Andrew Jones

Suitability rule changes for partner and parent applications

10th April 2026 By Andrew Jones

Quietly, the government has recently introduced significant changes to the suitability rules which apply to those who are the spouse or parent of a British citizen or settled person. These changes are in force now, and are likely to impact a range of applicants, including those who have already been granted visas on this basis before.

In summary, there are no longer separate suitability requirements for those applying on the family routes. In this blog, we will highlight some of the most significant changes.

Introduction of re-entry bans

For the first time, there are now mandatory re-entry bans for those applying under the family routes where the applicant has breached immigration law in the past. Previously, the family routes were exempted from these re-entry bans. This is no longer the case, meaning that if somebody has, for example, overstayed before leaving the UK to apply under the family routes, they will need to wait 12 months after they leave before applying, leaving families separated.

Discretionary refusal for previous breaches of immigration law

Outside of the mandatory re-entry bans, there is now a broad, discretionary power to refuse applications where the applicant has previously breached immigration law, at any time in the past. This applies to applications made in-country, too, including applications for indefinite leave to remain.

There is a tension here, because the family route rules include a set of exceptions for those who do not meet the immigration status requirements. Presumably, this discretionary power would not be used in such cases. However, there will be applicants who meet the immigration status requirements, and have perhaps been on a family route for some time, who may be at risk of refusal on the grounds of historic overstaying or other immigration breach. We will need to wait and see how this provision is used in practice.

Expansion of criminality grounds for refusal

There are also a series of changes which would allow the Home Office to refuse applications on the basis of a far wider range of criminality.

Firstly, the rules have changed to treat suspended sentences the same as custodial sentences, even where they are not activated. As a result, they will be treated differently to non-custodial sentences (despite being wholly non-custodial in many cases). Therefore, if an applicant has a suspended sentence of 12 months or more, they fall for refusal under the suitability rules. This presents an unusual dynamic whereby it may be more advantageous for an applicant to have a short custodial sentence on their criminal record than a suspended sentence in which they spend no time in prison.

Secondly, the family rules used to set time limits, whereafter criminality may not necessarily be a ground for refusal. For example, where an applicant had received a custodial sentence of less than 12 months, this would normally only lead to an application being refusal if it was made within five years of the end of that sentence. This has been replaced by two broad rules: any sentence of 12 months or longer is a mandatory ground for refusal, and any other criminal penalty may be a ground for refusal at any time. The Home Office guidance sets out various factors to be taken into account.

Impact on applicants

These are significant changes which will lead to many applicants – including those who have been lawfully resident in the UK on family routes for a long time – facing a risk of refusal on suitability grounds. There remain some provisions for the grant of permission to stay on the family routes under exceptional circumstances.

Regardless, the rules are now substantially harsher – with far reaching and inflexible mandatory grounds for refusal – and less predictable, as the Home Office will have more discretion to refuse applications on suitability grounds. This may come as a surprise to many, including those already on these routes, and we would recommend taking timely advice if you are concerned about any issues set out in this blog.

We can be contacted through our website, by phone on 020 7401 6887 or by email at contact@gryklaw.com.

Indefinite Leave to Remain: What Do the Reform UK and Labour Party Proposals Mean?

13th October 2025 By Andrew Jones

Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) has been in the news recently, with both Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Labour Party making announcements on the issue at their party conferences.

Many migrants in the UK are confused and concerned. So, what have they said, and what does it actually mean?

Reform UK announcement

Reform UK announced that it would abolish ILR and require all migrants (even those previously granted ILR) to apply for renewable five-year visas, which would only be available to those on high salaries who meet other strict criteria. The stated intention of this policy would be to force many who currently have ILR to leave the UK on the basis that they would not meet the new visa criteria. This proposal would not apply to anyone with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

What does this mean?

It is important to stress that Reform UK are not in government and, at least at this time, do not have the power to change the law. This is simply a political statement of a policy Reform UK says that it would implement if they became the government. This could only happen after a general election, which is not likely to take place for several years. Although Reform UK are leading in many polls at the moment, it is impossible to predict the result of the next election.

Therefore, despite the widespread coverage of this announcement, it does not represent a change in the law.

Labour Party announcement

At the Labour Party conference, the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced plans to require all migrants to complete a qualifying period of 10 years’ residence before being eligible for ILR. This follows on from the government’s ‘immigration white paper’, which indicated something similar, but also stated that some migrants will remain eligible for ILR after five years in certain circumstances. ILR applicants would need to demonstrate that they can speak English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and have made a contribution to their community before they would be eligible. These proposals will be put to a consultation shortly before the government announces any changes.

What does this mean?

This announcement should be taken more seriously. The Labour Party are the government and can change immigration laws. However, there is a lot of ambiguity in this announcement.

Firstly, the announcement was very broad, and failed to note that there are many different visa routes with their own timescales and requirements for ILR. Many migrants are already on a 10-year route to indefinite leave to remain, or indeed on visas which do not lead to indefinite leave to remain at all. The government’s white paper earlier this year, indicated that this change would not impact those who are in the UK on visas as the partner of a British or settled person. We do not know if that has changed. Furthermore, that White Paper identified the Global Talent visa route as one the government intended to promote, which may imply that it would be exempt from any changes to the ILR rules. It is also unclear whether the change impacts those already in the UK on a five-year route to ILR. Previous government releases indicated that it would, but other reports suggest otherwise.

This latest announcement did not clarify whether there would still be an accelerated five-year route to ILR under any new rules and, if so, what the criteria for that would be.

Those who are applying for ILR already need to prove their English aptitude and can be refused on grounds of criminality. We do not know what, if any, changes are being made to those aspects of the rules.

Conclusion

In summary, there has been a lot of talk about ILR recently, but very little concrete detail. The proposals are being put to a consultation, and so nothing is likely to change in the immediate future.

This makes it difficult to predict what people’s pathways to ILR will look like in 12 months’ time. All we can recommend at this stage to anyone concerned about this is to pay attention to any future government announcements.

We would recommend taking specialist legal advice before making any significant changes to your personal circumstances in light of these announcements.

Until and unless any Immigration Rules change, migrants remain eligible for ILR under the existing rules. That date is often sooner than many people realise, as applicants may be able to rely upon time spent on different visas routes or time waiting for a decision on a visa application. Those with ILR may also be eligible to naturalise as British citizens, which is the most secure immigration status one can have. We regularly assist with applications for ILR and British citizenship, so please do not hesitate to get in contact if you need any assistance.

Changes in April 2024

9th February 2024 By Andrew Jones

We are expecting a number of significant changes which will impact migrants this spring. The Home Office has recently announced that the following four will come into force in April 2024:

1. Increase in the earnings threshold for Skilled Workers

On 14 March 2024, the government intends to publish changes to the Immigration Rules to increase the salary requirement for Skilled Workers from £26,200 to £38,700. This will come into force from 4 April 2024.

There will be some exceptions. Those on a Health and Care Visa, or workers on national pay scale occupations, will be exempt. The rules will not apply retrospectively to those who already have, or have already applied for, Skilled Worker leave.

2. Increase in the minimum income requirement for partners

From 11 April 2024, the minimum income requirement for those applying for family visas under Appendix FM will increase from £18,600 to £29,000. We also know that this threshold will be increasing in stages to £34,500 in late 2024 and again to £38,700 in early 2025.

We expect the cash savings requirements under the same rules to increase. Currently the level of savings required is determined through a calculation of £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall below the minimum income requirement. We do not know if the £16,000 baseline is set to change as yet.

Again, the rules will not apply retrospectively to those already on the family route, or to those who submit applications before the changes come into force. Diana Baxter addressed this change, and the minimum income requirement for partners more generally, in her blog here.

3. Changes to the Shortage Occupation List

In early April, the Shortage Occupation List will become the Immigration Salary List. The Shortage Occupation List is currently determined by the work of the Migration Advisory Committee, who will now be tasked with recommending occupations to be added to the Immigration Salary List.

At the moment, licenced employers can offer a discounted salary of 20% under the going rate for jobs on the Shortage Occupation List. This will be removed in early April. It remains to be seen what advantage, if any, there will be to a job being on the Immigration Skills List.

4. Move to new ‘e-visa’ system

Biometric Residence Permits (‘BRPs’) are being phased out. Currently BRPs are issued with a valid until date of 31 December 2024, even where the person has leave beyond that date. In their place, the government is intending to transition everyone to a ‘digital status’ via a UK Visas and Immigration (‘UKVI’) online account.

There are a range of BRP holders, including Skilled Workers, Global Talent visa holders and those with leave under the EU Settlement Scheme, who already have a UKVI account. On 25 January 2024, the Minister for Legal Migration announced that the Home Office will begin contacting BRP holders who do not have a UKVI account from April 2024 to create one.

This will be a significant undertaking to ensure everyone with a BRP has a UKVI account in an eight-month period. The Home Office will be well aware that the EU Settlement Scheme was plagued with communication issues which meant that thousands of people who needed to apply under the scheme were unaware or unable to do so. We cannot tell at this stage what lessons have been learned from the EU Settlement Scheme and the Windrush scandal to ensure that nobody falls through the cracks.

Home Office announces steep application fee increases

3rd August 2023 By Andrew Jones

On 13 July 2023, the government announced that it is going to introduce a massive increase to the cost of immigration applications and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). The government stated, and the Home Secretary confirmed, that the reason for these increases is to cover pay-rises for certain public sector workers. It is not clear what the connection is between visa application fees and public sector pay, nor whether it is even lawful to increase fees on this basis.

We still do not know when these increases will be introduced, although we expect it to be at some point in the autumn. The exact figures have not been announced, but we know that the cost of work and visit visas will increase by 15%, while the fees will increase by 20% for most other visas. The IHS will be increasing from £624 per year to £1,035 per year.

This is a staggering hike in the cost of applying for visas and leave to remain. The cost of the IHS, in particular, has increased exponentially. As recently as the start of January 2019, the IHS cost £200 per year, meaning that in less than five years the cost will have increased more than fivefold.

These increases place migrants already in the United Kingdom in a very difficult position. An applicant who applied in-country for a partner visa on March 2017 would have paid a total of £1,311: £811 for the application fee and £500 for the IHS. Assuming this person is applying to extend on the 10-year route to settlement, their next application looks set to cost them more than £3,845. The overall cost to families with more than one applicant, especially on visas such as the Skilled Worker or Global Talent routes where they may apply for five years at a time, will be eye-watering.

Who needs to act now?

Migrants who already have leave to remain will, for the most part, need to wait until near to where their leave is expiring before applying for further leave. Whether they will have to pay these higher fees will simply be a matter of when they are able to make that next application.

However, there will be people who can take action now to apply under the current fees. Overstayers looking to regularise their status, or applicants with valid leave looking to switch into a different visa category, would be well advised to apply as soon as possible. Those looking to apply on routes which require a prior endorsement, such as Global Talent and Innovator Founder, should take steps as soon as possible to apply for that endorsement. On the Global Talent route, it is possible to apply for the endorsement and leave to remain simultaneously, which may be worth the gamble to avoid paying higher fees.

What if you cannot afford the fees?

Migrants looking to apply for leave based on their human rights (in particular, those applying as a partner or a parent) may be eligible for a fee waiver. To be eligible for a fee waiver, an applicant simply needs to show that they cannot afford the application fees, or that if they did pay for the fees then they would not be able to afford their essential livings costs and/or doing so would harm their child’s wellbeing.

A likely side-effect to these increased fees will be that a large group of applicants will become eligible for a fee waiver on the basis that they cannot afford the new fees (but may have been able to save up to afford the current fees).

Conclusion

If you would like assistance applying for leave before the fees increase, or need advice on your eligibility for a fee waiver, feel free to make an enquiry.

Landmark High Court Case on Transnational Marriage Abandonment

4th November 2022 By Andrew Jones

Migrants who are in the United Kingdom as the partner of a British citizen can apply for indefinite leave to remain if that relationship breaks down permanently because of domestic abuse.

However, if that migrant is outside of the United Kingdom, they cannot apply for indefinite leave. That is because the wording of the Rules makes clear that the application can only be made from inside the United Kingdom.

This becomes a particular problem for migrants (usually women) who are victims of transnational marriage abandonment. This is a phenomenon whereby an abusive partner deliberately removes their partner from the United Kingdom, often by deception, and then leaves them stranded abroad. Common features of transnational marriage abandonment include taking away the woman’s visa and travel documents and the abusive partner contacting the Home Office to declare that the relationship has ended so that the woman’s visa is curtailed. These women have no recourse under the Immigration Rules to return to the United Kingdom, whereas if they were still in the United Kingdom, they would be eligible for indefinite leave to remain. This is the case even though transnational marriage abandonment has been recognised in the Family Courts as a form of domestic violence.

Nath Gbikpi set out this issue in further detail in an earlier blog.

On 14 October 2022, the High Court found that by treating victims of domestic violence differently depending on whether or not they are in the United Kingdom, victims of transnational marriage abandonment are being unlawfully discriminated against. The Home Office will now have to introduce new Rules and guidance to ensure that victims of transnational marriage abandonment are treated the same as victims of domestic violence who are in the United Kingdom. This should mean that they will be able to apply for indefinite leave to enter.

In the meantime, however, many women will have been excluded from indefinite leave on the basis of this discriminatory treatment. Some may have returned to the United Kingdom on different visas. It remains to be seen whether the Home Office will allow them to apply for indefinite leave to remain, too.

Our Diana Baxter wrote a detailed analysis on this issue on Lexis Nexis.

If you require advice in relation to the above, we would be happy to help. Please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or by email at contact@gryklaw.com.