On 17 January 2022, the Home Office published guidance on concessions for Afghans who are in the UK on study and work routes. They relate to the provision of supporting documents and restrictions on switching immigration routes in the UK.

Switching 

The Immigration Rules have switching restrictions on some routes. For instance, you cannot switch to a Skilled Worker visa if you are in the UK on a visit visa. Under the rules, an individual must leave the UK and make an out of country entry clearance application.

In light of the volatile situation in Afghanistan, the Home Office recognises this may not be a possibility for Afghan nationals who would otherwise be eligible for other immigration routes. Therefore, this concession seeks to waive this requirement, provided the applicant meets the eligibility criteria.

To apply, the applicant must confirm in writing that they wish to apply under this concession, stating their reasons for making an in-country application.

Document evidence  

Applicants may not be able to provide all the documents required for their application under the relevant route. The applicant must provide a letter explaining why they cannot provide the required document.

There is no need to provide detailed evidence in support of the letter however the applicant must give a ‘sufficient and reasonable explanation’. The guidance sets out acceptable explanations such as the institution from which the document is required is no longer functioning or no one else can reasonably be expected to obtain the document on the applicant’s behalf because it is unsafe.

The requirement to provide the document may be waived if the Home Office is satisfied a document from Afghanistan cannot reasonably be obtained.

Eligibility 

The key requirements for both concessions are as follows:

1)  The applicant must be an Afghan national, or their dependent partner or child.

2)  They must be in the UK lawfully or have been granted an exceptional assurance or where they have overstayed it can only be for a very short time as allowed by the Immigration Rules.

3)  They must have lawfully entered the UK prior to 1 September 2021 or made an application for a visa by that date and arrived later, on a temporary route. The list of routes can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghan-nationals.

4)  They must be applying for permission to stay on one of these work or study routes:

• • • Skilled Worker (including Health and Care Visa)
    • Global Talent
    • Student
    • Child Student
    • Parent of a Child Student
    • Intra-company Routes
    • Representative of an Overseas Business
    • T2 Minister of Religion
    • International Sportsperson
    • Temporary Work – Creative Worker/Charity Worker/Religious Worker/Government Authorised Exchange/International Agreement
    • UK Ancestry (main applicant must hold Commonwealth citizenship)
    • Investor
    • Start-up
    • Innovator

5)  They must meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules for the route on which they are applying, subject to these concessions.

Under the guidance, dependants can also switch in line with the main applicant or become a main applicant provided they meet the criteria.

It should be noted that applicants must meet all the criteria above otherwise their application will not be considered under the concessions. Further to this, the guidance states that the decision maker will consider each application on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all circumstances.

These concessions will be applied to all decisions made from 14 January 2022 and will be reviewed in a year.

Although temporary, the introduction of these concessions is welcomed, and will no doubt have a positive impact on the lives of many Afghan nationals.

If you require immigration 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.

 

 

 

 

On 24 December 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care announced that certain categories of care workers would be added to the Shortage Occupation List, and therefore become eligible to apply for a 12-month health and care worker visa as of early 2022.

The announcement comes after the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), an independent public body which advises the government on migration issues, highlighted in its annual report that it was becoming more difficult for care providers to recruit and retain workers. One of the reasons for this is that, after, Brexit care workers can no longer be recruited as before from the European Economic Area. In that same report, the MAC recommended that the UK government make care workers and home carers immediately eligible for the health and care worker visa, as well as adding these occupations to the Shortage Occupation List, a list of occupations where the UK government believes employers are facing a shortage of labour.

A health and care worker visa allows medical professionals to come and work in the UK in a job with the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care. At the moment, only senior care workers can apply for a health and care worker visa. The government’s announcement, however, means that care assistants, care workers, carers, home care assistants, home carers and support workers (nursing home) will soon become eligible to apply for this visa.  Adding these occupations to the Shortage Occupation List means that employers can sponsor care workers at a minimum salary of £20,480 per year, which is lower than the minimum salary threshold normally needing to be met for a health and care worker visa.

The government has stated that this is a temporary measure in place for 12 months, while the care sector copies with the ongoing pandemic, after which it will be reviewed. While the government states that a health and care visa will offer care workers a route to indefinite leave to remain if they remain employed and wish to remain in the UK, future Home Office guidance would have to clarify how this would be possible if care workers were to be later removed from the Shortage Occupation List and no longer eligible to apply under the health and care visa route. The government has not yet updated its rules and guidance on the health and care visa route to account for care workers, although they are likely to remain similar to the ones currently in place.

If you require immigration advice in relation to the issues above, we would be happy to help.  Care providers who are looking to recruit care workers from overseas would need to hold a Home Office licence allowing them to sponsor under the health and care visa route, and we would be happy to advise about these issues too. Please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 7401 6887 or by email at contact@gryklaw.com.

The so-called “prestigious prize” visa route was launched in May of this year and was intended to make it easier for academics or researchers to apply to come to the United Kingdom.  At the time of the launch of the visa, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, stated:

Winners of these awards have reached the pinnacle of their career and they have so much to offer the UK. This is exactly what our new point based immigration system was designed for – attracting the best and brightest based on the skills and talent they have, not where they have come from.

It has been widely reported in the Press recently that not a single scientist has applied under the fast track visa route which was intended for prize award winners in science, engineering, the humanities and medicine.  Many scientists have been dismissive of the scheme stating it is far too narrow and would only allow a tiny handful of talented people to apply.

But does the Global Talent visa allow people who are not necessarily at the ‘pinnacle’ of the scientific world or creative world to apply?  The answer to this is a resounding ‘yes’.

The Global Talent visa allows people who are leaders in their field or potential leaders in their field to apply and be endorsed by a designated endorsement body such as Tech Nation, the British Academy, the Royal Society for Science and Medicine, or Arts Council England.  The beauty of the visa is that an individual does not need to be sponsored by their employer and has access to the labour market in the United Kingdom as an employee or on a self employed basis.  So for example, academics can work at a university without being tied to them.  Actors, performers and musicians can develop their careers in the United Kingdom, supporting themselves for example through teaching. Those endorsed by Tech Nation may have technical skills or business skills in the field of technology and can come here to develop businesses or run their start ups.  In short, a large number of people are able to qualify, even if they are towards the beginning of their careers.

The process is a two stage process: an applicant initially applies to the endorsement body and if endorsed can then apply for a visa.  This is a category which leads to indefinite leave to remain, although of course there are some criteria that need to be fulfilled before that is possible, including showing that you have worked in your field of expertise in the United Kingdom.

So despite the off putting headlines that nobody has been granted a fast track visa and that you have to be unbelievably talented and experienced, this does not paint the full picture.  Successful cases for Global Talent visas have ranged from applicants just leaving university, to people who are well established in the field in which they have built their career.  If you fall within the remit of one of the endorsement bodies, it may well be worth you looking at the criteria which they assess against to see if you may be eligible.

We have expertise in submitting applications to the various endorsement bodies and are able to guide applicants through the process.  If you would like to discuss a possible application with us further, please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 7401 6887 or contact Alison@gryklaw.com