Immigration Update: Covid-19 Rules And Concessions

Since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the UK's immigration system and particularly on those seeking to move to the UK. We have set out below some of the key updates that both businesses and individuals should be aware of.

Exceptional assurance

Individuals with limited leave in the UK are expected to take all reasonable steps to leave the UK, or apply to regularise their stay in the UK, before their leave expires. If they do not submit a new immigration application or leave the UK before their leave expires they will usually become overstayers. This has numerous consequences, including the fact that the individual will no longer have the right to live or work in the UK and it is likely to prejudice future immigration applications. Employers also risk civil penalties and the loss of their sponsor licence if they continue to employ someone who no longer has the right to remain in the UK. In certain circumstances employers may even