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Struggling to keep up with the avalanche of immigration news, wins and Home Office U-turns since lockdown? Me too! So I've thrown together this immigration track and trace thread to try and catalogue the major events and turning of the tide on migrant rights.
Struggling to keep up with the avalanche of immigration news, wins and Home Office U-turns since lockdown? Me too! So I've thrown together this immigration track and trace thread to try and catalogue the major events and turning of the tide on migrant rights.
2/
17 February 2020: Home Office, unencumbered by the need to introduce any type of legislation, unilaterally confers automatic leave to remain by announcement on gov.uk website to Chinese nationals whose visas expire between 24 January and 30 March 2020.
17 February 2020: Home Office, unencumbered by the need to introduce any type of legislation, unilaterally confers automatic leave to remain by announcement on gov.uk website to Chinese nationals whose visas expire between 24 January and 30 March 2020.
3/
24 March 2020: visa extensions now offered to all nationalities, not just the Chinese. Permission to remain being granted until 31 May 2020. But only by email "application" to the Coronavirus Immigration Help Centre. Does this generate 3C leave? Answers on a postcard.
24 March 2020: visa extensions now offered to all nationalities, not just the Chinese. Permission to remain being granted until 31 May 2020. But only by email "application" to the Coronavirus Immigration Help Centre. Does this generate 3C leave? Answers on a postcard.
4/
31 March 2020: Priti Patel announces “NHS frontline workers visas extended so they can focus on fighting coronavirus”. This was a free and automatic one year visa extension for certain NHS staff with visas due to expire before 1 October 2020. gov.uk/government/new…
31 March 2020: Priti Patel announces “NHS frontline workers visas extended so they can focus on fighting coronavirus”. This was a free and automatic one year visa extension for certain NHS staff with visas due to expire before 1 October 2020. gov.uk/government/new…
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Nice gesture, but the headline made it sound far more generous than it was: it only applied to NHS-sponsored Tier 2 doctors, nurses and paramedics. All other sponsored NHS workers (for example physiotherapists, scientists, pharmacists) were excluded.
Nice gesture, but the headline made it sound far more generous than it was: it only applied to NHS-sponsored Tier 2 doctors, nurses and paramedics. All other sponsored NHS workers (for example physiotherapists, scientists, pharmacists) were excluded.
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Furthermore, it excluded foreign NHS doctors, nurses and paramedics who held a non-Tier 2 type of visa, for example people holding a spouse visa conferring the right to work. And is a one-year extension really so generous? Most visa extensions come in 2.5 or 3-year tranches.
Furthermore, it excluded foreign NHS doctors, nurses and paramedics who held a non-Tier 2 type of visa, for example people holding a spouse visa conferring the right to work. And is a one-year extension really so generous? Most visa extensions come in 2.5 or 3-year tranches.
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For most beneficiaries, all this extension will do is kick immigration woes down the road for a year. One year is very unlikely to tip any migrant's residence over the line to the holy grail of indefinite leave to remain, which normally needs a minimum of five years residence.
For most beneficiaries, all this extension will do is kick immigration woes down the road for a year. One year is very unlikely to tip any migrant's residence over the line to the holy grail of indefinite leave to remain, which normally needs a minimum of five years residence.
8/
Best not look a gift horse in the mouth, a free extension does mean healthcare staff can relax about their visa worries for a year, doesn't it? Oh wait, the Immigration Health Surcharge cost increases from £400 per year to £624 p/y on 1 October 2020. freemovement.org.uk/immigration-he…
Best not look a gift horse in the mouth, a free extension does mean healthcare staff can relax about their visa worries for a year, doesn't it? Oh wait, the Immigration Health Surcharge cost increases from £400 per year to £624 p/y on 1 October 2020. freemovement.org.uk/immigration-he…
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6 April 2020: As @EdgewaterLegal pointed out, the Home Office realised that by inviting thousands of anxious people to email in for help, they were going to have a bad time. An online application form was introduced for coronavirus visa extensions.
6 April 2020: As @EdgewaterLegal pointed out, the Home Office realised that by inviting thousands of anxious people to email in for help, they were going to have a bad time. An online application form was introduced for coronavirus visa extensions.
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29 April 2020: Priti Patel issues further announcement on NHS visa extensions (which sounds a lot like the last one) headlined “Home Secretary announces visa extensions for frontline health and care workers”. She tickles everyone's balls by mentioning "care workers".
29 April 2020: Priti Patel issues further announcement on NHS visa extensions (which sounds a lot like the last one) headlined “Home Secretary announces visa extensions for frontline health and care workers”. She tickles everyone's balls by mentioning "care workers".
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1 May 2020: Home Office publishes full list of occupations eligible for free visa extensions. It's been expanded beyond just the NHS, but quelle surprise: care-home workers are not actually on this list, nor are NHS Healthcare Assistants.
1 May 2020: Home Office publishes full list of occupations eligible for free visa extensions. It's been expanded beyond just the NHS, but quelle surprise: care-home workers are not actually on this list, nor are NHS Healthcare Assistants.
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7 May 2020: Oral judgment given by the England and Wales High Court in a challenge to the No Recourse to Public Funds regime declaring an aspect of the current policy unlawful. This sharply brought back in to focus the difficulties NRPF was and is still causing during COVID.
7 May 2020: Oral judgment given by the England and Wales High Court in a challenge to the No Recourse to Public Funds regime declaring an aspect of the current policy unlawful. This sharply brought back in to focus the difficulties NRPF was and is still causing during COVID.
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15 May 2020: Priti Patel doubles down on refusal to axe immigration health surcharge fees paid by NHS workers. Despite promising a review 3 weeks ago, she refuses to budge. independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
15 May 2020: Priti Patel doubles down on refusal to axe immigration health surcharge fees paid by NHS workers. Despite promising a review 3 weeks ago, she refuses to budge. independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
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18 May 2020: Government endeavours to shift focus from its catastrophic handling of the pandemic back on to pesky migrants. Yes, the Immigration Bill is back and to absolutely nobody's surprise, it passes its second reading in Parliament.
18 May 2020: Government endeavours to shift focus from its catastrophic handling of the pandemic back on to pesky migrants. Yes, the Immigration Bill is back and to absolutely nobody's surprise, it passes its second reading in Parliament.
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20 May 2020: Aided by a heart-wrenching plea from NHS cleaner @hassan_akkad, Ministers are reminded it's not just migrant doctors putting lives on the line. Cleaners, porters, social care workers and many others still excluded from bereavement scheme.
20 May 2020: Aided by a heart-wrenching plea from NHS cleaner @hassan_akkad, Ministers are reminded it's not just migrant doctors putting lives on the line. Cleaners, porters, social care workers and many others still excluded from bereavement scheme.
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20 May 2020: Following an outpouring of public support throughout the day, Government bows to pressure and agreed to extend the bereavement scheme to a much wider cohort of migrant workers. independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
20 May 2020: Following an outpouring of public support throughout the day, Government bows to pressure and agreed to extend the bereavement scheme to a much wider cohort of migrant workers. independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
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20 May 2020: @AlasdairMack66 and @DLPublicLaw win an impressive victory at the Upper Tribunal against top Government counsel, resulting in the Home Office's fee-waiver policy being found unlawful for failing to consider affordability. freemovement.org.uk/immigration-ap…
20 May 2020: @AlasdairMack66 and @DLPublicLaw win an impressive victory at the Upper Tribunal against top Government counsel, resulting in the Home Office's fee-waiver policy being found unlawful for failing to consider affordability. freemovement.org.uk/immigration-ap…
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21 May 2020: Finishing off the one-two combo was publication of the written judgment in the No Recourse to Public Funds case. A fantastic win by @dpg_law and @Project17UK with part of the NRPF scheme being declared unlawful. freemovement.org.uk/part-of-no-rec…
21 May 2020: Finishing off the one-two combo was publication of the written judgment in the No Recourse to Public Funds case. A fantastic win by @dpg_law and @Project17UK with part of the NRPF scheme being declared unlawful. freemovement.org.uk/part-of-no-rec…
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21 May 2020: Two U-turns in two days! Following on from yesterday's concession on the bereavement ILR scheme, Ministers bowed to further pressure today to announce that ALL healthcare workers will be exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge. theguardian.com/society/2020/m…
21 May 2020: Two U-turns in two days! Following on from yesterday's concession on the bereavement ILR scheme, Ministers bowed to further pressure today to announce that ALL healthcare workers will be exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge. theguardian.com/society/2020/m…
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What even is the Immigration Health Surcharge / IHS / "NHS surcharge"? Turns out the public is largely unaware. It's basically a tax on visas and might as well be seen as an extra visa fee.
freemovement.org.uk/what-is-the-im…
What even is the Immigration Health Surcharge / IHS / "NHS surcharge"? Turns out the public is largely unaware. It's basically a tax on visas and might as well be seen as an extra visa fee.
freemovement.org.uk/what-is-the-im…
22/
Many argue Ministers didn't go far enough on the IHS, but tiny changes are important. The events leading up to 21 May, just before the Dominic Cummings saga took over the news, showed a real turning of the tide in public awareness of migrant rights. Follow @JCWI_UK for more.
Many argue Ministers didn't go far enough on the IHS, but tiny changes are important. The events leading up to 21 May, just before the Dominic Cummings saga took over the news, showed a real turning of the tide in public awareness of migrant rights. Follow @JCWI_UK for more.
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22 May 2020: Continuing its proud tradition of policy by press release, the Home Office decided to announce its extension of its coronavirus concessions to 31 July 2020 by communicating it to journalists before updating its webpage.
22 May 2020: Continuing its proud tradition of policy by press release, the Home Office decided to announce its extension of its coronavirus concessions to 31 July 2020 by communicating it to journalists before updating its webpage.
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27 May 2020: The Prime Minister is gobsmacked to learn that the #NoRecourseToPublicFunds condition attached to migrants' visas leaves many impoverished without support in times of crisis. The rest of us are gobsmacked he has never heard of it.
27 May 2020: The Prime Minister is gobsmacked to learn that the #NoRecourseToPublicFunds condition attached to migrants' visas leaves many impoverished without support in times of crisis. The rest of us are gobsmacked he has never heard of it.
25/ The PM's confusion about the NRPF condition is even more staggering when set against this letter signed by around 100 MPs which was sent to him at the end of March.
26/
I'm sure there's loads I've missed so feel free to fill in any blanks. Massive shoutout to @ILPAimmigration for pulling an absolute blinder during COVID. If anyone isn't a member: you should be. Also check out the coronavirus page @freemovementlaw freemovement.org.uk/coronavirus/
I'm sure there's loads I've missed so feel free to fill in any blanks. Massive shoutout to @ILPAimmigration for pulling an absolute blinder during COVID. If anyone isn't a member: you should be. Also check out the coronavirus page @freemovementlaw freemovement.org.uk/coronavirus/
Forgot to add that on same day, 29 April, she also wrote to the Home Affairs Select Committee to confirm, amongst other things, that the free one year extensions will not just be for Tier 2 workers but for any foreign migrants working for the NHS.
