Diana Baxter recently gave her thoughts on the upcoming rise in the minimum income requirement.

I have now published an article on how to avoid the minimum income requirement for partners on the excellent Free Movement site:

How to avoid the minimum income requirement for partners under Appendix FM – Free Movement

 

On 29 March 2023, the Law Commission published its proposals for surrogacy law reform in the UK.  This followed their research and discussions going back to 2018.  I was involved in those discussions on behalf of the Law Society.  I know that the Law Commission were committed to hearing responses from many different viewpoints and balancing those responses. They took their responsibilities very seriously.

While the Law Commission’s proposals are a positive step for those who are able to arrange a surrogacy in the UK, they are more limited for those who enter into international surrogacy arrangements.

The Law Commission have proposed a new pathway which would replace the current parental orders, but international surrogacy arrangements would be excluded from that pathway and parental orders would still need to be obtained. On the positive side, the Law Commission has proposed:

 

• Improvements to the speed and efficiency of existing nationality and immigration processes;
• An amendment to British nationality law so that more children would be born automatically British;
• The introduction of clearer guidance;
• Updating the current ‘outside the rules’ visa policy and bringing it within the Immigration Rules.

 

It should be stressed that these are just proposals and it is up to the government to decide whether to adopt any or all of the Law Commission’s recommendations. We await a response from the government.

 

For now, we continue as before and we are, of course, happy to advise on any immigration nationality issues relating to international surrogacy agreements.

For Pride month, the US Presidential Scholars Foundation & Alumni Association project ‘Scholar Perspectives on Societal Change: Sexuality, Gender, and Identity’ published an essay by our founder, Wesley Gryk. In that essay, Wesley recounts his very personal experience of being a gay man during more than half a century of what have been unprecedented historical positive changes in societal attitudes in some parts of the world. He cautions that the impact of such changes may often depend on the personal circumstances of the individual concerned and, in particular, warns against complacency, given that large swathes of the globe remain unaffected by such progress and, further, that such progress which has been achieved could easily be erased.

Read the essay here:

Wesley Gryk 2022 — Presidential Scholars Foundation

Updates to the Youth Mobility Scheme


This month, UK Visas & Immigration has updated its guidance to caseworkers on the Youth Mobility Scheme.

The guidance has been updated to reflect the addition of Iceland and India to the scheme from 1 January 2022.

The guidance now states that an applicant must be one of the following:

• a British Overseas Citizen, British Overseas Territories Citizen or British National (Overseas) as defined by the British Nationality Act 1981

• a national or citizen of a country or the holder of a passport issued by a territory, listed in Appendix Youth Mobility Scheme: eligible nationals. The countries and territories listed in Appendix Youth Mobility Scheme: eligible nationals of the Immigration Rules are:

• Australia
• Canada
• Hong Kong
• Iceland
• India
• Japan
• Monaco
• New Zealand
• Republic of Korea
• San Marino
• Taiwan Page

However, potential Indian citizen applicants are going to have to be a little patient, the first Indian ballot has not yet been announced and the general guidance to applicants states:

India Young Professionals Scheme

Do not use this page to enter the ballot for the India Young Professionals Scheme. The ballot for Indian nationals is not open yet.

No date for the ballot has yet been given.

When the scheme does open, Indian Citizens will need to be aware that there are 3000 visas available per year (relatively few given the size of population) and Indian Citizens need to meet an extra requirement based on qualifications or work experience.