Immigration Rules Amendments Overview

The right of a person to live in and come and go from the UK without restrictions, except for procedures to establish their right or any other lawful restrictions.

A process where someone's right of abode in the UK is taken away due to specific reasons, such as security threats or criminal activity.

General rules and regulations governing entry and stay in the UK. This includes granting or refusing permission to enter or stay in the country based on specific criteria.

Further rules governing the process of obtaining permission to enter the UK.

The process by which someone who is already in the UK can request an extension of their stay.

A procedure where an individual can apply for an extension of their current permission to stay in the UK while waiting for a decision on their visa application variation.

A process outlining the procedures and rules for deporting individuals from the UK.

A court's recommendation for deportation of an individual based on their actions or activities.

A British Citizen, a person who is a British subject residing in the United Kingdom, or a British Overseas Territories citizen connected with Gibraltar.

This section focuses on the criminal offense of facilitating the entry of asylum seekers into the UK.

It's against the law to knowingly help someone enter the UK if you believe they're an asylum seeker.

A 'facilitator' is someone who helps someone else enter the UK.

It's legal to help asylum seekers if it's done by a charity that offers free assistance.

Someone who intends to claim that their removal from the UK would violate the UK's obligations under the Refugee Convention or the Human Rights Convention.

This section establishes general offenses related to the administration of the Immigration Act.

This section includes specific offenses related to the administration of the Immigration Act.

A British citizen by birth, who is married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen, can apply for British citizenship if they meet the requirements of Schedule 1.

An applicant for naturalisation must meet the requirements of Schedule 1 of the British Nationality Act to be eligible.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department has the power to grant naturalisation and issue a certificate of naturalisation if the applicant meets all requirements.

Adults and young people seeking registration as a British citizen must demonstrate good character to be granted the application.

Adults and youngsters applying for British overseas territories citizenship under section 17C must prove good character for their application to be successful.

Adults and young people applying for British citizenship under specific sections of the Nationality Act, including those related to marriage and civil partnership, need to prove good character.

The Secretary of State determines if an applicant is of good character based on evidence provided by the applicant.

If the Secretary of State is not satisfied with the applicant's good character, the application for registration or naturalisation will likely be rejected.

If an individual is outside the UK and has a decision against them that they want to appeal, they must submit the appeal notice within 28 days of their departure from the UK, if they were in the UK when the decision was made and are unable to appeal while in the UK due to legal restrictions. Otherwise, they must submit the appeal within 28 days of receiving the decision notification.

This rule establishes the deadline for submitting an appeal notice when an individual is outside the UK but does not apply to appeals related to citizens' rights immigration decisions.

A citizens' rights immigration decision is subject to different appeal deadlines compared to standard immigration decisions.

If an individual is within the UK and wants to appeal a citizens' rights immigration decision, they must submit the appeal notice within 14 days of receiving the decision notification. If they're outside the UK, the deadline is 28 days.

This paragraph applies when someone requests an administrative review of a citizens' rights immigration decision and hasn't started legal proceedings regarding the original decision before receiving the administrative review notice.

If someone is in the UK, they need to submit the appeal notice within 14 days of receiving the administrative review decision, or if they withdrew the administrative review, within 14 days of withdrawal. If someone is outside the UK, the deadline is 28 days from receiving the administrative review decision or within 28 days of withdrawing the review.

A person is in breach of immigration laws if they are an overstayer, an illegal entrant, or have breached their permission conditions. They are also in breach if they used deception in their entry clearance or permission application.

A person has previously breached immigration laws if they overstayed a previous visa or used deception in a past entry clearance or permission application.

Any day except Saturday, Sunday, bank holidays (UK), Christmas Day, or Good Friday.

An electronic document with a unique reference issued by a sponsor using the Sponsorship Management System, or a record linked to a Sponsorship Reference Number given to an applicant through the “Sponsor a Worker” scheme.

A year from 1 January to 31 December.

An act that cancels, changes the duration, or shortens the validity of entry clearance or permission.

A person under the age of 18.

A legally recognized partnership between two people of the same sex under the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

A person is considered to have a right of abode in the UK if they were in the UK for at least 5 years, were not absent for more than 450 days in that period, and for the last 12 months, were not absent for over 90 days, were not subject to immigration restrictions, and were not in breach of immigration laws.

If someone meets the requirements for right of abode, but is serving overseas in Crown service, this is also considered to be in the UK for this purpose

In certain cases, the Secretary of State can waive the requirement to have been in the UK for 5 years continuous if someone was not in the UK at the beginning of the 5-year period.

The Secretary of State can also waive the requirement to have been in the UK for the last 5 years if someone was absent for more than 450 days or for more than 90 days in the last 12 months.

The Secretary of State can treat someone as having been in the UK for a period of time when they were considered to be absent, according to the specific rules.

The Secretary of State can disregard any restrictions on the period someone could stay in the UK, unless those restrictions applied on the date of application.

If someone was in breach of the immigration laws in the 5 year period, the Secretary of State can still grant them right of abode.

The Secretary of State may waive the requirement to fulfill certain conditions for right of abode if the applicant is old, physically unwell, or mentally unwell and it would be unreasonable to expect them to fulfill those conditions