From
November 2003 those travelling from outside the European
Economic Area who are not already resident in the UK and who
intend to stay for six months or more in the United Kingdom
will need to apply for entry clearance before travelling here.
The requirement for entry clearance will be phased in
within two years for nationals of countries not currently
subject to a visa regime.
Citizens of these countries will continue not to
require a visa for visits of less than six months.
The
first phase of countries affected are the United States,
Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia,
South Africa, South Korea and Hong Kong.
A requirement for nationals of these countries to
obtain entry clearances for longer stays than six months will
be introduced from 13 November 2003 with a transitional grace
period which will run until 1 minute before Midnight on 13
January 2004. Further
countries will be added to this list by 2005.
This
new requirement will primarily effect work permit holders,
holders of training and work experience scheme permits and
students studying for longer than six months.
Those coming in other long term immigration categories
generally already require prior entry clearance under the
current Immigration Rules.
The
government is linking this with the introduction of a
“tamper-proof” sticker which is intended to help tackle
immigration fraud and forgery.
However the introduction of the visa requirement is in
fact intended to make better use of “valuable immigration
service resources” by shifting decisions away from
immigration officers at the ports of entry to entry clearance
officers at the British consulates and high commissions around
the world.
For
those who will need visas:
-
They
must apply for a visa before travelling here;
-
The
fees for the visa are equivalent in local currency of £75 for
work permit
holder and training and work experience scheme permit holders,
and £36 for
students;
-
Those
companies familiar with bringing employees into the UK very
quickly
on a faxed copy of a work permit, a practice only available to
non visa
nationals will no longer be able to follow this practice.
At the moment it is
not
clear whether work permit holders will have to return to the
country in
which they have long term residence or citizenship to make
their visa
applications before they can enter the UK and start work.
Charging for Home Office applications and the abolition of
the 48 Hour Fast Track Service
Clients of Kingsley Napley will be aware that we
have had the facility of a fast track postal service for
submitting applications to the Home Office in Croydon.
This facility was made available to a number of
solicitors’ firms and other immigration practitioners over
the last three years. It
replaced the former scheme whereby representatives could
attend the Public Enquiry Office at Croydon on behalf of
clients and process applications on a same-day basis.
From 1 August 2003, the fast track facility will end and the
Home Office will again permit representatives to take cases to
the Public Enquiry Office in Croydon on behalf of their
clients.
Representatives will be allowed to handle one case
at a time.
The Home Office has also announced on 10 July that it will
introduce fees for many of the applications for permission to
remain in the UK. The
aim is to raise funds to improve service levels.
The fees will be set at two levels.
Postal applications will attract a fee of £155 and
applications to the Public Enquiry Office will attract a
charge of £250. If
the Public Enquiry Office cannot process the application the
same day the applicants’ fee will be returned and they will
be advised to submit their
application by post paying the lesser fee.
Fees will not be charged for EEA nationals’
applications for residence permits or those affected by the EC
Association Agreements.
We expect a certain amount of teething problems at the
beginning. Nevertheless
it should be to our clients’ advantage to go back to a
system of same day processing of applications.
We understand that the level of the fee has been set
after research of other countries’ charges and that these
fees are in the middle of the range.
Still, the proposed cost is high particularly of
“the premium service” which is how the Public
Enquiry Office applications are being described.
Applications for leave to remain for work permit
holders will no longer be processed in Croydon. If a work permit holder needs his or her passport endorsed
this will be done by Work Permits (UK) in Sheffield at no
additional cost to the initial application for the permit
(though we might expect the charges for work permits to
increase in the next 12 months).
If dependants are not named in a work permit holder’s
application and apply separately to be brought in line with
the work permit holder then a fee will be charged.
Those
who have indefinite leave to remain who would like their new
passports stamped to show they have no time restrictions on
their stay will now have to pay a fee for this.
Those with limited leave who would like their stamp
from their old passport transferred into their new one will in
future be obliged to do this at the port of entry.
At
the regional Public Enquiry Offices an appointment system will
be introduced. At
present some of the regional offices are closed for
refurbishment and they handle a more restricted range of work
than at Croydon. However,
these facilities are being given further consideration by the
Home Office.
Postal applications will be subject to new processing targets.
The Home Office are promising that 70% of postal
applications will be decided in three weeks and virtually 100%
within 13 weeks. The
government has advised the Home Office that the target must be
increased next year so that 80% of postal applications will be
decided in three weeks.
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