Lancaster University is to set up a scholarship in memory of Anuj Bidve the Indian student whose unprovoked murder in Manchester evoked widespread sympathy and outrage.

How will the new ‘minimum salary for residency’ proposals affect you?

Following yesterday’s announcement by the UK Immigration Minister, Damian Green, that under new proposals migrants seeking permanent settlement, or Indefinite Leave to Remain, will be required to earn between £31,000 and £49,000 per annum, Immigration Matters has been inundated with questions from worried work permit holders such as Senior Care Workers, Nurses and Domestic Workers.

Human rights decisions led to ‘ridiculous and damaging’ situation, says UK Immigration Minister

The UK Immigration Minister Damien Green has warned that the way courts interpret the human right to family life has led to a “ridiculous and damaging situation” and risks a “dangerous” stand off between parliament and judges.

Settlement in UK to be linked to a minimum salary of £31,000 says Immigration Minister

The UK is set introduce a minimum earnings figure of £31,000 in order to qualify for permanent settlement or Indefinite Leave to Remain, the Immigration Minister announced. If applied to existing migrants, the minimum threshold would affect nurses, senior carers, chefs, care managers and many other occupations where the basic pay rate is less than £31,000.

UK University applicants drops 8.7% but non-EU students increase, UCAS figures reveal

The number of UK University applicants has dropped by 8.7% compared with last year, official figures show. With student agents in Asia reporting that students are now more attracted to study in Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the US, UK Universities may have to do more to attract overseas non-EU students to fill places – or start closing campuses and making redundancies.

UKBA Postal biometric appointments and residence permit reporting change to online service

As announced last month the UK Border Agency has now closed their telephone booking line for postal applicants in the UK who want to make appointments to enrol their biometric information.

Romanian workers offered UK jobs while 2.7 million claim benefits

British employers are offering thousands of jobs to Romanian workers as UK unemployment soars to a record high, the Daily Star claims. A recruitment agency in Bucharest is advertising 2,434 vacancies for British jobs according to the report. The news that employers are recruiting in Romania will surprise many as, despite being members of the European Union, Romanians cannot work in the UK as employees without permission.

Sham marriage vicar John Magumba jailed

Another Church of England vicar has been jailed for carrying out sham marriages to allow immigrants to gain residency rights to remain in the UK, the BBC reports

Britain will limit settlement to ‘brightest and best’ migrants under new plans

Britain is set to change the rules in order to give priority to the “brightest and the best” immigrants who can ‘contribute’ under new plans to cut the number of foreigners settling in the UK, the Immigration Minister has said.

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Mr Green also announced that he wanted to break the link between temporary and permanent migration and look at the way courts interpret the human right to family life, which he said has led to a “ridiculous and damaging situation” and risks a “dangerous” stand off between parliament and judges.

The government is also proposing to set a minimum income level for any sponsor seeking to bring in a foreign spouse – and said the recommended level was between £18,600 and £25,700.

The news will be of grave concern to the thousands of skilled workers on Work Permits and Tier 2 Working Visas who are earning less than £31,000.

Whilst the UK has never guaranteed working migrants permanent residency under the terms of their work permits, most were expecting to one day qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after working in Britain for 5 years.

The Minister has not announced any transitional arrangements for those already here. But if the new rules are applied to all existing migrants, the minimum threshold would not be reached by most nurses, senior carers, chefs, care managers and many other occupations where the basic pay rate is less than £31,000.

Some of the questions being asked are:

• Will the new earnings test apply to all existing work permit holders or new entrants after a certain point?
• Does my dependant husband’s income count towards the minimum salary requirement?
• How long do I have to be earning £31,000 for or is it my current salary level that counts?
• If I cannot qualify for ILR will I be able to extend my work permit after 5 years?
• If I have children born in the UK do I have a right to stay under Article 8?

The answer to most of these questions are only known to ministers and Home Office officials at this stage because full details of the reforms have not yet been revealed.

The government is committed to reducing net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’ by 2015 and major reforms to the immigration points based system will be needed to reach these targets.

The changes do not affect EU migrants from Eastern European countries such as Poland and Slovakia, or Bulgarians and Romanians exercising Treaty Rights to obtain Yellow Cards.

See also:

Settlement in UK to be linked to a minimum salary of £31,000 says Immigration Minister

Human rights decisions led to ‘ridiculous and damaging’ situation, says UK Immigration Minister

Romanian workers offered UK jobs while 2.7 million claim benefits

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Mr Green said the situation is “not healthy for anyone” and calls the whole concept of human rights in to question.

The Government is currently examining how parliament can provide clearer guidance on how Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights show be interpreted with a view to restricting its use.

It follows concerns that foreign criminals and other illegal immigrants are able to use the right too easily to fight deportation.

In 2010, more than 400 criminals were allowed to stay in the UK after winning appeals, mainly on human rights grounds such as the right to family life.

Last month, it emerged Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is drawing up plans to stop illegal immigrants using time spent in Britain unlawfully to bolster their claims to stay.

She aims to stop those facing deportation demanding a right to family life because of the length of time they have been in the country, when most of it was spent here illegally.

In a speech to the think tank Policy Exchange in London, Mr Green said most people would not agree that rights had been breached in many recent high profile cases.

“That leads to the ridiculous and damaging situation where the whole concept of Human Rights is called into question,” he said.

“This is not healthy for anyone. It is also dangerous for there to be a long-term stand-off between Parliament and the judges, which is why we want to give better Parliamentary guidance on what should be considered in these kind of cases in future.”

In a wide ranging speech on immigration, Mr Green also revealed some high earning migrants may be allowed to take up jobs in the UK without them first being advertising to others.

Under the resident labour market test, employers looking to recruit from outside the EU must first advertise for a month in jobcentres.

But Mr Green is keen to make it easier for the most talented migrants to come and has asked the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to look at the issue.

He is also considering allowing talented “entrepreneurial” international students the ability to stay on and continue to develop their ideas after their studies.

It is part of the Government’s bid to redefine the foundation of immigration policies to ensure the brightest and best can still come.

He said immigrants must “add to the quality of life in Britain” if they wish to live here and not just “benefit by Britain”.

The Government has pledged to cut net migration from the current 242,000 to the “tens of thousands” last seen in the 1990s, with crackdowns on forced and sham marriages, bogus students and an annual cap on immigrants coming from outside the EU.

The MAC, the Government’s immigration advisers, found there were up to 23 fewer jobs for British workers for every additional 100 working migrants coming from outside the EU. Source: The Telegraph.

The UK is set introduce a minimum earnings figure of £31,000 in order to qualify for permanent settlement or Indefinite Leave to Remain, the Immigration Minister announced yesterday.

Mr Green also told the BBC that he was proposing to set a minimum income level for any sponsor seeking to bring in a foreign spouse – and said the recommended level from MAC (Migration Advisory Committee) was between £18,600 and £25,700.

See also:

Settlement in UK to be linked to a minimum salary of £31,000 says Immigration Minister

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

• Further changes to family migration
• Reforms to settlement and greater selectivity
• Breaking the link between temporary and permanent migration
• Completing changes to eliminate abuse of the student visa route
• review of the annual limit on skilled economic Tier 2 migrants
• Contribution-based system rather than points-based

As expected, the UK Border Agency has confirmed earlier rumours published by Immigration Matters on reforming the route to settlement with the creation of a ‘sustainable selective immigration system that encourages the brightest and best to come to the UK’.

At a speech at the Policy Exchange, the Immigration Minister Damian Green expressed a desire to ‘raise the tone of the immigration debate’ and start building a national consensus on how immigration can be made to work for Britain.

He will be pressing on with sweeping reforms that impose restrictions on those migrants the country does not need, while developing a greater selectivity to attract those migrants the country wants.

Damian Green said:

‘We need to know not just that the right number of people are coming here, but that the right people are coming here. People that will benefit Britain – not just those who will benefit by Britain.

‘We have laid the foundations for a sustainable system where we get numbers down and keep them down. Now we shall make it work for Britain.’

The government has committed to reduce net migration numbers from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands. In the latest published quarterly figures, compared to a year previously, there are early signs of a positive impact on numbers following restrictions imposed by this government on non-EEA workers and students.

The government will soon be announcing further changes to family migration and reforms to settlement, breaking the link between temporary and permanent migration or UK naturalisation and citizenship. It will also be completing its changes to eliminate abuse of the student visa route and is currently reviewing the annual limit on skilled economic migrants.

In his speech the Minister expressed his intention that the long-term transformation of British immigration policy will introduce greater selectivity.

He added that the ‘points based system’ of the past should ultimately be replaced by a ‘contribution-based system’ where migrants are checked to ensure they will add to quality of life in the UK.

This is already starting with the development of more selective routes for entrepreneurs, investors and those with exceptional talent alongside existing routes for entertainers, trainees and researchers.

The Minister confirmed the introduction of a new route for international graduate entrepreneurs – international students who have engaged in innovative entrepreneurial activity during their studies and want to stay on afterwards to develop their business ideas.

The government will also improve the system for some short-term business visitors and entertainers to ensure world-class performers are encouraged to come to the UK. Source: UK Border Agency.

In an earlier interview with BBC Radio Kent Mr Green said he wanted ‘to be much more intelligently selective about who we let come here”.

He added:

‘Anyone individual seeking permanent settlement should be able to command a salary of between £31,000 and £49,000.’

Mr Green also told the BBC that he was proposing to set a minimum income level for any sponsor seeking to bring in a foreign spouse – and said the recommended level from MAC (Migration Advisory Committee) was between £18,600 and £25,700.

The news will come as a bitter blow to the thousands of skilled workers on Work Permits and Tier 2 Working Visas who were expecting to one day qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), although the Minister has not announced any transitional arrangements for those already here.

If applied to existing migrants, the minimum threshold would affect nurses, senior carers, chefs, care managers and many other occupations where the basic pay rate is less than £31,000.

See also:

How will the new ‘minimum salary for residency’ proposals affect you?

Britain will limit settlement to ‘brightest and best’ migrants under new plans

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

The Reverend Canon Dr John Magumba, 58, performed 31 bogus wedding ceremonies at two churches in Rochdale in the North west of England.

Magumba, originally from Uganda, pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law.

The shamed priest was jailed last week for two-and-a-half-years at Bolton Crown Court.

The father-of-six had also pleaded guilty to theft of more than £8,000 from his church councils by not declaring income from weddings and funerals.

The court heard that Magumba, originally from Uganda, “asked no questions” when marrying a stream of Nigerian men and eastern European women who went to his Rochdale parish.

He took on so many weddings involving foreign nationals that his diocese made him head of a party on how to spot sham marriages.

Fran Gough, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “He conducted these wedding ceremonies knowing full well that they were [shams], purely to assist non-EU citizens in their bid to gain UK residency.

“His dishonesty in effectively plundering church funds is also difficult to believe in someone whom others looked to for moral guidance.”

Magumba arrived in the UK in 2004 on an ecclesiastical visa, bringing his family with him from Uganda.

Investigators said that money was “always an issue” for him, that he had requested crisis loans from the Church and even asked parishioners for money to “clothe his children”.

He was arrested last March as part of an investigation by the UK Border Agency.

Sham marriages usually involve a non-European marrying an EU citizen to secure long-term residency, the right to work and the right to claim benefits in the UK. Source: BBC.

The conviction follows a series of successful crackdowns on marriage fraud by the UK Border Agency.

The agency has set up a special taskforce with the Church of England to detect sham marriages between European Union nationals and non-EU migrants trying to gain indefinite leave to remain (ILR) and UK naturalisation in the UK.

Each Diocese now has a ‘sham marriage officer’ who can pass on Vicars’ concerns over weddings to the immigration authorities.

See also:

Romanian man jailed for smuggling immigrants into UK

Church of England Vicar facing jail for 31 sham marriages for illegal brides and grooms

People smuggling gang ring leader jailed for 5 years

Sham marriage fixers jailed

EU and non-EU workers take more UK jobs as number of Britons in work plunges

Health care workers needed in UK now

HOW TO FIND APPLICATION FORMS FOR A ‘YELLOW’ OR ‘BLUE’ CARD REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE ON THE UK BORDER AGENCY WEBSITE

Free Movement of EU nationals explained

Immigration Rules for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals

East London sham marriage couple jailed

Changes to English language tests for applications under Tiers 1, 2 and 4 of the points-based system announced by UKBA today

Judge attacks immigration ‘merry-go-round’ after Pakistani man made 16 applications to remain in UK at a cost of £250,000 to taxpayer

Immigrants on benefits – figures revealed

New fees for immigration and asylum appeals

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Majestic College offer special packages for EU students. They also have a number of employers looking for staff right now and are willing to employ Bulgarians and Romanians.

For more information call Joanna on 0208 207 1020 or email info@majesticcollege.org

371,000 migrants on benefits according to Government estimates. The UK Government has published its first ever estimates for the proportion of foreign-born people who are claiming working-age benefits in the UK.

Judge attacks immigration ‘merry-go-round’ after Pakistani man made 16 applications to remain in UK at a cost of £250,000 to taxpayer

A senior judge this week condemned the immigration ‘merry-go-round’ that allowed an asylum seeker to stay in Britain for a decade. The Pakistani national was allowed to make a staggering 16 appeals or new applications despite being rejected at every turn, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of at least £250,000.

Immigration critic calls Canada “Super Visa” a sham

There has been much discussion about the Canadian Conservative government’s new “Super Visa” in the community recently, but unfortunately it has turned out to be an insult to families desperate for their parents to visit or migrate to Canada.

Bulgarian and Romanian applications – UKBA issue new application form and guidance

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has published revised guidance notes for Bulgarian and Romanian accession worker card applicants and employers, and a new version of Form BR3.

Pop star Adam Ant raided at dawn over ‘illegal immigrant’

1980’s pop legend Adam Ant was awoken by immigration border police yesterday when his London home was raided at dawn

Rapper Garry Sandhu deported to India after losing immigration appeal

Asian singing star Garry Sandhu has been deported back to India by the UK Border Agency after losing an appeal…

London to become major player in Yuan trading

The UK Treasury has announced plans to make London the leading international centre for trading China’s currency, the Yuan, also known as the Renminbi.

New procedure announced for Arts Council England endorsement under Tier 1 Exceptional talent applications

The UK Border Agency has announced that from this month applicants under Tier 1 (Exceptional talent) of the points-based system must follow a new procedure if they want Arts Council England (ACE) to endorse their application.

7 tips for completing a Yellow Card BR1 application to work and study in the UK

With Yellow Card student applications for Bulgarians and Romanians taking 3 to 6 months to process, getting it right first time is vital. Bulgarians and Romanians exercising treaty rights as students under Yellow Card registration certificates are reporting that their applications are taking between three and six months to be processed and approved by the UK Border Agency Full story…

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Majestic College offer special packages for EU students. They also have a number of employers looking for staff right now and are willing to employ Bulgarians and Romanians.

For more information call Joanna on 0208 207 1020 or email info@majesticcollege.org

It found that 371,000 migrants made claims last year, the vast majority of which were legitimate.

The research suggests workers born abroad may be less likely to claim benefits than UK nationals.

A sampling exercise found 2% may not have rights to benefits – but the government could not say for certain.

Before the coalition government came to power the nationality of benefit claimants was not recorded.

The government has now tried to link records on benefits, border control and tax for those who came to work, study or visit.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) research found:

As of February 2011, there were 5.5m people receiving working-age benefits. Some 371,000 of those were foreign nationals when they first came to the UK, representing 6.4% of the claimants.

Almost 17% of all British nationals receive these benefits compared with almost 7% of all those classed as non-UK nationals when they first arrived in the UK.

More than half of those receiving a benefit had in fact at some point become British citizens, meaning they had the same rights as people born British.

Working-age benefits include income support, job seeker’s allowance, carer’s allowance and disability living allowance.

Employment Minister Chris Grayling denied that the report was scaremongering and said the full picture was not clear. He said the study showed the vast majority of foreign-born nationals who claimed benefits were entitled to them.

“I think it’s really important for the credibility of our benefits system… that we should understand the mix of people who come from other countries who are claiming benefits,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“We are now going to go through all the people who we’ve not being able to identify and we’re going to repeat that exercise across the full 250,000 to have a system in which people can have confidence.”

The employment minister said he wanted to reduce net migration and ensure the UK system did not attract “benefit tourists”.

But Scott Blinder of Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, an expert study group, said: “It’s perfectly reasonable for the government to want to understand the interaction between immigration and the benefits system, but the way this has been reported has been problematic and significantly misleading for two reasons.

“Firstly, it has been publicised in manner that has created the impression that migrants are particularly likely to claim benefits, when even the report itself clearly identifies that migrants are substantially less likely to claim benefits that the UK-born population.

“Secondly, the report lumps together all ‘migrants’ including British citizens who were born abroad – and who clearly have the same rights to benefits as all other British citizens – and migrants who have no legal claim to be in the UK at all.”

Benefit rules are complex but in general foreign-born nationals in the UK must pass various tests to show they are eligible to claim working-age benefits.

A follow-up sample by the DWP looked at 9,000 people who had come to the UK from outside of Europe. In a quarter of cases, it did not have enough information to assess whether claims were legitimate. Of those that remained, 98% were found to be valid.

The remaining 2% of claimants – 125 people – appeared to have no right to claim benefits. The DWP said it would need to investigate further because some of these could have made valid claims before later losing their entitlement to the benefit.

The government does not produce comparable figures for British-born benefit fraudsters – but estimates that 2% of all payments are down to fraud or error.

The opposition Labour party launched a furious attack on ‘nasty’ Conservative ministers for publishing statistics.

Shadow Immigration Minister Chris Bryant told the BBC Mr Grayling’s figures were not helpful.

“More than half the people that he’s talking about are British citizens – we have no idea when they came to this country,” he said.

“These could be people who came in the late 1930s or 1940s as children, then got British citizenship, worked all their lives, paid National Insurance, paid tax and are now in receipt of benefits.”

He added: “What the figures do show is that migrants into this country are more likely to be in work than British people. 6.6 per cent of working-age non-UK nationals were claiming benefits, compared with 16.6 per cent of  working-age UK nationals.”

He suggested the real intention was to “divert attention” from the fact the government was struggling to meet its pledge to cut net migration to below 100,000 by the end of this Parliament.

MigrationWatch UK, which campaigns for tougher controls on immigration, said the evidence was unclear but something was “clearly not right”.

Chairman Sir Andrew Green told Today: “I’m very glad that ministers now responsible are saying in turns that the immigration system is in a serious mess.”

He said the sheer scale of immigration put “huge pressure” on public services and there had been no link until now between the immigration and benefit systems. Source: BBC

Last week ago anti-immigration groups were complaining that migrants were taking too many jobs away from British workers. Now they are implying that migrants are all on benefits.

A recent Office for National Statistics report looked at trends in Eastern European migration and it said that just over 300,000 workers arrived in the UK during the recession. It said there was a “growing body of evidence” that A8 workers were taking jobs that local employers find hard to fill with domestic workers.

The Home Office said it was working to reduce net migration.

“Controlled migration can bring benefits to the UK economy, but uncontrolled immigration can put pressure on public services, infrastructure and community relations,” a spokesman said.

“That is why we are ensuring graduates and the workforce get the opportunities and skills they need so that they can find work, and why we have maintained restrictions on workers from Romania and Bulgaria, and made it clear we will always introduce transitional controls on new European Union member states to stop unregulated access to British jobs.”

Even though they are EU members, when it comes to employment Bulgarian and Romanian citizens do not have the same rights as other Europeans, for instance from Poland, Slovakia or other A8 Accession countries. See: Free Movement of EU nationals explained.

Bulgarians and Romanians coming to the UK on Yellow Card registration permits can work and study full time on vocational courses such as NVQ or QCF courses in Health and Social Care.  

See also:

7 tips for completing a Yellow Card BR1 application to work and study in the UK

Immigration Rules for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals 

Bulgarian and Romanian applications – UKBA issue new application form and guidance

British youth unemployment link to immigration rise pressure group claims

HOW TO FIND APPLICATION FORMS FOR A ‘YELLOW’ OR ‘BLUE’ CARD REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE ON THE UK BORDER AGENCY WEBSITE

Free Movement of EU nationals explained

Health care workers needed in UK now

Employment restrictions for Bulgarians and Romanians extended until end of 2013

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Majestic College offer special packages for EU students. They also have a number of employers looking for staff right now and are willing to employ Bulgarians and Romanians.

For more information call Joanna on 0208 207 1020 or email info@majesticcollege.org

Accession worker card applicants from Bulgaria and Romania should now use the new ‘01/2012’ versions of the BR3 form and ‘guidance notes for Bulgarians and Romanians who want to work in the UK‘ when applying for an accession worker card.

The UKBA said the ‘amended versions have been published to make changes to the BR3 application form to allow for a Bulgarian or Romanian work permit application and the BR3 application to be caseworked simultaneously to avoid delays’.

You can download the form and notes from the ‘Work permits and accession worker cards‘ page on the UK Border Agency website. Source: UK Border Agency.

Bulgarian and Romanian yellow card applicants for student or self employment should continue to use Form BR1.

Unlike other EU members, Bulgarian and Romanian citizens will not have unrestricted ‘free movement’ rights to work in the UK until at least the end of 2013. 

See also:

7 tips for completing a Yellow Card BR1 application to work and study in the UK

Immigration Rules for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals

HOW TO FIND APPLICATION FORMS FOR A ‘YELLOW’ OR ‘BLUE’ CARD REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE ON THE UK BORDER AGENCY WEBSITE

Free Movement of EU nationals explained

Health care workers needed in UK now

Employment restrictions for Bulgarians and Romanians extended until end of 2013

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Majestic College offer special packages for EU students. They also have a number of employers looking for staff right now and are willing to employ Bulgarians and Romanians.

For more information call Joanna on 0208 207 1020 or email info@majesticcollege.org

On 19 December 2011 the UK government’s Ministry of Justice brought in new charges for some asylum, immigration and visa appeals and introduced new procedures for submitting appeals against refusals. Fees of £80 for a ‘paper consideration’, a decision made by an Immigration Judge on papers without a hearing, and £140 for a full oral hearing at a tribunal will be applied to appeals against decisions taken on or after 19 December 2011.

East London sham marriage couple jailed

A London ‘couple’ who flew in European brides as part of an immigration scam enabling Bangladeshi men obtain indefinite leave to remain in the UK illegally have been jailed for a total of 6 years, the UK Border Agency has confirmed.

Important UK Border Agency update for Tier 4 sponsors – educational oversight and other changes

The UK Border Agency has made the following announcement aimed at Tier 4 sponsors.

UKBA announce technical problems with online appointment booking service

The UK Border Agency has announced that there are still technical problems with the online booking service.

British unemployment not caused by immigration new study reveals

Following this week’s claim by Migrationwatch UK, a study by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research published by the Independent strongly refutes claim that foreign nationals are depriving British-born workers of jobs.

British youth unemployment link to immigration rise pressure group claims

There is ‘probably’ a link between rising youth unemployment in Britain and an increase in migration from eastern Europe, a report from an anti-immigration pressure group claims today.

Asylum family win compensation for being detained after eight years with a little help from Colin Firth and Harry Potter author JK Rowling

A Kurdish family of asylum seekers has won a six-figure out of court payout from the Home Office after being held in detention for more than a year when they were children, The Telegraph reports. In another high profile case in Scotland last year, former X Factor contestant Gamu Nhengu and her family won their immigration appeal and right to remain in the UK after a public campaign with the backing of Simon Cowell despite breaking immigration rules.

7 tips for completing a Yellow Card BR1 application to work and study in the UK

With Yellow Card student applications for Bulgarians and Romanians taking 3 to 6 months to process, getting it right first time is vital. Bulgarians and Romanians exercising treaty rights as students under Yellow Card registration certificates are reporting that their applications are taking between three and six months to be processed and approved by the UK Border Agency Full story…

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Majestic College offer special packages for EU students. They also have a number of employers looking for staff right now and are willing to employ Bulgarians and Romanians.

For more information call Joanna on 0208 207 1020 or email info@majesticcollege.org

Mohammed Tanin, a 26-year-old Bangladeshi, and Maria Marques, a 47-year-old Portuguese, were arrested at their home in Willis Street, Tower Hamlets, in March 2011 by our officers. Both were convicted at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 7 December following a 15-day trial, and sentenced at the same court today – Tanin to 4 years to run concurrently and Marques to 2 years.

The pair first came to the attention of investigators after their names appeared in a notebook belonging to a West Midlands man convicted of running a sham marriage ring. Both had married at the Registry Office, Bow Church, in November 2009 prompting further investigation.

The couple had been stopped by our officers on their arrival at Luton Airport in June 2010, after they were found travelling with several Portuguese women whose travel documents they were carrying. Later enquiries showed that Tanin had paid for the flights and all were allowed to enter the UK.

Over an 18-day period in July 2010 the we received certificate of approval applications for 4 Bangladeshi men in the UK on valid student visas to marry 4 of the Portuguese women. This is the first stage that could have enabled the Bangladeshis to apply to remain in the UK once their current visas expired.

Eventually the men would have been able to apply for UK naturalisation and a British passport based on the sham marriages.

The agency’s north and east London criminal and financial investigation team acted quickly and arrested all 4 Bangladeshi men who made full admissions implicating Tanin and Marques, admitting they’d paid varying amounts of between £2,000 and £3,000 to facilitate their fraudulent applications. Forensic examination linked Tanin to each application. The 4 would later appear as witnesses in Marques and Tanin’s trial.

When Tanin and Marques were arrested officers seized evidence showing Tanin attempted to develop a ‘legend’ for each of the ‘brides to be’ with forged documentation and payments into individual bank accounts. He attempted to create the false impression that each was working at an Indian Restaurant in Orpington, adding authenticity to the fraudulent applications.

Giving evidence in the trial the restaurant manager said Tanin had been employed as a temporary delivery driver and that none of the Portuguese brides ever worked for him. He confirmed that the paperwork created by Tanin purporting to be issued by his restaurant was false and did not match with records.

Supporting documents further incriminating Tanin were found when officers examined his laptop. Both he and Marques were charged with conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK Immigration law.

Two Portuguese ‘brides’ arrested in connection with the operation were both charged with conspiring with Tanin and Marques to facilitate breaches of immigration law and sentenced to 14 days each at the same court today.

The 2 remaining ‘brides’ have not been traced and are believed to have returned to Portugal.

Atiq Haque, north and east London criminal and financial investigation team, UK Border Agency said:

‘Tanin and Marques were at the heart of this scam and used money to lure these women into marrying men they had never met.

‘This case shows the desperate nature of immigration crime with large sums of money changing hands and people being prepared to enter into a full marriage with someone they barely know simply to cheat the immigration system.

‘The UK Border Agency will not tolerate immigration abuse, and we are cracking down on sham marriages all over the country. As the sentences handed out today shows, those who seek to cheat immigration laws face heavy penalties.’

The north and east London criminal and financial investigation team is a specialist unit of seconded police officers from the Metropolitan Police Service working alongside warranted UK Border Agency officers to investigate organised immigration crime.

The agency said that anyone who has information about suspicious marriages or other forms of immigration abuse should contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where anonymity can be assured. Source: UK Border Agency.

See also:

Romanian man jailed for smuggling immigrants into UK

Judge rules that Irish Republic and Northern Ireland visa-free ‘common travel area’ not for benefit of foreign travellers

People smuggling gang ring leader jailed for 5 years

Sham marriage fixers jailed

Church of England Vicar facing jail for 31 sham marriages for illegal brides and grooms

EU and non-EU workers take more UK jobs as number of Britons in work plunges

Health care workers needed in UK now

HOW TO FIND APPLICATION FORMS FOR A ‘YELLOW’ OR ‘BLUE’ CARD REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE ON THE UK BORDER AGENCY WEBSITE

Free Movement of EU nationals explained

Immigration Rules for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa, ILR/Settlement, Citizenship, dependant visa or an appeal against a refusal please email: 

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk

Majestic College offer special packages for EU students. They also have a number of employers looking for staff right now and are willing to employ Bulgarians and Romanians.

For more information call Joanna on 0208 207 1020 or email info@majesticcollege.org