Immigration Rules: The Latest Changes

The Home Office published a statement of changes to the immigration rules (HC 617) in September, most of which took effect at various dates in October 2021. Below, we summarise some of the changes we think employers and applicants should be aware of.

Coronavirus concessions

Some of the Covid-19 concessions created since the pandemic are set to be added to the Immigration Rules. These include:

• Changes for Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa holders whose businesses have been adversely affected by the pandemic. For example, if an employee has spent time on furlough, this will count towards the job creation requirement
• Changes to the EU settlement scheme rules. Essentially, if Covid-19 is the reason for not returning to the UK, the "continuous UK residence" requirement will not be broken meaning the applicant will still qualify for status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)