New start-up visa route

The Home Secretary has today announced a new Start-up visa route for people who wish to apply to enter the UK to start a business.

This new route as announced by the Home Secretary during the London Tech Week is meant to, on the one hand, make the visa process faster and attract more entrepreneurs into UK. On the other hand, it is meant to replace a visa route which hitherto was exclusively for graduated by making it attractive to a wider pool of talented entrepreneurs from across the globe to set up businesses in the UK.

Migrants interested in this route are required to obtain an endorsement from a university or approved business sponsor including accelerators.

According to the statement announced by Sajid Javid MP, the Home Secretary:

“The UK can be proud that we are a leading nation when it comes to tech and innovation, but we want to do more to attract businesses to the UK and our migration system plays a key part in that.

That’s why I am pleased to announce a new visa for people wanting to start a business in the UK. This will help to ensure we continue to attract the best global talent and maintain the UK’s position as a world-leading destination for innovation and entrepreneurs.

This initiative builds on other recent reforms to the visa system – including doubling the number of visas available on the Exceptional Talent route to 2,000 per year – and shows the government’s commitment to making the UK a dynamic, open, globally-trading nation.

The expanded route will launch in Spring 2019, further details will be announced in due course.”

Brexit: Implications for EU Nationals and Dependents

The recent result of the Brexit referendum has made the situation of EU nationals and their dependents resident in the UK very precarious indeed and all EU nationals and their dependents are advised to seek for legal advice immediately on the way forward.

To book appointment for legal advice email: admin@jkandco.co.uk or call Joseph on T-Mobile: 0794 374 9001 Lyca Mobile: 0752 959 2690 

New eGates at Heathrow Terminal 5

The Border General Force Director, Sir Charles Montgomery officially opened fifteen electronic passport gates at Heathrow's Terminal 5 on Wednesday 21 October 2015.

The electronic passport gates named eGates which is the most state-of-the-art version of gates ever to be used in the UK are expected to process around 400,000 passengers at the Terminal each month.

According to the new released by the Home Office: “The eGates can be used by any UK or European Economic Area (EEA) passenger aged 18 or over, with a ‘chipped’ passport, and use advanced facial recognition technology to compare the passenger’s face to the digital image recorded in their passport.

Border Force officers monitor the system and any travellers rejected by the gates are directed to the staffed clearance desks to be seen by an officer.

Automated technology such as eGates, give Border Force the ability to process a higher number of low risk passengers more quickly and using less resource. This reduces queue times as well as freeing Border Force Officers up to focus on other priority work such as cracking down on the smuggling of dangerous goods and identifying potential victims of trafficking.

Sir Charles Montgomery, Director General of Border Force, said:

Increasing the use of digital technology at the border is part of Border Force’s commitment to improve the passenger experience.

We must protect our borders, but we also want to encourage travellers to the UK - people who boost our economy through tourism and through business.

This means ensuring their arrival in the UK is dealt with as swiftly and efficiently as possible while maintaining the integrity and security of the UK.

eGates not only benefit British and EEA travellers. Nationals from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan who have successfully been accepted onto the Registered Traveller programme can now also use them.

Registered Traveller allows regular travellers fast-tracked entry into the UK. For a small fee, applicants undergo security checks in advance of travel meaning that, on arrival to the UK, they are able to use the EEA queues and eGates upon their arrival, bypassing queues for non-EEA passengers”.

Passport checks on leaving UK to be introduced at Eurotunnel and Ferry Ports

With effect from 8 April 2015 those leaving the UK by Eurotunnel and Ferry will have their passports scanned and their information sent to the Home Office. To help reduce delays at the exit checks Eurotunnel will be introducing Advance Passenger Information (API) technology - same as obtains at UK airports and the Ferry Ports are expected to follow suit later.

Biometric Residence Permit regulations begin in March 2015.

Beginning from March 2014, individuals from overseas who apply for a visa for more than 6 months will be required to obtain Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) from a Post Office on arrival in the UK.

The first phase of this new regulation which is expected to start with Pakistani nationals will extend to all nationals from 31 July 2015.

Individuals affected by this new regulation will be issued a short-stay travel vignette (visa stamp which will be endorsed with a date of entry) for 30 days and a letter of approval designating a local Post Office from which to collect their BRP within 10 days of arrival in the UK. The BRP will be cancelled if not collected within the stipulated 10 days.

Individuals affected who do not travel to the UK within the 30 days validity of the short stay vignette will have to apply for a replacement visa before they can travel to the UK.

For further information

Phone: 0207 791 1173

T-Mobile: 0794 374 9001

Lyca Mobile: 0752 959 2690

Email: admin@jkandco.co.uk

Plan to send foreign graduates home

The Home Secretary is considering a hard-line policy that would have a tremendous effect on non-European students in the UK.

The proposal under consideration which the Home Secretary is said to be planning to have included in the next Conservative manifesto could force non-European students to return home after successfully completing their studies before they will be eligible to apply for work visa to live and work in the UK.

According to a report on the MSN Home Page credited to the Press Association, The policy being considered is likely to include provisions to make educational establishments that sponsor foreign students responsible for ensuring that students leave the UK after their studies. The policy is also said to include penalties for educational establishments with low departure rates ranging from fines to a possible loss of their licence to sponsor foreign students from outside the EU.

This new policy, if it comes into effect, will alter the current Immigration Rule which allows most eligible students to switch into a work visa from within the UK.

The implication of this new policy (if and when it comes into effect) on foreign students, educational establishments and its impact on the UK economy can only be imagined.

Landlords "Right to Check" Starts on 1 December 2014

The Landlords’ right to check tenants’ rights to rent starts December 2014. This is part of the legislations contained in the Immigration Act 2014 recently signed into law by Royal Assent last May.

According to the statement released by the Immigration and Security Minister James Brokenshire, the new legislation which is schedule to start from 01 December 2014 will be launched in Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley and Wolverhampton.

This is meant to be part of a phased introduction across the country which will see landlords face fines if they rent homes to illegal immigrants without checking their ‘right to rent’.

The new law will mean private landlords will have to check the right of prospective tenants to be in the country if they want to avoid potentially being fined up to £3,000.

For more please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/west-midlands-to-be-first-landlord-right-to-rent-check-area