Source: https://icslegal.com/blog/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 04:19:42+00:00

Document:
The case of Balajigari v The Secretary of State for the Home Department  EWCA Civ 673, relates to the issues under Tier 1 General refusals in conjunction with paragraph 322(5) of the Immigration Rules HC395. We have highlighted a few important matters for consideration.
Here are some relevant details taken from the case itself. If you wish to take advice on this matter, then please contact us on 0207 237 3388 or email our team on info@icslegal.com.
A number of appeals brought forward to the Tribunal and Courts is whether paragraph 322(5) applies which considers whether it is “undesirable” for a person to be granted indefinite leave to remain.
If this does, this case law, as well as many matters before the Tribunal and Courts, is that this paragraph is not mandatory but more of presumptive, in other words, that each matter must be considered correctly.
There must be: (i) reliable evidence of (ii) sufficiently reprehensible conduct; and (iii) an assessment, taking proper account of all relevant circumstances known about the applicant at the date of decision, of whether his or her presence in the UK is undesirable (this should include evidence of positive features of their character). Again, that seems to us a correct and helpful analysis of the exercise required at the first stage, but it will be useful to say something more about the elements in it, especially as they apply to an earnings discrepancy case.
The findings on the above is fundamental to consideration and provides the burden on the Applicant, rather that of the decision maker, here it is concerning the Secretary of State.
As the UK Government is going through negotiations, it is important that EEA nationals and their family members understand their legal rights.
EEA nationals will have right to enter the UK but these will be limited. The following is a short summary of what has been proposed by the UK Government. For stays longer than 3 months, European Temporary Leave to Remain will be required.
If the UK leaves the EU without agreeing a deal, the government will seek to end free movement as soon as possible and has introduced an Immigration Bill to achieve this. For a transitional period only, EEA citizens and their family members, including Swiss citizens, will still be able to come to the UK for visits, work or study and they will be able to enter the UK as they do now.
EU citizens arriving in the UK who wish to stay longer than 3 months and apply for European Temporary Leave to Remain will be subject to identity, criminality and security checks before being granted permission to stay for three years.
Non-EU family members who wish to accompany an EU citizen under these arrangements will need to apply in advance for a family permit.
the initial 3 months’ leave to enter for EU citizens will be free of charge but applications for European Temporary Leave to Remain will be paid for. Fees will be set out at a later date.
If you wish to take some advice on this, please either call us on 0207 237 3388 or you can email us at info@icslegal.com. You can also complete the free assessment by clicking here.
During the Implementation Period, Home Office will implement the EU Settlement Scheme. This gives EU citizens already here, and also those who arrive in the UK during the Implementation Period, the opportunity to secure their future residence in the UK. The UK has agreed with the EU on rights for EU citizens already living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU, to enable them to carry on with their lives broadly as now. The Government is finalising arrangements with negotiating with European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States – Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland – to bring about similar arrangements for their citizens.
The Government has made clear that the CTA and associated rights between the UK, Ireland and the Crown Dependencies will be unaffected by the UK’s exit. Irish and British citizens will continue to enjoy the freedom to travel within the CTA without the need for immigration controls or residence/work permits. Irish citizens do not need to obtain settled status in the UK.
The UK will leave the EU on 29 March 2019. There will be an Implementation Period, planned to run until 31 December 2020, during which current rules will continue to apply. During that time, EU citizens will be able to enter and reside under the terms of the UK Regulations which implement the current, pre-Exit rules. EU citizens and their family members who wish to remain in the UK after the end of the Implementation Period must apply for the EU Settlement Scheme. They have until June 2021 to do so, if the Implementation Period ends on 31 December 2020.
After the UK’s exit and following the Implementation Period, Home Office will end the current free movement system imposed by the EU so that the UK Immigration Rules will apply to EU and non-EU migrants alike in a single skills-based system, as opposed to being based on where an individual comes from, where anyone who wants to come to the UK will need permission to do so, as opposed to being based on where an individual comes from.
Youth Mobility Scheme after the UK leaves the EU, may decide to include EU nationals. This will allow a 2 years permit free employment.
Home Office do not intend to require visitors who are citizens of current EU Member States to obtain a visit visa in advance of travel and they intend to allow them to continue to use e-gates to make entry quick and easy. Home Office propose to make binding commitments to this effect in a future mobility partnership, if the EU reciprocates. Tourists will continue to enjoy a generous entitlement to spend up to six months in the UK. Visitors coming to the UK for short-term business reasons will be able, as now, to carry out a wide range of activities, including permitted paid engagements.
Under the future system following the Implementation Period, those coming to the UK, including EU citizens, who intend to work or study or join family will need permission to do so, normally in the form of an electronic status which must be obtained before coming to the UK. This means everyone coming the UK will have an individual immigration status which will form the basis of our immigration controls. This status will be communicated to airlines to confirm whether an individual has permission to travel, checked at the UK border (by either a Border Force officer or an e-gate), and then form the basis of in-country immigration checks.
Following the recent MAC report on students, Home Office intend to improve the current offer to those who have completed a degree who want to stay on in the UK to work after they have completed their studies, by offering six months’ post-study leave to all master’s students, and bachelor’s students studying at an institution with degree awarding powers – giving them more time to find permanent skilled work and to work temporarily during that period. Those who have completed a PhD will have a year. Home Office will also allow for students studying at bachelor’s level or above to be able to apply to switch into the skilled workers route up to three months before the end of their course in the UK, and from outside of the UK for two years after their graduation.
Further updates to follow. If you would like to seek legal advice from ICS Legal, please email us at info@icslegal.com or call us on 0207 237 3388. You can also complete our free assessment by clicking here.
The case of KO (Nigeria)  UKSC 53 and Rhuppiah  UKSC 58 plays an important role towards Tribunal’s decision, whether a removal direction is lawful in line with Article 8 ECHR. By the Immigration Act 2014, Parliament introduced Part 5A to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 which seeks to direct courts and tribunals as to how to conduct this balancing exercise. KO (Nigeria) and Rhuppiah are the first cases in which the Supreme Court has had to consider these provisions. In doing so, the Supreme Court has largely continued to narrow the scope of protection provided for migrants in the UK by Article 8.
Rhuppiah  UKSC 58 concerned s 117B(3) and (5). Mrs Rhuppiah, a Tanzanian national, entered the UK in 1997 with leave to remain for 3 months in 1997. She was granted various other periods of leave to remain, although sometimes with breaks between her visas during which time she was in the UK unlawfully. While studying at college, Mrs Rhuppiah met Ms Charles who suffers from a gravely debilitating illness. Mrs Rhuppiah lives with Ms Charles and provides care gratuitously to her. Mrs Rhuppiah’s leave to remain expired in 2009 and she had not been able to obtain a visa since then. She applied for leave to remain on the basis that her removal would breach her art 8 rights. The Secretary of State disagreed. The First-tier Tribunal upheld the Secretary of State’s decision, giving little weight to her private life, under s 117B(5) on the basis that it was established, it said, at a time when her status was “precarious”. Additionally, the First-tier Tribunal considered that Mrs Rhuppiah was not “financially independent” to which it is required to have regard under s 117B(3).
Happily for Mrs Rhuppiah, the long duration of the proceedings meant that before the appeal to the Supreme Court was heard, she had achieved continuous residence in the UK for 20 years, which provided her with another route to remain under the Immigration Rules. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court decided that it was appropriate to hear and determine the appeal which raised issues of wide application.
The case of R (Khan) v SSHD (Dishonesty, Tax Return, Paragraph 322(5))  UKUT 384 (IAC) (3 May 2018) is worth to have a look at. It set out principles that Secretary of State failed to consider when deciding on applications made by Tier 1 migrants.
In Royal Brunei Airlines v Tan  UKPC 4 Lord Nicholls said that “carelessness is not dishonesty” and thus the refusal was arguably irrational and unlawful. The Supreme Court approved of this statement in Ivey v Genting Casino  UKSC 67.
The Tribunal noted that in response to the applicant’s reliance on the decision in Sagar Arun Samant  UKAITUR JR65462016 (discussed here), the Home Office produced a list of cases where applicants had “jumped on the band wagon” but the Tribunal had rejected any evidence blaming the accountants. Very clear examples of this point were found in Kamal  UKAITUR JR114172016, Parveen and Saleem  UKAITUR JR94402016 and other cases.
34.—(1) On receiving an application for permission to appeal the Tribunal must first consider whether to review the decision in accordance with rule 35.
(b) notification of the right to make an application to the Upper Tribunal for permission to appeal and the time within which, and the manner in which, such application must be made.
(b) that application has been refused or has not been admitted or has been granted only on limited grounds.
21. As is apparent, in Ferrer the Upper Tribunal was dealing with the predecessors of the 2014 Rules. Nothing of materiality turns on this, however.
22. In Secretary of State for the Home Department v Rodriguez; Mandalia and Patel v SSHD  EWCA Civ 2, the Court of Appeal had to interpret the scope of permission to appeal from the First-tier Tribunal to the Upper Tribunal, as granted by the Upper Tribunal. In the case of Mr Mandalia, it became important to decide whether the Upper Tribunal had granted permission on one or both of two grounds, since this impacted upon the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal.
The Tier 1 Investor route is likely to be suspended, so that new changes can be planned by UKVI. The current policy and rules on the Tier 1 Investor route can be found here: https://icslegal.com/tier1-investors.php.
Our understanding following the Immigration Minister’s statement is that the Tier 1 Investor route is currently being used by organised crime and money laundering.
The current Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa is being replaced with the new “Innovator” route, which would bring forward new changes and requirements for those seeking to set up or buy a UK based business.
“My rt hon Friend, the Home Secretary, will shortly be laying before the House a Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules.
“The Government is clear that entrepreneurs play a key role in creating jobs and driving economic growth, which is vital to the prosperity of the UK. In June of this year, we announced a new Start-up visa route. This will build upon the successes of the current Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) route, expanding it to ensure that the UK can benefit from a wider pool of overseas talent looking to establish new businesses in the UK. Applicants will be endorsed by either a business or higher education institution sponsor.
“We are announcing that we will build on this offer further by introducing a new Innovator route, for more experienced business people. This will replace the current Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route and have a similar emphasis on endorsement by a business sponsor, who will assess applicants’ business ideas for their innovation, viability and scalability.
“Alongside this, we will reform our Tier 1 (Investor) route.
“These reforms will be introduced in the spring and will ensure the UK remains a world-leading destination for investment and innovation. We will shortly be publishing a Statement of Intent setting out the details of how the reformed routes will work and I will place a copy in the House Library.
“We are also introducing wider changes through these Immigration Rules which demonstrate our commitment to supporting talented leaders in their fields, and promising future leaders, coming to the UK under the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route. The changes will expand this route to provide for a route of entry for leading architects endorsed by the Royal Institute of British Architects, under the remit of Arts Council England (ACE). This change builds upon other reforms to the route earlier this year, including doubling the number of places available, providing for faster settlement to existing leaders in their fields endorsed under this route, and expanding the route to leading fashion designers, also endorsed under the remit of ACE. We will continue to work closely with our partners in this route to attract more leading international talent to the UK.
“More broadly, the changes also include a number of minor, more technical changes to our Tier 1 and Tier 2 routes for highly skilled workers. These changes will be made to ensure the Immigration Rules remain up-to-date and for consistency purposes.
“The Government greatly values the roles played by our charities and religious institutions and those who wish to come to the UK to contribute to these organisations are extremely welcome. However, there are some issues with the routes as they currently operate.
“Our immigration system makes specific provision for both Ministers of Religion and those coming as religious workers. This distinction between the two roles reflects the importance we place on our faith leaders speaking English to a high standard, whilst at the same time still permitting other members of religious communities to contribute to the UK in non-pastoral roles.
“Whilst it is not the intention of the Tier 5 Religious Workers route, our current rules could permit religious workers to perform roles, that include preaching and leading a congregation, without first being required to demonstrate that they speak English to an acceptable standard. To address this, we are prohibiting Tier 5 Religious Workers filling roles as Ministers of Religion and direct them instead to do so through the correct Tier 2 Minister of Religion sub-category. This will require Ministers of Religion to demonstrate a strong command of English and ensure they can interact with the community around them.
“The Tier 5 arrangements for Religious Workers and Charity Workers have always been intended to provide for only limited periods of residence in the UK of up to two years. We have however seen instances of migrants in these categories repeatedly applying for consecutive periods of leave, in effect achieving ongoing residency in the UK. We will therefore introduce a ‘cooling off period’, preventing Tier 5 Religious Worker and Tier 5 Charity Worker visa holders from returning to the UK, via these immigration routes for 12 months after their visa expires. This change ensures that we will continue to welcome those coming to make a contribution to our religious and charity organisations, whilst at the same time underpinning the Government’s intention that these are temporary routes.
“On 6 September the Home Secretary issued a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS940) announcing the introduction of a new pilot scheme for 2019, enabling non-EEA migrant workers to come to the UK to undertake seasonal employment in the Horticultural sector. These amendments will set out the legislative framework for introducing this pilot.
“This small-scale pilot will test the effectiveness of our immigration system at alleviating seasonal labour shortages during peak production periods, whilst maintaining robust immigration control and ensuring there are minimal impacts on local communities and public services.
“The organisations chosen to fill the role of scheme operators for this pilot have been selected following a fair and open selection process, undertaken by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
If you require any immigration advice or believe your application may be affected by the new changes, speak to us today on 0207 237 3388 or email us at info@icslegal.com.
The measures we are announcing today will allow innovative British start-ups to invest in their future – and in the UK – by hiring more skilled people, expanding their business and exporting their expertise across the world.
It’s a great time to be in tech in the UK, and our modern Industrial Strategy will drive continued investment, ensuring the nation flourishes in the industries of the future and creating more high-paying jobs.
The UK is home to some of the world’s most innovative companies and I want to make sure that they stay at the forefront of the tech revolution. So, British Patient Capital will provide an extra £2.5 billion for these cutting-edge business ensuring Britain remains one of the best places to start and grow a company.
The UK is already a world-leading destination for tech investment with one tech start-up opening every 50 minutes. Our tech sector, with our strong legal system, skilled workforce and low taxation economy combine with our world class universities to make us the most attractive home for investment in Europe.
As an international economic department, DIT will continue to encourage investment from overseas with a further series of events to attract inward business. Last month we launched a new online portfolio of opportunities worth £30 billion, and in turn this will drive growth and create jobs in our economy.
Britain is a digital dynamo with the government and tech sector working together to help make this country the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business. We’re encouraging the best and brightest tech talent to come to the UK and creating the right conditions for our high growth digital businesses to thrive.
We are spearheading digital innovation in exciting areas such as Artificial Intelligence and our network of tech hubs will connect us with some of the leading emerging technology nations across the world to share best practice.

References: EWCA 
 UKSC 
 UKSC 
 UKSC 
 art 8
 UKPC 
 UKSC 
 EWCA