to public funds’ rule if the applicant is ‘destitute’ or there are ‘particularly compelling reasons’ relating to child welfare. This change will take effect on 20 June 2022.

EU Settlement Scheme

From 6 April 2022, the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) will enable EEA and Swiss citizens, resident in the UK by the end of the transition period, and their family members and the family members of certain British citizens returning with them from the EEA or Switzerland, to obtain the UK immigration status they need to continue living in the UK.

From 6 April 2022, dual British and EEA citizens who exercised free movement rights in the UK before acquiring British citizenship and who retained their EEA nationality will be able to sponsor relevant family members under the EUSS and the EUSS family permit in some additional circumstances.

Immigration support for Ukrainian nationals

As the crisis in Ukraine has evolved the UK has launched two schemes to enable Ukrainian nationals to enter the UK to reside for up to three years. These routes:

• avoid the need to apply for asylum,
• are free of charge to apply for,
• enable visa holders to live, work and study in the UK and access benefits, local authority support services and healthcare; and
• enables individuals to bring pets with reduced health check requirements.

The two schemes are:

1. Ukraine family scheme – Ukrainian nationals (and their family members) that are family members of British nationals are able to apply for a visa status to enable them to relocate to the UK. The scheme has been extended so that even more distant family relations including aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws are eligible to apply. Family sponsors must be British, hold Indefinite Leave to Remain, Settled Status or Permanent Residence status or be an EU national with Pre-Settled status.
2. Local Sponsorship (Homes for Ukraine) scheme – this route opened for applications on 18 March and enables any individual, resident in the UK, to offer to sponsor and provide accommodation to a Ukrainian national and their family fleeing the conflict. Sponsors must agree to provide accommodation for a minimum of six months.

Removal of biometric appointment requirement for Ukrainian international passport holders

In an effort to streamline the application process and hasten visa processing, the Home Office announced that Ukrainian nationals with valid international passports who are outside the UK are no longer required to provide their biometric information overseas when making applications under the Ukraine Family Scheme.

Individuals with valid Ukrainian international passports will still need to complete an online application form, however they do not need to attend an in-person appointment at a visa application centre. Instead, Ukrainian nationals will receive a letter granting them permission to travel, rather than a UK visa.

On arrival in the UK, Ukrainian nationals should present their letter to Border Force who will endorse their passport with a six-month entry stamp that evidences their right to work, study and claim benefits in the UK. Ukrainian nationals will have the option to extend their stay (for up to 36 months) once they have arrived in the UK.

Ukrainian nationals who have already given their biometrics at a visa application centre should ensure they obtain a visa in their passport before travelling to the UK.

For more information on what to do once arrived in the UK see link here.

Ukraine visa centre closure

The visa application centre in Kyiv and the temporary centre in Lviv have now temporarily closed in Ukraine until further notice. Whilst the UK does retain a diplomatic presence in Ukraine support is only being provided now by way of helpline.

Individuals applying for a visa (other than a Ukraine scheme online application) will now need to cross a border to file a visa application with the UKVI.

Ukrainian nationals can now file visa applications e.g. for sponsored work visa etc. in neighbouring European countries.

There is a temporary visa application centre open in Rzeszow, Poland however individuals must complete an online application form, have a GWF reference number and book an appointment prior to attendance. Visa application centres are also operating in Budapest, Hungary; Chisinau, Moldova; Warsaw, Poland; Bucharest, Romania; and Paris, France.

Additional visa support for Ukrainian nationals in the UK

Ukrainian nationals who are currently in the United Kingdom have now been provided with more visa flexibility and are now permitted to extend their stay by extending their visa or switching to another immigration route. Those in the UK on Visitor visas can now switch to a Skilled Worker visa from within the UK. Those on Skilled Worker or Student visas can apply to extend their leave or apply for settlement. Furthermore, those on Student visas can also switch to a Graduate visa. Also, those on Seasonal Worker visa can extend their visas to 31 December 2022 providing they continue working in a job permitted by the Seasonal Worker route, under the same sponsor.

It isn’t currently possible for Ukrainian nationals with any form of immigration permission in the UK, to switch to a Ukraine Scheme permits from within the UK, but this is under review by the Home Office.

Home Office helpline for Ukrainian nationals

The UKVI has established a dedicated helpline for people in Ukraine and Ukrainians in the UK in need of assistance:

• For immediate family members of British Nationals normally living in Ukraine with their British family member: +44 (0)808 164 8810 (select option 1). This option is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is a free phone number, but network charges may still apply. 
• For Ukrainian nationals in the UK: +44 (0)808 164 8810 (select option 2). Lines are open Monday to Thursday (excluding bank holidays), 9:00am to 4:45pm and Friday (excluding bank holidays), 9:00am to 4:30pm. This is a free phone number, but network charges may still apply.