Major changes to UK visitor rules

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Major changes to the Immigration Rules for Visitors announced. Command Paper HC 1025 was presented to parliament yesterday. Most of the changes come into effect from 6^th April.

It’s a long document. The intention of the changes is to reduce the number of visitor categories to just 4. I have only had a very quick look at the changes, and there are probably some hidden gems. One thing that struck me immediately is the emphasis on applying for an extension of stay in the UK as a visitor. The section on this - PART V8 – clearly states that extensions in the UK may be granted up to a total period of 6 months. I have a feeling that visas might be issued for the period requested in the visa application. So, if the application is for a one month visit, then your visa will be for a one month visit. We’ll have to wait and see if this is the intention.

I also noticed that there is this paragraph :

7.26. A change is being made to introduce a new requirement for applicants seeking entry to UK to provide a criminal record certificate from any country in which they have been resident for 12 months or more, in the past ten years. This will only apply to categories where the applicant is asked to provide certificates alongside their application. This requirement will support criminality checks and the General Grounds for Refusal to ensure that those coming to UK do not have serious or recent criminal convictions. Certain exemptions will apply for those aged 17 or under or where those authorities are unable to provide certificates.

I didn’t see any introduction date for this section yet.

It look the “student visitor” category will no longer exist.

It looks like the “parent of a child at school” category will no longer exist.

As I said, I have only had a very quick look. All comments welcome, and I apologise if I have made any mistakes in the above comments.

The Command paper is here : HC_1025_Immigration_Rules.pdf

Tony M

[theoldgit]

Wow, a lot to take in here, is it coincidence that this was published on the same day that the figures showing an increase in net migration was announced?

I'm still on page 50 of 215, but it seems that some of these changes will take effect from decision made from today whenever the application was made, but I haven't got to the relevant paras yet, 220/222/232, so I don't know what they refer to you.

Other sections seem to take effect from 6 April.

I note there is reference to a Short Term Student Visa, though I cannot be sure if that's new or simply referring to the old rules.

I'll look some more after my Shredded Wheat.

E&OE.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Wow, a lot to take in here, is it coincidence that this was published on the same day that the figures showing an increase in net migration was announced?

I'm still on page 50 of 215, but it seems that some of these changes will take effect from decision made from today whenever the application was made, but I haven't got to the relevant paras yet, 220/222/232, so I don't know what they refer to you.

Other sections seem to take effect from 6 April.

I note there is reference to a Short Term Student Visa, though I cannot be sure if that's new or simply referring to the old rules.

I'll look some more after my Shredded Wheat.

E&OE.

Yes, theoldgit, there is a short term study visa. It is no longer a "visit" visa.

It looks like the visitor changes come into effect with applications made on or after the 24th April.

Keep reading.

[tif]

Good. A bit of reciprocity. Not much, but it's a start.

[theoldgit]

Off topic post removed

[theoldgit]

Nonsensical post removed.

[crazydrummerpauly]

What are the 'certificates' referred to in - "This will only apply to categories where the applicant is asked to provide certificates alongside their application." ?

[crazydrummerpauly]

7.26. A change is being made to introduce a new requirement for applicants seeking entry to UK to provide a criminal record certificate from any country in which they have been resident for 12 months or more, in the past ten years. This will only apply to categories where the applicant is asked to provide certificates alongside their application. This requirement will support criminality checks and the General Grounds for Refusal to ensure that those coming to UK do not have serious or recent criminal convictions. Certain exemptions will apply for those aged 17 or under or where those authorities are unable to provide certificates.

"I didn’t see any introduction date for this section yet." [Tony M]

Tony M - the date for that change (the criminal record requirement) appears to come under 'other changes' and will therefore be from April 6th this year, though applications made right up to the 5th of April will come under the existing rules.

That's a document that should come with a prescription for Paracetamol !

[Mister Fixit]

Been doing a bit of digging and this seems OK - people might want to see what crops up there too. Early days yet.

http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/faq/freetravel/doc/guide_2004_38_ec_en.pdf

And this website seems to have a lot of useful stuff but you'll need to trawl through it. http://www.immigrationboards.com/

I tried reading that 215 page PDF but it did my head in! I skipped to the end where there are guidance notes and all it says in page 209 is -

Tourism and leisure

3 A visitor may visit friends and family and / or come to the UK for a holiday.

However, I am sure that buried in all the guff will be all the bumf about the changes, but you'd have to have the original rules in front of you and then go through the PDF with a fine tooth comb and make the changes in pencil to see how they would come out in the end. TBH, it seems like they've tried to cover all eventualities in one massive document (probably to obscure their real meaning) and they have dropped the entry categories from something like 15 to 4. Now, if they did a document for each of the 4 new categories it would be easier to understand - but I doubt that's what they want! It mainly seems to cover students and those from warmer climes who are trying to sneak in with their families ...

I'm going to go down to the Trendy Building on Monday and try to get some answers ... but I bet they won't have any yet.

We want to go over in July and if I can get a visa under the pre-24 April rules, I can stay as long as necessary up to the 6 months. This would help because I have my mum's 97th birthday on 22nd July, then a month's gap until No 2 son's wedding on 22 August and an old friend's re-marriage a week later on 29th August. So we'd need to be there from between about 15th July to say, 7th September, a total of about 7, perhaps 8 weeks.

I'm not sure if the new rules would let me get away with such a long time, or I'd have to be very specific about arrival and departure dates. I want to leave it flexible because I don't know how well my old mum will be by then and we might want to stay longer to look after her.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Mister Fixit

[Mister Fixit]

Another thing to note about the 24 April changes - people had better get their applications in quickly, because when some changes were made a year or so ago to the residency requirements, the good old UK Government refused to take any further applications for 2 weeks before the change.

Anyone wanting to apply in this case should get their application in ASAP, and certainly by the end of March - that just gives you about a month, folks ...

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Been doing a bit of digging and this seems OK - people might want to see what crops up there too. Early days yet.

http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/faq/freetravel/doc/guide_2004_38_ec_en.pdf

And this website seems to have a lot of useful stuff but you'll need to trawl through it. http://www.immigrationboards.com/

I tried reading that 215 page PDF but it did my head in! I skipped to the end where there are guidance notes and all it says in page 209 is -

Tourism and leisure

3 A visitor may visit friends and family and / or come to the UK for a holiday.

However, I am sure that buried in all the guff will be all the bumf about the changes, but you'd have to have the original rules in front of you and then go through the PDF with a fine tooth comb and make the changes in pencil to see how they would come out in the end. TBH, it seems like they've tried to cover all eventualities in one massive document (probably to obscure their real meaning) and they have dropped the entry categories from something like 15 to 4. Now, if they did a document for each of the 4 new categories it would be easier to understand - but I doubt that's what they want! It mainly seems to cover students and those from warmer climes who are trying to sneak in with their families ...

I'm going to go down to the Trendy Building on Monday and try to get some answers ... but I bet they won't have any yet.

We want to go over in July and if I can get a visa under the pre-24 April rules, I can stay as long as necessary up to the 6 months. This would help because I have my mum's 97th birthday on 22nd July, then a month's gap until No 2 son's wedding on 22 August and an old friend's re-marriage a week later on 29th August. So we'd need to be there from between about 15th July to say, 7th September, a total of about 7, perhaps 8 weeks.

I'm not sure if the new rules would let me get away with such a long time, or I'd have to be very specific about arrival and departure dates. I want to leave it flexible because I don't know how well my old mum will be by then and we might want to stay longer to look after her.

As I said in my post, I only have a feeling that the validity of visit visas might change. Don't make a hasty application based on that !

Tony M

[Mister Fixit]

Reading through this document again, it seems that Parts V1-V9 are relevant. Pages 184 to 199 (plus Appendices)

Part V1 defines who is eligible for a visa - the ones we are probably most interested in is what is now termed a visit visa.

They now have a term of 'visa national' which is one of many countries (didn't bother to count them all but THAILAND is one) where the nationals of which must apply for a 'visit visa'

One interesting point is in a Table in section V1.5 on page 184. I'll see if it reproduces OK here

(a)

Visit (standard)

Do the permitted activities in Appendix 3 except visitors entering under the Approved Destination Status agreement who may only do the activities in paragraph 3 of Appendix 3 to these Rules;

up to 6 months, except: ... etc etc

and then you'll need to read Appendix 3 to ascertain the 'permitted activities'.

However, this seems to mean that a 'visit visa' WILL be granted for up to 6 months, just as it is at the moment. I could be wrong, of course, so people will need to check for themselves.

Appendix 3 just says what I posted earlier (amongst many other things such as business, entertainers etc) ie -

Tourism and leisure

3 A visitor may visit friends and family and / or come to the UK for a holiday.

The rest of Appendix 3 would seem to be largely irrelevant to most British people who just want to take their wife/girlfriend back fr a few weeks or so.

Part V3 deals with 'SUITABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL VISITORS' and goes on to say that those with criminal records etc will be refused a visa - this could mean that an applicant could have to provide a police report as part of the application process. See section V3.5. It also might mean the applicant's UK companion/husband, whatever might also have to provide a Thai police report ... So those alkies and druggies who get into fights on Khaosan Road, or Chaweng or Pattaya beach might have a problem ... But this is not clear yet.

Part V4 (pages 189 to 193) deals with ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR VISITORS (STANDARD)

This is a work in progress and I shall report back as and when I discover more...

[Mister Fixit]

As I said in my post, I only have a feeling that the validity of visit visas might change. Don't make a hasty application based on that !

Tony M

I don't make hasty decisions (or try not to!) unless they are forced on me

I've spent the best part of this morning since before 7 o'clock (now 11.20) reading this tome and I am not there yet, but it does seem to say (see my other lengthy post) that the 'up to 6 months' length of visa is still available ...

You hinted in your OP that a visa would only be allowed for the actual number of days required (and hence could not be multiple entry, as they are now).

You said ' So, if the application is for a one month visit, then your visa will be for a one month visit. We’ll have to wait and see if this is the intention'.

That doesn't seem to be the case from my reading of Part V3. I don't think it IS the intention.

I'll repeat it from my previous post here and emphasize it more -

(a)

Visit (standard)

Do the permitted activities in Appendix 3 except visitors entering under the Approved Destination Status agreement who may only do the activities in paragraph 3 of Appendix 3 to these Rules;

up to 6 months, except: ... etc etc

Please don't take this as a criticism - I could well be wrong in my interpretation, and I am sure we'll all work it out from this horrendous document in the end.

Let's see what they have to say at the Trendy Building on Monday but I'm not holding my breath for any quick answers ...!

Edit - just noticed this hidden away at the bottom of Part V1 - page 185. Now we know th visa is still a multiple entry visa and not single entry for a specified period.

V 1.6 Within the period for which the visit visa is valid, a visitor may enter and leave the UK multiple times, unless the visit visa is endorsed as a single- or dual-entry visa.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Mister Fixit

[ThaiVisaExpress]

As I said in my post, I only have a feeling that the validity of visit visas might change. Don't make a hasty application based on that !

Tony M

I don't make hasty decisions (or try not to!) unless they are forced on me

I've spent the best part of this morning since before 7 o'clock (now 11.20) reading this tome and I am not there yet, but it does seem to say (see my other lengthy post) that the 'up to 6 months' length of visa is still available ...

You hinted in your OP that a visa would only be allowed for the actual number of days required (and hence could not be multiple entry, as they are now).

You said ' So, if the application is for a one month visit, then your visa will be for a one month visit. We’ll have to wait and see if this is the intention'.

That doesn't seem to be the case from my reading of Part V3. I don't think it IS the intention.

I'll repeat it from my previous post here and emphasize it more -

(a)

Visit (standard)

Do the permitted activities in Appendix 3 except visitors entering under the Approved Destination Status agreement who may only do the activities in paragraph 3 of Appendix 3 to these Rules;

up to 6 months, except: ... etc etc

Please don't take this as a criticism - I could well be wrong in my interpretation, and I am sure we'll all work it out from this horrendous document in the end.

Let's see what they have to say at the Trendy Building on Monday but I'm not holding my breath for any quick answers ...!

Edit - just noticed this hidden away at the bottom of Part V1 - page 185. Now we know th visa is still a multiple entry visa and not single entry for a specified period.

V 1.6 Within the period for which the visit visa is valid, a visitor may enter and leave the UK multiple times, unless the visit visa is endorsed as a single- or dual-entry visa.

You say - "Now we know the visa is still a multiple entry visa and not single entry for a specified period."

With respect, it doesn't say that at all. It says that the ECO can issue a visa for up to 6 months ( which can mean one week, one month, or whatever), and the visa will indeed be valid for multiple entries within that period, unless the ECO makes the visa valid for a single/double entry. This is actually what the ECO can do now, but it is very rare, and requires the agreement of a senior offocer. My concern was in view of the emphasis on how to extend a stay in the UK up to a maximum of 6 months. That would, of course, only be necessary if visas are issued for less than 6 months.

Tony M

[Mister Fixit]

You say - "Now we know the visa is still a multiple entry visa and not single entry for a specified period."

With respect, it doesn't say that at all. It says that the ECO can issue a visa for up to 6 months ( which can mean one week, one month, or whatever), and the visa will indeed be valid for multiple entries within that period, unless the ECO makes the visa valid for a single/double entry. This is actually what the ECO can do now, but it is very rare, and requires the agreement of a senior offocer. My concern was in view of the emphasis on how to extend a stay in the UK up to a maximum of 6 months. That would, of course, only be necessary if visas are issued for less than 6 months.

Tony M

Before we go any further, let's be clear that the new application system is not available yet, so we don't know what questions will be asked so all is in the wind at the moment. When we know the questions asked, we'll know what it is they are after in terms of information and can hence get an estimate of what's what and what they are getting at.

(As an aside, I tried to log on to the VFS system yesterday to see if there were any changes to the process, and each time it said 'wrong password', so I requested a reset. No reset email has arrived yet and that's twice, one for two email addresses I used there. It does say on the site that it's a Beta system, so it looks like some things don't work properly yet ... I think I'll just set up a new account with a new email addy ...)

To move on to your remark - Actually, it DOES say that - are you getting confused between multiple entries and length of stay? Forgive me, but it looks that way. It plainly says 'V 1.6 Within the period for which the visit visa is valid, a visitor may enter and leave the UK multiple times, unless the visit visa is endorsed as a single- or dual-entry visa.'

That's multi-entry to me, unless, as you rightly point out, the officer decides the length of stay and number of entries applied for is too long or unnecessary and changes the visa to a single- or double-entry.

HOWEVER, the important thing is the LENGTH of stay allotted to an applicant. Until 24 April, AFAIK, an applicant got six months, multi-entry and that was that. What the problems seems to be is that an officer can look at an application and decide that the length of time required time for the visit is not as long as 6 months and hence restrict the length of the visa.

Extensions of stay in the UK are a rip-off anyway - £601 for an extension to take an applicant up to the six month level? A totally inexcusable amount an surely design to put people off extending.

BTW, what's an ECO?

[theoldgit]

BTW, what's an ECO?

Entry Clearance Officer, that's the person who decides on the visa.

One other point from an earlier post, the term Visa National has been around for as long as I can remember.

[Mister Fixit]

BTW, what's an ECO?

Entry Clearance Officer, that's the person who decides on the visa.

One other point from an earlier post, the term Visa National has been around for as long as I can remember.

I guessed what the job was, just not what the initials stood for. :-)

As to Visa National, I can only agree with you, as I've never heard the term before.

BTW, I duplicated a post but can't find anything in the help files to tell me how to delete it. Any ideas?

AND, I had just finished a lengthy reply, pressed 'Post' and it told me I didn't have permission to do that and I lost the lot! Again, any ideas why?

[crazydrummerpauly]

BTW, what's an ECO?

Entry Clearance Officer, that's the person who decides on the visa.

One other point from an earlier post, the term Visa National has been around for as long as I can remember.

I guessed what the job was, just not what the initials stood for. :-)

As to Visa National, I can only agree with you, as I've never heard the term before.

BTW, I duplicated a post but can't find anything in the help files to tell me how to delete it. Any ideas?

AND, I had just finished a lengthy reply, pressed 'Post' and it told me I didn't have permission to do that and I lost the lot! Again, any ideas why?

This sounds way too simple i know - but the only time i ever get a 'don't have permission' alert is because i haven't signed in.

[Mister Fixit]

BTW, what's an ECO?

Entry Clearance Officer, that's the person who decides on the visa.

One other point from an earlier post, the term Visa National has been around for as long as I can remember.

I guessed what the job was, just not what the initials stood for. :-)

As to Visa National, I can only agree with you, as I've never heard the term before.

BTW, I duplicated a post but can't find anything in the help files to tell me how to delete it. Any ideas?

AND, I had just finished a lengthy reply, pressed 'Post' and it told me I didn't have permission to do that and I lost the lot! Again, any ideas why?

This sounds way too simple i know - but the only time i ever get a 'don't have permission' alert is because i haven't signed in.

I was signed in.