New Plans For The UK Immigration System

The Government has published its first statement setting out its vision for legal migration and border control as part of the new plan for immigration. This article summarises the key goals that form part of the vision.

The statement sets out key delivery priorities for 2021 – 22. These include:

• EU Settlement Scheme – it references the ‘grace period' until 30 June 2021, during which time EU citizens who had arrived in the UK by 31 December 2020 may apply to the scheme. Border Force staff will have the ability from July 2021 to check whether an individual has applied for, or been granted status under the scheme should they need to do so.
• Simplification – the statement pledges that the Government will continue to simplify the Immigration Rules and make them as ‘user-friendly and accessible as possible'. It is also promised that questions on application forms will be simplified and there will be further flexibility on how an applicant can evidence or