Proposals for tougher penalties against employers
The Government has published a consultation document proposing tougher civil penalties against businesses that are employing illegal migrants.
The measures are part of the government's plans to make it more difficult for illegal workers to live and work in the UK via sanctions against employers.
The proposals put forward for consultation are:
- Increasing the maximum penalty to £20,000 per illegal worker
- Simplifying the way civil penalties are calculated
- Providing for unpaid penalties to be enforced in civil courts
- Measures to allow recovery of civil penalty from directors and partners of limited liability businesses following failure to pay by the business.
- Reducing the number of documents an employer needs to check to establish 'right to work'.
- Replacing annual follow-up checks for non-EEA nationals with ones to coincide with the expiry of permission to be in the country;
- Simplifying the operation of the scheme and the guidance for employers
The government's consultation on these proposals will run until 20 August 2013.
Croatia becomes a member of the EU (Working in the UK)
Croatian nationals can now enter and live in the UK without permission under the Immigration Rules.
If they need or want to be employed in the UK, they must obtain an accession worker authorisation document unless they are exempt.
A Croatian national working without permission is committing a criminal offence under the Accession of Croatia (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2013.
Further information for Croatian nationals along with application forms, guidance and exemptions can be found on the Home Office Croatia pages.
Employers who wish to legally employ a Croatian national can download the leaflet 'Employing a Croatian national in the UK'.
Trial of simplified visa process to support business
A new pilot has been launched for applicants re-applying for Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer visas allowing migrants to continue to travel whilst waiting for their visa to be processed.
Applicants re-applying for a visa under the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) route will receive their passport back within seven to ten days, after applying for their visa but before it has been approved.
The pilot is currently available for Tier 2 ICT visa holders who are reapplying for their visa in the UK. However, if the pilot is successful there are plans to introduce it across other routes.
Further information can be viewed here.
Policy Guidance for Sponsors on Tier 2 & Tier 5
The Home Office (UKBA) has revised the Policy Guidance for Sponsors on Tier 2 and Tier 5 of the Points Based System.
The new guidance for sponsors can be viewed at the below link.
Education
Croatia becomes a member of the EU (Education)
Croatian nationals can now enter and live in the UK without permission under the Immigration Rules.
Students wanting to study in the UK do not need to be sponsored under Tier 4, but if they want or need to work, they must first obtain a yellow registration certificate confirming that they are a student.
Further information for Croatian nationals along with application forms, guidance and exemptions can be found here on the Home Office (UKBA's) website.
Repeal and replacement of directives for the entry and stay of third country students and researchers
Written ministerial statements have been laid in the House of Commons and House of Lords on the repeal and replacement of directives for the entry and stay of third country students and researchers.
The government has decided not to 'opt in' at this stage to the European Commission's proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the conditions of entry and residence of third country nationals for the purpose of research, studies, pupil exchange, remunerated and unremunerated training, voluntary service and au pairing.
The proposed directive would repeal and replace existing directives 2004/114/EC and 2005/71/EC, which concern the entry and stay of third country students and researchers.
The government has decided that the regulation of admission of students, researchers and other categories of migrant covered by the new proposals are best determined at national level.
It is possible for the UK to seek to participate in the directive after its adoption if this view was to change.
Student visas costs universities £67m
A study by the Higher Education Better Regulation Group (HEBRG) found that the student visa system caused UK universities to spend £67m in 2012-13 to meet Home Office requirements.
The HEBRG found that confusion over the requirements and frequent rule changes had led to waste and overspending as universities sought to comply with Home Office requirements.
However, the study also found that HE institutions had seen some benefits from the Tier 4 regulations, such as more standardised admissions, improved monitoring of international students and more focused, better resourced international students.
You can download the full report here.
Educational oversight registration for new applications
Education providers in England and Wales who want to obtain educational oversight as part of an application to join the Tier 4 sponsor register will be able to do so between 1 August and 30 September 2013.
New applicants must have established a track record of at least 1 year of teaching before applying for educational oversight.
Full assessments of new applicants will begin in 2014, and will start the sponsor's 4-year educational oversight cycle. This process repeats annually to allow new sponsors to join the register.
Providers in Scotland and Northern Ireland should consult Education Scotland or the Education and Training Inspectorate Northern Ireland on the window for applications for their region.
General Immigration Matters
Landlords
The Government has published a consultation document seeking views on proposals to create a new requirement for landlords to conduct immigration checks on tenants, with penalties for those who provide rented accommodation to illegal non-EEA migrants in breach of the new requirements. The new requirements will be modelled on existing controls which apply to the employment of illegal workers. The consultation closes on 21st August 2013.
NHS
The Government has also published a consultation document on proposals to change the basis on which migrants access health services and in particular primary care. The consultation closes on 28th August 2013.
Minimum income threshold for family migrants
The Home Office has paused decision-making on some spouse/partner and child settlement visa and leave to remain applications following a High Court judgement on the minimum income threshold for family migrants.
The Home Office has now filed its grounds of appeal against this High Court judgement.
Further information can be viewed here.
Applications for British citizenship: war crimes screening
Written ministerial statements have been laid in the House of Commons and in the House of Lords on British citizenship applications from certain nationalities receiving rigorous war crimes screening.
The condition for subjecting these applications to more rigorous scrutiny is that the applicant is a national specified on a list approved by the Minister of State for Immigration, Mark Harper.
IT upgrade to Sponsor Management System (SMS)
The Home Office has launched a new version of the sponsor management system (SMS) as part of their planned upgrade to the points-based system IT applications.
The upgraded SMS will include:
- Sponsor licenses key dates will be displayed in the 'licence summary' screen
- A new application and licence tracking function and new menu options for the added functions
- Removal of the 'outstanding payments' item, as cheque payment will no longer be accepted for any sponsorship services from 1 July 2013
- Enhanced help text throughout the system
- Renamed menu options for greater ease of navigation
Improved and updated SMS user guides have also been published and can be found here.
HR Immigration Services
Training
We are increasingly being asked to provide training on Right to Work and Tier 2 sponsor duties. If you think your organisation would benefit from training in either of these areas, please contact us for a no commitment discussion of your requirements at enquiries@hrimmigration.co.uk
Training
We are increasingly being asked to provide training on Right to Work and Tier 2 sponsor duties. If you think your organisation would benefit from training in either of these areas, please contact us for a no commitment discussion of your requirements at enquiries@hrimmigration.co.uk
HTS Health-Check
Following requests from clients, our sister company, Veristat is pleased to announce a new HTS Health Check service to help education providers prepare for a visit by the Home Office (UKBA) associated with an application to renew HTS.
The Veristat HTS Health Check is an objective, external review covering key areas likely to arise during a UKBA visit together with examples of good practice from over 4 years' experience of conducting compliance audits for schools, colleges and universities.
For further information please contact don@hrimmigration.co.uk.
